My relationship with nuun began in the summer of 2008. It's a convoluted story that involves getting hit by a car while training for the Army 10-Miler and the inaugural Ragnar Relay in DC, a really crappy primary care physician who informed me over voice mail after I'd just seen him once that I had diabetes (a misdiagnosis), and so many fasting blood draws that the eyes of my elbows were bruised for most of September. In short, I needed a sugar-free electrolyte replacement drink and found nuun.
Since my 2008 ATM and Ragnar debut, I burned out on running, utterly flailed at my next ATM a year later (although I greatly appreciated the random hot guy who cheered me on over the interminable 14th Street Bridge), and just plain old re-sold my entry last year. Granted, I was living in Seattle in October 2010. Now, I'm registered for the 2011 race, but I'm completely and utterly out of running shape.
To wit: yesterday's early morning easy run was kind of brutal. My legs were dead from too much yoga on Monday. It was 78˚F when I set out and the relative humidity was 79%. It was only 6:45a.m. In May. How on earth would I manage doing speedwork in August??
And then, the part that most confounds me about myself is that I was intrigued by an invitation that nuun extended via Facebook to women bloggers (hey, that's me! if you count sporadic posts....) to apply to be a part of its Hood to Coast team this August. Didn't running both Ragnar and the ATM within a week of each other already turn me off from running for over 2 years? And aren't I out of shape? On the other hand, I'd be a lot more diligent with training if there was something external keeping me accountable.
So, those little gears in my head are already spinning, and my poor wimpy quads are quaking -- why are they always the last to know what's going on? Stepping off a cross country flight, meeting 11 other women (hello, estrogen!), and then spending the next 24 hours either running or in a van with 5 of them is a pretty intriguing mental, physical and social challenge. Mt. Hood? Never seen it up close. Oregon coast? Nope, not that, either. Could this be the year? Pick me! Pick me!
