Here is a long version of what happened. I will write it up in short version for those who don't want to know all of the gory details.
Ragnar is an overnight relay race with 12 team members running 3 legs each. The first 6 drive in a van/suburban and run their 1st legs and hand off to the next runner in order. When runner 6 is done he/she hands off to runner 7-12 and they run their first leg. Van 1 (with runners 1-6) gets a break between legs. It goes through the night until runner 12 is finished with his/her 3rd leg and the whole team runs in at the finish line. Here is how my fourth Ragnar went:
4 am: leave Prescott with Mike and head to Wickenburg.
5:40 am: Find team mates at starting point, load up my stuff in the suburban. Wishing I had brought a winter hat/gloves all the while listening to Mike say, "I told you so."
6:20am: Wait outside in what may have been 20 degree weather for our runner 1 to start. Witnessed a lot of strangely dressed folks like the Burger King (who apparently took a picture with some random girl and then made out with her).
8 am: I ran my first leg. 5.5 miles. Within the first 2 miles I started to get cramps above my clavicle and I could feel my shoulders/neck tightening. I wanted to slow down and walk but then I thought about how hard I'd been training for this race. And I immediately thought of my baby Claire and how I was going to give it my all. My cramps went away, and I felt a surge of energy. I was able to pick up my speed and give it my best. I was still huffing and puffing and my legs felt tight. But all in all it was a great run. I decided to make it a goal to run the whole leg and that's what I did. When I found out that I completed it in 46:19 min I was happy. That is about a 8:25/mile pace.
9-1 Our team is awesome. We had a stereo tied down to the top and played music as we drove from exchange to exchange. We also pulled over on side of road to give support to our runners. We had a mic and talked to other runners. Most of them appreciated our music and our mostly encouraging comments. Some gave us dirty looks. We laughed a bunch. Some of the folks we witnessed or named: the turtle man with a big butt, the hula girl (who apparently has a coconut bra on), the dancing freak girl with a tight/shiny blue leotard, and the Burger King.
1 PM our van is finished and we went and ate at Fry's. I got a delicious panini ham&swiss cheese sandwich and Cheetos, and a diet soda (I don't recommend caffeine during a run) because I could tell I was about to get a migraine.
4 PM we went to the major exchange at a high school, changed into our next running outfit, laid out our sleeping bags on the grass field and tried to sleep. Got free mint chocolate chip cliff bars (I threw that in just for you Missa & Sian).
9:30 pm I ran my 2nd leg in Surprise, AZ. It was a 5.7 miler. I made another goal to not walk at all and I did it! I ran it with the intent of beating my first time. I was hoping to get close to an 8 min/mile pace. I killed 10 other runners. That felt great. I was a bit disappointed at the end when I found out I did it in 50:16 min. That is about 8:49 min/mile pace. Still a great time!
11 pm started to get bad stomach cramps. So much that I crawled in the fetal position in the back of the suburban and was miserable for about 3 hours. Finally took immodium and felt better.
2 am Got to major exchange and cleaned up. Laid out sleeping bags on gym floor and slept for 2 hours. Ahhhh! That felt great.
5 am Got up, brushed teeth and left for our next run.
7 am I ran my 3rd and final leg in Scottsdale on Dynamite Blvd. 7.6 miles. The last 3 miles were all uphill, no breaks or flat parts. I ran the entire first 6 miles and the last mile and a half I ended up walking 3 times about a 1/4 a track long. My time for 7.6 miles was 10:06 min/mile. That was a great time for me!!!! I was excited to end my last leg like that.
12 pm Our van is done and we end at Fountain Hills HS. I change and try to relieve the pain from being engorged. I told you this had all the gory details Yes, I still nurse my baby 5-6 times a day and hadn't nursed her for 32 hours. I was in pain and worried that I was going to get mastitis.
3:45 pm Our team ran in to finish line. I was sore everywhere. I was completely exhausted with only 2 hours of sleep. I was ready to eat. I was so drained and in so much pain from being engorged that I cried for 20 minutes. I nurse Claire & finally feel better.
5 pm Go out to eat with Missa, Sian & families to an awesome burger place and then I got Cold Stone Oreo's filling with oreos in it. YUM!
8:30 pm Got home to Prescott, took an Epsom salt bath, took Ibuprofen, iced my neck and went to sleep. Yeah!!!!
Amazing! I read both the long & short version and was equally inspired by both...LOVE IT!!! So in awe of what you can do! :)
ReplyDelete