2011 2000 Hood-to-Coast Relay

Report by: Bert Whitson

Hood-to-Coast is a 200 mile relay starting at Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood, winding through Portland and northwest Oregon toward the coast, ending in Seaside. Our team was a combination of runners from San Diego, LA (including me and Mike Davies), and Oregon/Washington. 12 people on each team, each person runs 3 legs, each leg varies in length but most were in the 4-7 mile range. Out team started at 4:45pm on Friday (Aug 26th) and finished around 1pm the next day. My goal was to get a really good aerobic threshold workout (i.e. run balls out) and help the team win our division. A lesser goal was to have fun...

Our team uses a spreadsheet to predict our pace on each leg - i.e. based on my 10K pace, the spreadsheet makes adjustments for hills, nightime/darkness, and fatigue/sleep deprivation. My pace was based on a 35:15 10K time, so my "base pace" (before adjustments) was 5:40/mile. Attached is a pdf of our spreadsheet.

My first leg was 7.2 miles, mostly gradual downhill (similar to running down San Vicente) with 1 mile of gradual uphill - my predicted pace was 5:33/mile. My 1st mile was 5:03 - too fast! It actually felt good. I backed off a bit but figured I might as well go with it. 2nd mile was 5:22 - still felt good. On mile 3 it felt like my heart rate went up a little but it still seemed manageable - pace slowed to 5:42 which was kind of a bummer since it was slower than my 5:33 predicted pace, but I didn't fret b/c I had banked some time on the first couple miles. Mile 4 started to hurt, as it should - pace slowed to 5:48. Felt like I was losing momentum. Mile 5 was hell and mile 6 (gradual uphill) was worse - 5:55 and 6:15, respectively. I felt like walking the last mile. But I had a teammate waiting for me. I picked it back up to 5:40 for the last mile and handed off. My first leg was 1 minute and 5 seconds slower than the spreadsheet had predicted. I was really disappointed - felt like poo.

My second leg was 4.1 miles - mostly flat. My leg started at 1:20am. I hardly ever stay up past 9:30pm so I was definitely sleepy. The first 3.5 miles were complete darkness and my headlamp isn't the brightest, so I was a little concerned about stepping into a pothole or running into something. But I wanted to redeem myself after a crappy first leg. My predicted pace (after adjustments) was 5:53/mile - I was determined to not go out too fast on the first couple miles. So I kept it under control: mile 1 was 5:41, mile 2 was 5:40, mile 3 was 5:44, mile 4 was 5:43, and I had plenty left for a kick on the last tenth of a mile. I ran 51 seconds faster than predicted on my second leg - felt way better...

My third leg was gradual uphill for 4.2 miles - my predicted pace was 6:03/mile. I was sleep deprived and my legs felt like crap, so I wondered if I would fall apart on this one. Since this was the last leg for me, there was no reason hold back. Mile 1 was 5:41, mile 2 was 5:58, mile 3 was 5:55, mile 4 was 5:44 (really surprised that I was hitting these splits on the steady uphill), and I felt like I was on crack, so I was able to kick hard enough the last 0.2 mile to bring my average pace down to 5:44. I ran 1 minute and 18 seconds faster than predicted. It felt great.

Our team finished in 20 hours and 13 minutes - good enough for 11th overall and 1st in the men's "sub-masters" division (30 years+). We actually had a woman on the team this year - I think that's a first for the men's sub-masters team champs. Mike Davies was the star of our team - he was predicted to run fast and outran those predictions (good job buddy!). Attached is a photo of the team at the finish.

I woke up Sunday morning barely able to get out of bed - this race can really beat you up. Felt like I had run a hard marathon the day before. I was able to get in 5 miles of recovery jogging Sunday and another 4 miles on Monday. The legs felt better at the track last night but I made myself hold back a little - still had a couple aches. The last thing I want to do is pull something before Berlin (only 3 and a half weeks left!)