Ragnar 2010

Wow! Wasatch Back was awesome. Purely awesome. I don't even know how to describe it. It was a good experience for me and I will definitely do it again.

It all started on Thursday night. Emily, Teri and I all met at Andrea's house. We loaded up her van and then went to Clisty's house to pick up her and her sister Cari. We were able to stuff an amazing amount of stuff into Andrea's mini-van. Once we were all packed and on our way, we decided to stop and eat at The Old Spaghetti Factory. Carb-loading, you know? We then drove up to Logan. Our team's start time was 6:15 am, so we decided to stay overnight in Logan. We dropped Clisty and Cari off at their cousin's house and then Andrea, Emily, Teri and I went to Andrea's brother's home. We were each able to sleep in a bed, which was a lovely blessing. I was afraid that we would be sleeping on the floor in sleeping bags the night before our big race. I was exhausted that night, as I hadn't been sleeping well the previous several nights. I was hoping to get some sleep. However, we didn't even get to bed until around midnight and with pre-race jitters, we ended up talking well into the morning. We had to get up at 4:40 am to get ready for the race, pick up Clisty & Cari, arrive at the start and go through safety training. We probably got two hours of fitful sleep.

4:40 am came early. We all got dressed in our running clothes, packed the van back up and went to get Clisty & Cari. Unfortunately we got lost and had trouble finding the house they were staying at. We did eventually get to them and then made it over to the start. We checked in, did our safety training and then I realized I had forgotten my iPod in the car. I went back to get it and use the bathroom. By the time I returned to the start, they were announcing the teams that were starting. My teammates were pinning on my bib, helping me get on my headlamp, reflective vest and flashing tail light as they were calling out our team name (which the announcer butchered!). I was a little stressed, but before I knew it the race had begun and I was off. It didn't take more than a couple of minutes before I was in dead last place. I tried not to be too concerned. I knew I couldn't start off fast and had to have a steady pace. I tried to force myself to relax and enjoy the race, but I couldn't help but feel all alone (especially when I was doing the short trail part of my first leg). Eventually I saw my van and Andrea got out to run with me for a couple of seconds. She gave me some tissue and cheered me on. My first leg was 7.9 miles. I had estimated it would take 1 hour and 35 minutes to run it. It took me 1 hour and 30 minutes. I was tired. I had not eaten anything, nor had much sleep in the last few days. I felt wiped when I came into the chute to pass off to Andrea. Since we were all new to Wasatch Back, it took us a couple of legs to get the exchanges down. When I came into the chute to pass off to Andrea, she was not there. I noticed her down a way getting her bib on. I called out to her something like, "Do you wanna run?" ;-) It was funny. Once my first leg was finished, I was able to veg in the van for the next 5 legs and cheer on my peeps. After Andrea's run, it was Clisty's turn. Clisty wasn't ready when Andrea came into the chute and so Andrea kept on running. The van took Clisty to find Andrea and trade with her and they left Teri and I behind (and we later found out Emily had stayed behind to find Teri and I). We were wandering around waiting and wishing we had cell phones with us. Eventually the whole team was back together, Clisty was running and we learned how to make the exchanges work a little more smoothly.

Boy did we ever have some laughs. My stomach was sore by the end of the race from laughing. We also had some serious talks. I really, really loved the ladies in my van and feel we were a great team. We didn't get to see much of the other van though, only at exchanges, and that was kind of strange. We were a team, and yet it was more like two teams working together. I didn't expect it to be that way.

My second leg was 8.5 miles. On the course map it looked like there was a small little hill at the beginning and then the rest of the route was all downhill. Well, as we drove up to get ready to exchange, I wanted to die for fear of the hill I would be running up. Sure it was no "Ragnar", but I was not prepared for it. I kind of started to panic a little. At the exchange we were able to see a neighborhood friend, while we waited for my sister Amy to finish her leg and pass off to me. After Amy slapped the team bracelet on my wrist, I started a very slow run up the hill, but ended up walking the majority of the uphill. My left heel and groin area were in pain. They had been hurting for a long time and I aggravated them on my first leg. There were several times on my second leg that my left leg was in tremendous pain and I didn't know if I could take much more. Once I got up the hill and was beginning the long descent, I started to feel a little more more positive. I actually passed a guy and never saw him again, so I had my first "kill". 8.5 miles is long. Especially when your team has to wait for you at the exchange and can't support you. I felt alone. I was in pain. It was hot. I wondered if I could make it all of the way. I admit I cried a couple of times. Once I saw the "one mile left" sign, I was relieved. I started to run harder and when I came into the chute to pass off to Andrea, I got teary-eyed. I was terrified of my second leg from the day I knew it would be mine, and I had actually conquered it! I even made Andrea get a little teary-eyed. I thought it would take me 1 hour and 35 minutes to run my second leg, but it took me 1 hour and 46 minutes. I was disappointed, but there wasn't much left to do about it.

I got another "kill" on my third and final leg. It also took me 11 minutes longer to complete it than I thought it would. I was completely spent by my third leg. We had spent the night on a wrestling mat in a high school gym with 200 other people. There was the constant noise of people coming and going. I was really uncomfortable. I might have slept two hours and of course it was while tossing and turning. I didn't eat anything before my run, since I was the first runner. My body was incredibly sore and my last leg was a lot hillier than it appeared on the course map. It was also another "non-support" leg, so my van wasn't with me for the most part. The best part of the leg was knowing that I was almost finished with my portion of the race. I felt pretty emotional. When I came into the chute to pass off to Andrea, I started to cry. In fact, I cried fairly hard and had a hard time catching my breath. I had done Ragnar! I had run 21.2 miles! When I came through the chute, it occurred to me that I had never truly believed I could do it and I had! It felt so great. I loved the look on the faces of all of the other teams waiting at the chute. They were impressed and happy for me. They could tell it was a huge deal for me to complete my legs and they were clapping and cheering for me. It felt great. I raised my hands in the air as I finished, because I always do that when I finish a race. Even though I feel like a dork doing so. Every race I finish is a huge accomplishment for me and I am always pleased that I have pushed myself so hard. So I raise my hands in celebration.

On every single one of my legs, I had many people cheer me on, say kind things to me ("You can do it!" "Keep going!" "You've got this!", etc.), and honk their horns at me. I felt like I was part of a special club. I loved the camaraderie and support of the other teams. And I LOVED my team. It was wonderful.

Once our van finished our last legs, we went to a hotel in Heber and showered. We laughed and talked and got cleaned up. We felt like humans again, although we were all super sore and tired. We stopped and had a meal at a cafe near Heber and then drove to Park City for the finish. We met up with Kim, Shellie, Libby, Danielle, and Laura as we all waited for Amy to run into the finish. It was so exciting to see her round the corner and know our team had made it. I got choked up. I walked down a little ways to her to give her our team shirt. She put it on, and then we ran through the finish together! What a blast. Our team (Fat Kids Win at Teeter-Totter) finished in 37 hours and 12 minutes. It took us almost 2 more hours than we had estimated. However, I feel really good about it. We all worked very, very hard.

I loved it! What a blast!

(I didn't take pictures, but Clisty did. When I get them from her, I will post them.)