Race #6: THE race

This weekend I participated in the Ragnar Relay Wasatch Back. This is what the last 6 months of training have been for. This is what all the hill training and cross training and miles of running have been for. And can I just say it sucked? It sucked, but I loved it.

I knew when I signed up for this thing that it was going to suck. Really, when you run 188 miles over the course of 2 days and nearly half a dozen mountains, it's going to suck. But at the same time it was cool just to say that we completed what we set out to do. It was fun to share this experience with a bunch of other really impressive women. It was inspiring to see others do so well and to have so much fun doing it.

I was part of a 2-team group that was a mish-mash of 28 women from all over the country. There were 2 teams of 12 runners and 4 drivers. Then each team of 12 was broken down into 2 separate vehicles so I got to know the other women in my van very well. Here's our team's tagline:It was so fun to encourage each other and support each other and to see them all rock it! Here's a picture of Team1 before the race:

My part of the journey included 3 legs. Here's how they went: my first leg was running up one side of a mountain pass. It was 7.4 miles up a stinkin mountain. Each time we would exchange runners we'd usually stop and park and be a few minutes early so the next runner could get ready. This time the line to get into the parking lot was so backed up that the runner before me nearly passed our van. I had to hop out fast and take the baton (aka, slap bracelet) from the previous runner without really getting ready. But I took off up the mountain on a dirt road for an hour and a half of running uphill. It was hard. Dang hard. I kept telling myself that this is what I trained for, so I might as well give it everything I had.

My legs got very little rest because I was constantly going up, up, up. I ran on a dirt road but it had been raining all week so there wasn't much dust and dirt kicked up from the passing vehicles. That was nice. I ran midday and it started to get hot and my stomach started doing crazy things. I tried to get a system down of running 10 minutes and walking 2. That worked well for the most part. However toward the end of the mountain, the ratio became closer to 4:1 running to walking. And it always seemed like every time I walked, it would be right where my van was parked to wait for me and give me water and support. They must have thought I was a complete slacker because it looked like I was walking the entire way. Here's a picture of me...walking:

I tried to enjoy the scenery as I ran. It really was beautiful. The hills were so green and it looked like something from a postcard. I tried to really soak it in, but something about running uphill for that long turned most of my thoughts into curse words. It sucked. But it seemed like everyone around me was struggling too. Toward the end, with about a mile to go, a few of us runners banded together and ran/walked the rest of the way. It was really nice to feel support like that and to know that even though we were strangers, we were all in this crazy race together. So I finished the 7.4 miles and it felt really good. Especially because this was my hardest leg and I wasn't too worried about the rest.

Our van finished and we had a few hours to relax and try to sleep before running again later that evening. Here's our team after completing our first legs:

By the time my second leg started, it was pretty dark. Right before this leg I had nice surprise. Mom, Dustin and his wife Monica met us before my leg started. We got to chat for a minute before I was on my way. Dustin ran with me for the entire leg. It was kind of cool to run in the dark under the stars and not really stress about what was ahead because you couldn't really see too far ahead. This leg was 4.2 miles and wasn't too bad. I think I actually finished a few minutes before I was scheduled to. I'm sure most of that was because I was running with Dustin. He helped push me a little faster than I felt like running, which was a good thing. Here we are finished after the night run:
Then I handed off to Shelah-the running machine- and tried to catch up with her and give her support along the way. It was really hard to see her in the dark though, so she passed us without us even recognizing her. But we met up with her again at the exchange and then headed out to try and get some sleep. We did sleep a little, but not much. By 5 in the morning we were back on the road, driving to the next exchange.

A few hours later it was my turn. Lucky for me, my last leg was the easiest of all. 2.5 miles on a slightly downhill slope into the town of Heber. Perfect. It really was. Not grueling at all. I kept wondering why I lucked out so much while others were running 8 miles this time around. Not that I'm complaining. I finished off my leg and handed of to Shelah. When she was done running we headed back to Heber for a celebratory lunch of hamburgers and milkshakes. Mmmm. Here we are after completing all of our legs:

(Lyn, Me, Meemer, Arlynda, Shelah, Marie, Cara)

Then we waited until the remaining 6 members of our team finished. We waited and waited. And then it started raining, and then it started hailing, and we were freezing! Finally we saw our last runner round the corner and we all ran together toward the finish line. We didn't really even have time to stop and say goodbye because of the awful weather. Everyone scattered so fast. But it was so nice to be done!

The race was amazing. It was amazing to become friends with these incredible women through the course of a day and a half. It was amazing to see them reach their goals and to see all the hard work and training pay off. It was amazing to be a team and to pull for one another and to celebrate one another's accomplishments. It was just a cool experience. One I'm glad I had a part in. But it still sucked...in a good way.

For a more detailed report of what went on in my van, check out meemer's blog here.