~:[Day 112-114]:~ 203.5mi of "El Tor"iffico!

~:[Day 112-114]:~ 203.5mi of "El Tor"iffico!
I decided to make my first multiple day post to talk about the 203.5mi venture from Huntington Beach to Coronado Island with my eleven other teammates. Starting at 6:40am, we began our pickups to head over to the starting line in Huntington Beach. After checking in and switching to our "vans" for the next 30hrs, reality began to set in. We were about to embark on a journey that most of us were not prepared for. While I coach cross country & track and most of the team was composed of former athletes of mine, the key word here is former and for me, my legs consisted of almost as much mileage as I have run in all of 2012 with the worst elevation change for dessert :) ... Through the adventure we our van ran through cities such as Santa Ana (where we left Donald stranded for 30 minutes since we went to the wrong exchange), Anaheim (the exchange we went to twice), Yorba Linda (my first moment of relaxation!), Lake Elsinore (outlets and Mexican food, the latter not such a great idea), Murrieta, Temecula (site of the tires in ditch), Fallbrook, Escondido (the finish of my nightmare leg), Encinitas, Solano Beach (the best bathroom on the trip - church), Del Mar, and La Jolla (through Torrey Pines - my second elevation gain leg) among others! To arrive at Coronado Island to sleep, however, was the second most memorable moment of the relay. The first? A 30 hour adventure with a great team of athletes who I am glad to call teammates and even friends! Thanks so much for bringing me water and Gatorade, navigating, cheering me on, finding me food and everything else I lost in the van, pouring your energy into your legs, holding good conversation, and even organizing the event and assigning me to the legs of death. I will forever enjoy this grand accomplishment with you all, the van with almost 300 kills, but even more moments of good times and memories!

As a post race celebration, those who stayed behind enjoyed the deliciousness of Phil's BBQ after a shower and quick nap! Ordering the beefy ribs and chick-less with fries and slaw + onion rings made me quite happy! The smoky flavors were amazing and the barbeque sauce was even better. However, the smartest thing I did was get an El Toro to go to enjoy today! With Siracha and barbeque sauce, I could almost cry, as it was the best post-race meal a man could ask for :) Hopefully, tomorrow will be kind to my legs. Regardless, in the end, it was all worth it.