In spite being hurt and I was able to finish all 3 of my legs for Ragnar Relay. I love Hood to Coast and it will always be near and dear but this Relay was so amazing. The weather, the scenery, and the team were incredible. As one day blends with the next, exhaustion starts to take it's toll. You become silly and a different sort of energy comes to the table. It's hard to see but we are all wearing Goatee's made of fur from a hat we found in a small fishing town in the Puget Sound. The goatee's were inspired by Jay who by the end of the relay we referred to as Jayhab. He is an Alaskan Fisherman and he was gracious enough to donate his beautiful home so the 12 of us could eat and sleep (?) through the relay.

My running partner and I had a great time. It takes a special someone to be with for 30 hours with little sleep pushing your body to the ultimate end and still be happy. Runners are truly crazy and I love to be around them.

The only sad part of the whole trip was not drinking. We finished the relay came back to the house and everyone was helping with dinner, drinking wine and relaxing. I was the only one not participating. No one said anything or asked but it was probably the most awkward I have felt in a while. Nobody would have said anything to me or would have known it wasn't right for me to have a glass. The pressure of wanting to relax with a glass in hand, the taste of wine swirling around in my mouth and knowing it would have been the perfect end to a very hard long 30 hours, was almost to much to handle. This is the comfort of being around people who know  what I'm are going through. I would have never even considered it had I been around the people who are supporting me through this first year.

Alas, I stayed strong. The thought of having one only leads to the thoughts of having another. I was in awe the whole time watching people during the weekend drink. Everyone kept making comments about only having one beer or one glass. The fact that I was fixated on this still tells me I don't have normal thoughts around alcohol. I could never just have one that's just silly.

Looking forward to Hood to Coast. It's going to be another challenge. This has always been a huge drink fest for me. But like everything this year I'm learning to do the things I love without alcohol.

Practice makes perfect........proud to say 207 days sober