Capital to Coast is a 223-mile relay with teams ranging from 1 person (yes, there was a lady who ran this by herself!) to 12 persons. The route starts in downtown Austin and follows back roads and small highways all the way to the beach in Corpus Christi. There are 36 segments ranging from 4ish to 9ish miles that must be completed in team order. Rain or shine, day or night, someone is running while everyone else takes turns supporting them.
I was asked to join a team formed by a couple of my coworkers last-minute when injuries kept bringing their original numbers down. It was really last-minute (about a week ago) and I was really last-resort (only girl on the 11-member team).
I'm so glad it happened though because it was an absolute blast and now I've seen parts of Texas I would never have traveled on my own.
It looked like every other part of Texas, but still.
We had a twitter account with live updates, if you're really interested in the whole play-by-play. Click here for the twitter account. I'm copying a few photos from there with my own captions!
Friday morning. I was stupidly nervous. Woke up way earlier than my alarm. Didn't want to miss the van leave time! I also was worried about how my running would go. I've been putting the miles in but haven't been training for speed. And as the only girl on a team with 10 guys, the competitive side of me didn't want to be the slowest runner!
The first van of 5 runners drove up to Austin the night before to start the race at 6am.
The second van of runners met up early Friday morning to take over the run from van 1 around Lockhart, TX.
Last runner from van 1 finishing. I took over as the first runner from van 2. It begins!
The adrenaline was pumping and I took off really fast! PROVE IT Teagan. The first mile I ran a 7:11. Which was stupid because I haven't run a mile that fast in YEARS. I slowed down from this murderous pace to a slightly more manageable uncomfortable pace in the lower eights. It was warm out and a bit windy but mostly flat.
Mile five came and I knew I was getting close. Less than a mile! I turned around and saw another runner gaining on me. "I can hold her off!" I thought as I started up a dirt road hill. "This is my home turf!".
But then my body was like NOPE and I found myself grasping my knees while dry heaving the contents of an empty stomach. Not pleasant but I kept trucking between those "breaks". The girl passed me though. I was someone's road kill! Argh.
I made it and passed off to our next runner. First leg of 5.79 miles in 47:46, average pace of 8:15/mile. That was a LOT faster than I had expected to run so I was pleased. I got to sit in what was deemed the "stank seat" in the van while I cooled off.
Late morning turned to early afternoon turned to late afternoon. We kept running along, handing off every 5 to 8 miles. It was HOT outside so we stopped along the route at least every couple of miles to check in on our runner and provide fluids. It was such a chill, fun time.
The whole team, minus van 2's last runner. We met up while waiting for him to finish and hand-off back to van 1. It was almost dinner time and even hotter.
We had a few hours to eat dinner and clean up before taking over again around sunset.
There was a Schlotzsky's run followed by a visit to Karnes City Junior High. They had graciously opened their gym and locker room to C2C runners.
This picture is from much later that night. At least 3 rows of cots set out, plus a row of mats. We got there around 5pm so it was still pretty empty. Just had enough time to shower and lay down for 10 minutes before it was time to meet van 2 again.
Getting geared up to take over! Our second leg would begin the night portion of this run. Much fun to come!
Have a great day :-)
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