Piggly Wigglies

A couple of weekends ago I had the fabulous opportunity to participate in the Portland To Coast Walk Relay. I had only heard of the Hood To Coast and marveled at how all those runners had the endurance to run from Mt. Hood all the way to Seaside. I have tried running in the past and to be honest it just really hurts! Last year I was talking to my friend Hailey and she brought up the Portland To Coast. I was so excited when she explained to me that it was a walk relay. I knew that I wanted to do it the next year. When registration came around I was able to get on a team with a bunch of the Vial's and some lovely ladies from Hazeldale Ward, Troutdale and Sherwood. We had so much fun! Hailey's team had come up with the name Pigglie Wigglies last year, so we just stuck with it. It made me chuckle when I saw on Hailey's car the words, "Oink if you like it jiggly!". Our team made it to Seaside in 29.5 hours and we came in 141st out of 400 walking teams. Not to shabby for us since we were really doing it for fun and not for competition.
I must admit though, when I was out there walking I was much more competitive than I thought I would be. I think all of us were the same way. When somebody would pass me it would drive me to walk all the faster and I was always aiming to catch up with the person ahead. Though, sometimes it just wasn't fair when some 6 ft.+ person came strutting by. There was just no way for my short little legs to keep up no matter how much I shook my booty trying to catch up. My one mistake was not buying new running shoes before the race. I just stuck with my old ones because they are so comfy, but I ended up with open blisters on the balls of my feet from lack of support. I guess it is smart to trade in those old running shoes for new ones. I now know what happens when all the support breaks down and you walk intensely for 13 1/4 miles. It's painful on the tootsies! I am on the quest for new shoes if anybody has a recommendation. At the end of the race I was beyond exhausted. We got home at 6:30 in the morning which means that we had been up for 27 hours straight. Something my body is not used to at all. When I got home I literally fell into bed. I didn't even change out of my smelly race attire. Sorry family, who had to smell me when I finally came to. Matt was awesome and kept the house quiet so I could catch up on sleep. I loved the whole experience. I loved getting to hang with the ladies and cheer them on. I loved the excitement in the air. I loved seeing all the different teams and how creative some of them got in their team names and car decor. I loved the thrill of walking in the wee hours of the night on an old country road in the middle of nowhere. It was all so much fun and I can't wait to do it again next year.