100K Day, such a GREAT day.

You knew it was coming, right?  A detailed log of the 100K adventure!  I have to say that this was such an amazing experience - so fun, so rewarding, so challenging. 

It all started when Kayla asked if I would be on her team; I had no idea that I would end up being the Team Captain, and Kayla would have to bow out due to injury.  We were making additions and substitutions to our team up until the very last week, but finally we had our 10: Kara, Anna, Andy, Nikki, Julie, Abbie, Karee, Valoree, Wayne and Me.  An unlikely group of misfits otherwise known as Team Lava: Not Very Fast, But Pretty Damn Hot.

Thank goodness my mom offered to come and drive us around, or I am not sure we would have made it!  We began the day at 5:30am, packing treats and fuel - granola bars, PB&J, water, bananas, and of course no race would be complete without cupcakes.  These happened to be chocolate cupcakes with chocolate blackberry merlot frosting.  YUM.

We met some of our team members pre-race in the field house, and at 7:30 am sharp - Kara was off and running!  She had an incredibly hard leg, but did an excellent job - handing off to Anna.  Anna made quick work of her leg, and we were looking good.  Then, due to a non-working cell phone, and uninformed check point operators, we had a little bit of a break until Andy and Nikki found us.  Once they did though, we were back in action!! 

Andy made super quick work of his 7.7 leg - coming in at 50 mins!!  Holy Cow!  Next up - ME!  I was passed by a freak of nature: 6'7", legs up to my shoulders, thighs that didn't touch, AKA human ostrich, and I didn't think I had anything extra in the tank to finish, until I heard Nikki yelling, "Cupcakes, Cupcakes!!" Let's just say I found a little something extra to round it out.  I finished my 7.8 in 66 mins.  Not too shabby!  Nikki had an amazing leg too - 8.7 in 71 mins, that girl was flying!!  Ah - Maz- Ing!!

... and then, death march music inserted here, the grade....  Poor, poor, Julie. That girl was a warrior!  She had 6.1 miles up a gravel/dirt hill, wind in her face, dirt flying all around, did I mention it was ALL up hill.  She finished though, and she said she didn't even stop to walk.  Karee was up next, and she was ready for her leg.  I just saw the flip of her ponytail, and she was off and over the peak before I knew what hit me.

Next stop, Colton!!  Ms. Abbie, who knew 5 days before the race she was officially "in", took off facing some serious wind.  She did such a great job, and in the words of her sweet little girl, "Mommy, you did it!!!!!"  She caught Wayne just in time, too.  One more minute and he would have been on bathroom break number 7 - so glad that I am not the only one that happens to.  Wayne also had some wind issues but did a great job - bum knee and all. 

The only leg we had left was the final jaunt into Pullman, and our last wogger Val was ready!!  She brought us home in an amazing effort jogging most of the way (and up a pretty good sized hill).  She got to run through the chute with half of us cheering her on, the time 5:45pm, and the added bonus - there were still teams behind us.  (as well as three ultras - booya).

This was such a FUN day.  I got to hang out with such a wonderful group of people; my face hurt from laughing all day (or maybe that was from wind burn...)  Either way, I am so in for another relay - and I would run any race with my team any day of the week.  This was the most perfect group of misfits ever built.  Three cheers for Team Lava!!

May your day be filled with the world's best team,

Andrea