I’ve got a question for all the runners out there: I coach an athlete who’s a two time Ironman finisher (mid 14 hour range), and she’s going to be part of a relay team at Hood to Coast this summer. The relay legs aren’t extremely long, I think most athletes run a total of 3 legs for a total of somewhere around 30 km. I’ve never participated in an event like this, and while the distance doesn’t look like anything that she would struggle with off of her normal training, does anyone have any suggestions about how to train for the demands of this style of racing? Any training advice would be appreciated!
I’ve ran in Hood to Coast a number of times. There are a few hilly legs, but the course map will let you know all of the specifics on the run (altitude, milage and if water is available). The toughest part is running your leg, hopping into a van and trying to cool down and not get so tight you can’t run in a few hours. Then there is the lack of sleep and living with 6-7 stinky people in a van for 24 hrs. The key for me was to do a quick recovery drink and fluids as soon as I could after I ran. That and stretching/foam rolling every chance I got.
Have done this event twice.
Two recommendations (from experience):
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Get good at napping/sleeping in a van full of smelly people.
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IMC is the same weekend and a much better experience.
I have never done Hood to Coast but I have been part of the winning team the last three years for The Bourbon Chase which is another 200 mile relay. I found this type of race to be harder than an open marathon. My training for the race was heavy on tempo runs. What I found the most difficult aspect was the lack of sleep combined with a quick succession of intense runs. Some people I know, no one on my team, were doing a high volume of two-a-days and some even did three-a-days in order to prepare for the race. The occassional two-a-day was helpful but not necessary and in no way was a three-a-day a good call. I think you are just asking to get injured with that kind of training. One thing that really throws people off is how your body reacts to the lack of sleep.
Lack of sleep was the hardest thing for me. I personally do not sleep well in cars, and I noticed all the outside noise. My second run started at about 2:30 in the morning and it was cold. I came prepared for the cold and kept my warm ups on until right before I had to run, but it was cold. My three legs of the relay came out to about 21 miles total. I felt worse after that 21 miles than I have after a marathon, but I know if was just the lack of sleep.
Done it before… it can vary a lot with what start time your team draws (they try to stagger them to mitigate traffic congestion and yet not be too strung out at the finish) and which leg you run. The most extreme example would be if you do one of the first couple legs coming down off the mountain, where each drops roughly a thousand feet or more in about 5 miles. There are a few longer/hillier legs and a few that are flat and short, and a couple are also unpaved; and then when you factor in your start time and how fast your team is, you might be running one of your legs in the middle of the night or you might not, or on a busy highway vs a wooded multi-use path, etc… so again it can really be an apples and oranges comparison (in my case, even with 10 out of 12 of the same team members from one year to the next, we traded van groups so one year my crew slept under a bridge in downtown PDX and the next we slept in a field out by a farm near St Helens).
Honestly, I only really tried to run hard on my first leg, and then just kind of did whatever on the other 2 and tried to focus more on the whole atmosphere as the event is a real circus. Think more like a rolling Mardi Gras parade with runners than an actual race, unless maybe you’re one of the few really fast sponsored teams. It’s not like your time means diddly squat, since the leg distances are totally arbitrary, as is the time of day your turns will come up. Seriously, what would you set for a goal time for a 4.7-mile leg at 3a.m. on gravel? (and don’t forget to picture the dust from a continuous train of vans driving by). It’s not like being able to say you did a 36-min 10K or a BQ marathon that actually means something. Best advice is to just be flexible and have fun, don’t worry about your performance so much.
I’ve done HTC twice and Ragnar. As others have said, the sleep is the only real issue if she’s trained for Ironman. I’ve done it on little volume like 20 miles/week and on 35 miles/week. It just depends on what she wants to do at the event. Preparing well just means she’ll enjoy the after party a lot more and it’s worth staying up for the beach party in Seaside. It’s not necesssary, but it will give her an idea what is involved if she does two six mile runs in a day about 5 hours apart. Overall it’s a pretty hilly course with some extreme downhill running for the first runners. Runner 5 does the hardest combination of legs overall in case she wants to avoid that.
Thanks to all for your advice, it’s great to be able to tap into so much experience. Definitely gives me a much better idea of what to expect and how to prepare.
I did my first H2C somewhere around '92 when I first started running. Joined a team of 11 other virgins whose idea of training for it ranged from playing soccer to riding a spin bike. We sucked for 28 hours straight, with half the team walking their third legs…but it was fun. I swore a thousand times that night on some lonely road that I’d never do it again. And then I did it eleven straight years up up through 2003 when we (Naked Lizards) finished 3rd overall just behind Nike and someone else (yes, I’m bragging). Long story short, it’s not fun 100% of the time, but it’s 100% fun, especially the party at the end.
If at all possible, I’d have her avoid legs 1-3 because of the steep downhill on the first leg. These will kill your quads and can easily ruin your other two legs , pun intended. Might also give you some nasty blisters on your toes and unusual places. As others have said, sleep deprivation, running at odd hours, eating differently and being crammed in with 5-6 others all contribute to H2C being very challenging both physically and mentally. I can’t tell you how many people I’ve seen crying. And yet others are singing and laughing (and drinking). Hard to know how she will respond.
I don’t know that it’s worth trying to train specifically for this…I never did. I’d say go out there knowing that it will be like no other experience you’ve ever had, that there will be some tough times, some tempers might flare, someone will be in the port-a-potty when they should be there for the handoff, someone might quit mid-race, etc…but she will look back on it fondly and probably be back again for it in 2013.