Well it's over, and yes I am alive. I ran the Ragnar Relay (wasatch back) this past weekend! It was my first race and boy was it a big one. I ran 3 legs of the race! I was runner 8 and ran close to 20 miles in less than 24 hours. WTF?
My first leg was almost 4 miles... I ran it at 3:30pm on Friday through the Ogden valley...and it was hot!!! I would like to thank the very good looking National Guard runners who gave me water and a cat call as I ran by! Also, my team was amazing! I knew no one in my van but yet they made me feel right at home. I passed a cute gal and we started running together and we were about a mile from the next exchange point... she started to fall behind, so I slowed down and said, "come on girl we are gonna finish this together!" We started talking about where we were from and our kids... it was really cool to meet new peeps like that along your legs... And we did finish together! After she thanked me and said I had really kept her motivated! I was over come with emotion as everyone who passed my slow butt said encouraging words and made me feel like i was not crazy for doing this race. I finished well under a 10 minute mile! Yeah for me!! After our van was through with our first leg we headed to a park in Morgan to get some grub. At this point I had drank so much water I thought I was going to burst! So of course all my new found friends were making jokes and drinking water in front of me! Thank you Larry and Levi for almost making me pee my running shorts:)! When we got to the park some runners were already sleeping.... Fazoli's was there serving a $5 all you could eat dinner. So we ate! I'm pretty sure it was really gross, but we were all starving and tired so it was gourmet to us! So we ate our fill and headed to our first major exchange point where we would meet up with the other van. Mike in our "athletic suppoter" van had cots and sleeping bags waiting for us. I was exhausted! We were at Echo and all I wanted was a shower.... and of course there were none. So I took a whore bath in the ladies room! Yeah not really my style, but whats a dirty girl gonna do?:) I laid down on my cot and Mike gave me a killer massage.... but sleep would not come! I rolled over and looked above me and right smack above me was the BIG DIPPER! So Larry and I started pointing out all the constellations we knew. Wow it was amazing! I tried for 2 more hours to sleep but where we were there was too much commotion for me. So we headed out on our 2nd leg with no sleep for any of us. I was beyond exhausted and still had close to 15 miles left to run. Man... I thought I was in trouble!
I started my second leg shortly after 1:00am on Saturday morning. I was freezing. I was running down a canyon to the small town of Henefer. I started out in capri's and shed those about 2 miles in to my almost 8 mile run. Now if you know me, you know I am afraid of the dark....so i was super nervous for this run. I ran down this beautiful canyon and had an awesome pace and felt great... I crossed the freeway overpass and saw the most awesome, brilliant full moon ever! I felt so small at that point (not in a bad way) I felt charged by my new found friend the moon and completed probably one of my best and most memorable runs ever just over 8 min miles! Hell Yay! When my team picked me up I was tired! But again sleep would not come in the crowded van. We drove to North Summitt High when our 2nd legs were all complete.... I showered with a whole bunch of naked women in a community shower....which I did wear my flip flops:) I laid down next to my team on rock hard mats in the gym... again I could not sleep! I tried really hard too:( I was nervouse for my next leg because it was almost 6.5 miles and I was running on low. For a moment I thought... Why did I do this? But my kick A team kept me motivated! So we all piled into the van... no one looked too excited and we headed to the next major exchange. We arrived shortly before the first van did. And I have to thank Lisa and James for motivating me to finish! So off we went again!
My 3rd leg through Midway to Wasatch Mountain State Park was just after 12:30pm and DAMN it was hot. I was beyond tired and my right hammy was in a lot of pain! I just kept thinking the pain would stop after my muscles got warmed up.... but it got worse! 2 miles into this leg I knew I was in trouble! BIG TROUBLE! My team had stopped and we "bengayed" me up! It helped for a little but then I was back in pain. With about 3 miles left my ipod died! My only motivation outside my team was gone and I was truly discouraged now! I had worked hard on my playlist and it was awesome! What else could go wrong? Ha ha . About a mile later a passed a cute gal who looked like she was done for.... I started talking to her and we decided to motivate each other... Her team was "GIRL's NITE OUT" (shout out to you ladies) we decided to finish this shit because we were both done! So her and I ran and finished it together! WHAHOO I was done... I had made it alive and successfully finished my first race ever!!!!
Now we ran the last .5 mile as a team... all 12 of us, and again my emotions came out as we crossed the line together and out medals were placed around our necks! I didn't cry on the outside... and believe me it took everything I had not too! Some of you may think I am dumb but I finished it! I was fast for me and I did it with no sleep and not very good eats.... I am fo sho proud of me! And I am doing it again next year!
