Racin' Ragnar

Oh Man!! Well, I know it's been a few days since the race, but I am only now starting to feel fully recovered! I almost think I could go running tonight, but instead, I think I will just veg. ;) Sorry no pictures, I need to get them from my family who took a bunch. I was camera-less, so let me just walk you through the experience, or should I say 'shuffle'.

Thursday night we all got together at my Grandparent's house in SLC for a pasta feed and party. It was really yummy - not your typical spaghetti with meat sauce pasta feed. This was light and delish! We had all the runners and most of the fam there rallying for the next day's festivities. Afterwards, we loaded up the two suburbans and made the drive up to this huge house up in Logan we were sleeping at before the race. On a side note, I'd never seen the Logan Temple before, it's absolutely gorgeous!

Friday morning we drove the 9 minutes down to the park where we checked in and got our first runner ready to start the race! So much fun!!! We were all really anxious and excited for it to start. I thought those nerves and amazon butterflies would go away once I ran, but they didn't. They came back before each leg I ran and gave me a wicked upset stomach and serious adrenaline rushes. What an experience!

For those that don't know, there are 12 runners, each doing 3 legs of varying length and difficulty, split between two vans, running 180.5 miles total from Logan to Park City, all over two days. Pretty freakin' intense. I was the first runner in the second van (runner 7), so I didn't run until 2 in the afternoon on Friday. That gave me almost 7 hours of nervous anticlimactic suspense before our van started a little north of Hunstville. Once we actually got going though, it was so much fun. What a cool and different experience! I recommend to anyone to get into running. Maybe not crazy marathons and triathlons, but the relays are such an amazing experience.

My first run was 4 miles in the heat of the day in Huntsville. It was really hard, but I didn't walk and I was so proud of myself! My second run was 3.9 miles up in Hogback summit at 11:00 at night. It was dark and cold, but it was way more fun and pleasant than my day run. I say that, except about half way through it started to incline and I wanted to cry! I definitely hadn't trained for the uphill and I was really sad I had to walk, but sometimes your body doesn't care what your mind says.

My third run was at 11:00 am Saturday morning after probably 3 hours of sleep total. I had 3 bites of pancake and got ready to run. I was BEAT. Cody, our 6th runner, came up to the exchange so happy and excited, not even tired or anything and seeing him definitely helped me get pumped up and ready to go. About 2 miles into my 4.1 mile run, I started to heave and wheeze with my breathing which meant I had to walk before I could get my chest to relax and get more oxygen in my body. I walked again, which made me sad, but my teammates were so supportive and uplifting as I finished my run. (Thanks Van 2 for not letting me get down on myself. It's hard to put aside the 'disappointments' and realize how awesome it was to even be there running like I did and accomplishing such an intense goal!)

The race was not over just because I had finished my legs. We had 5 more legs to get through and the runners in my van were awesome. We got to the hardest legs of the race at about 3 in the afternoon and my Uncle got really sick and couldn't finish his leg. It was a crazy experience and his wife, our team captain, ran the rest of his leg - The Ragnar - so that we wouldn't get disqualified. It was humbling, inspiring, and an all-over emotional experience for all of us. Needless to say, he got very very sick and we barely finished the race.

These runners, our runners, were amazing. I want them all to know that they have all inspired me. I was amazed by their strong will and positive attitudes. While I was running, I would get so tired and vow to never do this crazy thing ever again, but then you get done and everyone is so excited for you and proud and happy and positive. After your breathing settles and your pains subside, all you want to say is, "When are we doing this again?"

Thanks to everyone for letting me be a part of that unreal experience. Thanks for giving me those memories and a new belief in myself. As Virginia so aptly put it during her second crazy leg, "I can do hard things!"