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| HBBs Georgia, Marm, Erik, Ty, Matt, Michelle, Brian, Theresa Alissa, Jacqs, Bryant, & Braden |
3:45 AM came way too early but soon the excitement kicked in and I was up dressed and ready to go. We all piled into the SUV and headed out to Wickenburg. By the time we got there the temperature had dropped down below 30 degrees! What's the deal?! Arizona is supposed to be warm, no? This is our Ragnar curse. Vegas was freezing too.
Leg 5
By the time I was supposed to go I was super hyped for my run. Braden had been acting super crazy and I think it got my adrenaline flowing as well. It was about 9 AM and the sun was up. I had shed my long pants and long sleeve shirt since the temperature had warmed up. I was prepared. I had stretched, inserted my gum, used my inhaler, taken some Advil, started my music ready, initialized my Nike Plus, and put my visor on. I feel like I did really well on this leg. I averaged a 8:49 minute mile for 6.85 miles. You can track my run here on Nike Plus.
At the end of Leg 6 we finally met Van 2 of our team: Michelle, Theresa, Marm, Jackie, Georgia, and Alissa. After the hellos, we hopped in the Suburban and headed towards the hotel stopping to grab a sandwich at Subway since no one wanted to eat anything to interrupt our running. At the hotel we hot tubbed again soaking our muscles. We had a 7.5 hour break before we were going to start running again. So we also were able to shower and take a nap. Yay! This is the way to do Ragnar.
Around 7:30 PM we took over from the girls for our van's second turn. The sun had gone down and the temperature was starting to fall.
Leg 17
I started my leg around 11 PM. It was dark and kind of chilly. I ran in shorts and a long sleeve running jacket. I didn't get the proper warm up or stretching because I didn't want to get out of the car too soon. And at this point I couldn't find my inhaler either. So I was definitely feeling less prepared. I actually was feeling pretty good about the leg though until I got over the bridge and found myself in a river bed with a poorly marked path. I honestly had no idea which way to go and those runners in front of me were too far ahead to just follow them. I tried a few paths and then two girls caught up to me. None of us knew where to go eventually two more people came up. The one guy just barreled off into the river bed and we all followed. I soon passed two of the runners with two still ahead of me. Soon I was back on track and feeling good. That was until I needed to pee. I knew there were two girls behind me so I let them pass and wondered over to the fence to take care of my business when I stepped in some thick mud. Ugh! When I started running again my shoes felt five pounds heavier each. As I got to the end I reached for the baton in an effort to be ready for the hand off only to realize that I no longer had it. :( I must have lost it when I took off my running gloves. In the end I felt like I didn't do too bad though. I averaged a 10:01 minute mile for 5.65 miles. With my interruptions and the fact that it was more uphill I thought I did okay. You can track my run here on Nike Plus.
When our van was done with our legs for the second round, we wanted some food. We planned on only having a break for about 3 hours or so. We found one of the few restaurants that were open at 1:30 AM. And you guessed it, we went to Denny's. There was one lady working all the tables and the register. She had been bombarded by Ragnar tables of 6. She was a trooper and got us our food pretty darn fast considering it all. When we were all satiated we headed over to the next major exchange. We had about 2 hours before we were expecting the other van to get there. So we all tried to get comfy in the SUV. Not an easy task. We could have gotten out and laid on the grass but it was too cold for me. I think I got maybe an hour of sleep before we started getting up and ready for our last set of legs.
Leg 29
At this point the sun up and I was debating whether I should be wearing a jacket or not. I opt for the jacket and am glad that I did. Again I didn't stretch or warm up much at all. I was still to cold. Immediately after I started running I felt a cold wind and realized that I was doing some uphill running. I didn't feel like I was going to make it. I kept on telling myself that I had to run until my van passed me. I didn't want them to see me walking already! I definitely struggled this whole leg. I was sore and tired and just wanted to be done. Eventually I did finish. I would have liked to keep it under a 10 minute miles pace. I ended up with a 10:05 pace. You can track my run here on Nike Plus.
When we all finished it was time to head back to the hotel where we could clean up and rest a bit before meeting the girls at the finish line. They came in just before 3 PM. We got photos and hung out for a while before heading over to a favorite Mexican restaurant of theirs called Macayo's. It was tasty!
All in all, it was a super fun weekend. Even if I am still sore from it several days later. Here's to the next Ragnar: Wasatch Back!
| Individual Stats Leg 5: 6.85 miles in 60:27 minutes Leg 17: 5.65 miles in 56:41 minutes Leg 29: 4.69 miles in 47:19 minutes | Team Stats Started: February 22nd 6:00 AM Finished: February 23rd 2:48 PM Total running time: 32:48:31 |
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| Van 2: Brian, Matt, Erik, Braden, Ty, & Bryant |
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