I've had this weird irky little thought in my mind for about five years now. I never really talked about it, and I only thought about it once in a while, but I think it was only a matter of time... What, you ask, was this persistent little nugget???
Ragnar. Ragnar was the nugget.
So, when I was approached last winter by some friends at work, I wasn't too tough to convince. The idea was there, just dwelling, waiting for its chance to shine. It actually seemed like it was just about designed for me. I mean, I run races, even marathons, so the running part seemed like it would be no problem... And I stay up all night at work twice a week, so sleep deprivation? I'm a pro at that. Put those together, and I could rock this! Hahaha! Wrong!
So, I took on my training regimen with zest, and had visions of two a day runs in my future. Well, that never became a reality, because unfortunately, I had a nagging right hamstring injury that got progressively worse as I ran more mileage. The discomfort was peaking just as race day approached. I really began to think I couldn't do it. I was just about to throw in the towel when my own little miracle occurred! Due to changes to the overall race route, my individual relay legs changed from 8 miles/9 miles/5 miles, to 8 miles/2 miles/5 miles! My saving grace! I could definitely run a 2!
Our race start day was beautiful. We all met up at Clelles' (our fantastic driver), and headed up to join the Van 1 half of the team in Huntsville. They had an early start at 5 am, which put us on target to take the baton (errr... bracelet) at about 1 pm.
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| Our Ragnarmobile, all decked out! (and with no pictures of the unfortunate bundled baby Emily tried to draw!) |
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| Here we are at Exchange 6, our van's start. Just minus our token male member Mike, and our fab driver Clelles. |
The first exchange went well, but we were almost an hour behind from the outset. Karen from Van 1 passed off to Katie, and we were off! After Katie, Jen was up, and then me! I headed out at around 3:30, and it was really freakin' hot!!! My race leg took me straight up the old Snowbasin road. An unsupported 7.8 mile run. Seems pretty doable, but it was the hardest 8 miles I have ever run! I pushed myself pretty hard considering my reduced training regimen, and finished right at my targeted time. I think I may have overdone it on this first run, which led to my difficulties later. But who knows?!
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| Sara and I commiserated for a minute over the hellishness of that run. She had started it about 10 minutes before me. And she agreed it was the hardest 8 miles ever! |
After my leg was through I was able to relax and enjoy the Ragnar experience for a while. We ran all through the afternoon and into the evening, and Mike finished up his leg around 8:30 pm to hand off to Van 1. And, um, we lost Mike because we went to the wrong pickup location without his handy navigation skills in the front seat. Oops. Luckily, Van one grabbed him, and after some confusion we met up and got him back by about 9:30. From there we made a very questionable decision to stop for a late night snack of fries, coke, and grilled cheese sandwiches. However, I think that little snack saved me! Of course, this was all time that we should have been trying to sleep, but who's counting? We finally made our way to Morgan, and got settled in our sleeping bags out under the stars. And boy was it cold!!! I can't imagine how it was so hot, and then so cold a few short hours later!
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| Emily giving Megan a little roller massage on the grass. |
We laid down from about 12:15 to 1:45 am, then were up to send Katie off
again! My mini 2 mile run was at about 4 am. It was dang cold, and I was
oh so glad it was just a 2 mile run. Even that felt like a struggle.Those wee hours of the morning were painful, but I snagged a short nap in the back of the van, which really helped me I think.
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| Preparing to send Katie out into the night! I was definitely NOT a fan of running in the dark. Even with a headlamp. |
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| Early morning selfie! |
We finished up our second set of runners by about 8:30 that morning, and then we were in for what felt like an interminable wait while Van one finished their final legs.We were camped out at Park City H.S. waiting for Katie's final run. And it was sure to be a doozy! Known as "ragnar hill," it was 10 miles straight UP Guardsman's pass. She was very nervous, and we were all pretty anxious on her behalf.
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| Relaxation time! You'd think we would be sleeping, but it was so beautiful out, it was hard to sleep. |
After hanging out for 5 hours, it was finally go time! We had Katie all prepped for her run with water, cool wet towels, and tons of moral support.
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| Here's Katie getting prepped and pep-talked! |
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| The victorious culmination of Katie's massive 10 mile run! A few tears were shed. |
After Katie's run, Jen endured a 4 mile straight down hill run, and lost a few toe nails. Owww!!! I followed her with my own 5 miles downhill, which was excruciating for my quads, but such a relief to be running downhill because my body was just utterly exhausted. Kent and Taylee were there to greet me during this last leg, and they were a fantastic sight for sore eyes. Kent has always been so good to me when I run these races, and I am so grateful for his support.
It seemed like the longest day of my life, and we finally rolled into the finish about 8:00 pm, when our expected finish was around 4:00 pm. Many people thought the leg lengths were calculated improperly, and that almost all legs were longer than advertised. The total mileage was closer to 201, rather than the previously believed 189. That along with the heat and terrain made for a very tough race! All in all, it was a very memorable time, and I am so glad it's done!!!
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| I'm bummed Clelles didn't make it into this photo op! She was a fantastic driver! L-R Mike, Me, Emily, Jen, Karen, Katie, and Megan. |
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