What is Ragnar you might ask? Ragnar is a relay race with 12 people running from Logan to Park City. About 191 miles total. There are 2 vans per team. I was in the first van along with some of my good friends from the gym. There was our team captain, Kim. She is a marathon runner and by far the most avid runner of the bunch. Erin, Shelly and her daughter Cami, and Lisa. This year was a first for Lisa, Cami, and me. We used my van which was pretty cool other than the fact that now, everyone can see exactly how often I wash it because even now, 2 weeks later, I still have our names and team name printed on the windows haha.
So I signed up for this crazy race a full year in advance. I was going to run it last year but I was still nursing Parley and when I started to up my running to train for the race, I started to lose my milk so I dropped out. So this year was free game. I started running a lot at the end of last year and the beginning of this year and was getting really fast. It was so exciting! But then I hurt my knee and had to stop running for like a month. It's crazy how fast you lose your endurance! It was very frustrating to have to start all over but I did eventually build it back up. I started working the first of May which added a huge stress to my life. suddenly I didn't have 3 hours a day to devote to my workouts so I quickly began to doubt myself. I panicked and asked Lisa to trade spots with me in the race so I could get my longest run out of the way first. She said that was fine, of course, since she's built like a racehorse and could have probably done both our runs without a problem.
So race day comes and it is so cold! Our start time was at 7:45 AM Friday morning. We had to be at the starting line an hour early. I had to pick up Kim from her house and then drive to Shelly's to pick everyone else up before heading up to Logan. Which meant leaving home at 3:45! Needless to say, I got no sleep. But when it was time to go, I was up and ready so fast I had to actually try to slow myself down so I wouldn't forget anything. I got out to my van and found a huge bag with a sign on it that said "Ragnar swag bag". Brandon had went out and bought all sorts of stuff for me. It was so sweet! :)
The starting line was at Utah State University. There were 1200 teams running this race so you can imagine what it was like when we got there. Thank goodness they staggered the start times to even things out a little. Kim was the first to run so after seeing her off, the rest of us headed back to the van to go meet her halfway through her run to give her water, then to the next exchange. Kim was so fast that we barely had time to park and get out to use the bathroom when it was time for Cami to run. We stopped every 2 miles to give her water. For some of the run, Shelly got out to run with her to give her a little extra support. Cami handed off to Lisa who whizzed through her run as well and handed off to Shelly. I was next and was so nervous that I couldn't get my legs to stop shaking. My first run was up Avon Pass. I started running and my first thoughts were "are you kidding me? I'm supposed to run up this?!" It was a dirt/gravel road winding uphill for 7 1/2 miles. The vans were constantly driving by kicking up dust like crazy. I had to try and run with my mouth only half open. I had my van stop at 3 miles to give me water which I so desperately needed because my mouth was so dry and filled with dirt. Although I thought that run would never end, I made it through. And in record time! I averaged a 10 minute mile running up the mountain! I was so proud of myself. I wanted to cry. After handing off the bracelet to Erin, I climbed back in the van to try to get a little stretching in and wipe the dirt from my face. Once Erin was finished with her run she handed off to van 2 and we headed off the the next major exchange where van 2 would hand it back to Kim to start over. I rode in the back of the van that time so by the time we got to the exchange I was so car sick that I didn't know if I would be able to make it to the bathroom before throwing up. I did make it though and just in time. My belly was talking to me as well.. So after all that, I felt much better and after getting some food back in my belly, I was feeling pretty good. We sat around for only about an hour or so before it was time for Kim to run so off we went again from Kim to Cami to Lisa to Shelly to me again. It was just starting to get dark so I had to wear the reflective vest and headlamp. Luckily it wasn't too cold yet so I didn't have to get all bundled up. (I hate running with layers on.) That run was a lot of fun. Especially after it did get dark because I had set a goal for myself to pass every person I saw in front of me. When I would get close to someone they would see my light bobbing back and forth and would sometimes speed up so I wouldn't pass them haha! But I did. Only one person passed me and he was cruising! That run was about 4.6 miles. It felt really good.
Erin finished her run at about 10:30 or so. The exchange was so crazy and unorganized and we had to wait around for van 2 to come get the bracelet. Then we drove around forever looking for the high school we were all supposed to sleep at. By the time we found it, it was about midnight. We were all tired, sore, and grumpy. We ended up sleeping on the floor in the music room. I slept on a step next to a girl who had her little baby there with her. I couldn't imagine doing all that with a little 3 month old baby!
We were back up at 3:30AM so we could be at the next exchange to meet van 2. I was still so tired that I fell asleep again after Kim started her run and woke up when she finished. Thank goodness Shelly was so willing to drive the van :-D
It was still very cold that morning but by the time it was my turn to run again, which was around 8, it was pretty nice outside. My last run was supposed to be a 3 mile long "easy" run so I told my van not to stop for water at all and to just meet me at the next exchange. Well it was definitely NOT easy. There were some pretty steep little hills. The only thing that was easy about it was that it was short but I was wearing my Garmin which has a GPS and when I looked down and saw that I was coming up on 3 miles, the exchange was nowhere to be seen! I was so tired and sore and could almost not run anymore but I kept on going. Then I finally turned a corner and there they were! Yay! I tell ya, .4 miles is REALLY long when you thought you were done! I still finished in great time though, averaging an 8 min mile. And I was SO happy to be done! The whole race I was SO hungry but too afraid to eat much in fear of having an upset stomach in the middle of my next run. After Erin finished her run we went to the Heber high school to use their showers. Oh man, a shower has never felt so good! Best $3 I've ever spent. Then it was off to eat! So we all went to Ruby Tuesdays because we knew we had a few hours to kill waiting for van 2 to finish.
Then we headed to the finish line which was at the Park City High School. There were so many vendors there and free samples. It was a huge party! So after getting a little bit of Ragnar gear, we sat on the grass relaxing as we waited for them to announce our team. We officially finished in 31 hours 49 min and 14.1 seconds.
I do have to say, this was the hardest thing I have ever done. Before this, the farthest I had ever run was 8.5 miles. I just ran 15.5 in less than 24 hours with roughly 4 hours of sleep. But it was also one of the greatest experiences because I got to do it with friends. We supported each other through these tough times and although we couldn't always see the van on our runs, we knew they were there waiting for us. I am definitely doing it again next year. Hopefully with Brandon this time!
