RAGNAR 2011

Another RAGNAR has come and gone. What an experience!! You can tell people it's so "fun" and they ask exactly what about it is fun? Is it the sore muscles that make it so you walk funny? How about the sleep deprivation, the freezing cold...maybe the stinkin' hot?? I bet it's the really big hill! Strange really how none of those really fit into the category of fun, but the package deal is actually "fun"! Maybe it's just the bonding and the satisfaction of accomplishing something hard and different. I don't know, but I love it!!

We started at 7 am and it was really cold! Kristine started us out and I was next. My first run was 5.5 miles and mostly downhill. By downhill, I really mean not uphill. I was looking to blow through this run but I had a minor technical difficulty that threw me right before I started. Somehow my iPod got turned on and was completely dead. I have never, and I mean NEVER, run with NO music, NO time, NO speed or NO distance. I was running completely blind. I really didn't like it. I finished in 53 minutes. Next was Falkon, Glade, Dave and then Rhett. Have I mentioned that we took Rhett? I'm so glad we did!! I think that was the highlight of my race. His first run was 4.6 miles and he blew it out of the water!! He ran 7.5 minute miles. He was passing everyone. There's just something about watching your kid do something hard and then to do it so well on top of that. When he finished, he was in tears. He felt like puking, something he really never felt before after a run. I assured him it was because he worked so hard and he would be ok. Oh yeah, he ate a lot of licorice right before he ran. Anyway, it really shook him and he was not thinking he wanted to do another leg. He held up like a champ for the long time in the car and did very little whining. I was so proud of him.

I forgot to mention that at the start line was Sione Fa from the biggest loser. I told him I thought about punching him in the arm for not picking me for his RAGNAR team but decided against it. It was fun to meet him.



We decked out the van this year. It got better as time went on and we added things to it. Most people keep track of "kills" (how many people you pass) on their vehicles. But, being the nice little elves that we are, we kept track of "friends we've passed along the way". We ended up with 64. Most gotten by Dave, Falkon and Rhett.



I don't have a lot of great pictures right now because I still have no photo editor and so many of them need to be cropped and stuff to be any good so I will just post a few today. This is after my first run. It got hot really fast!


Falkon handing off to Glade. Glade didn't train as much as he would have like to but he did really well considering. He was really sore after his first one but managed to get through all his others pretty well.


This is Rhett's first run. You can see the effort on his face. Seriously, so proud of him.



I include this picture because it's the start of my very crappiest run. The fact that I'm standing in front of the "crappers" is fitting. It started really when I went in to the potty and forgot to lock it so I got walked in on. Not only did they open the door, but then I screamed so everyone looked. Nice. This run was only 4.7 and I was going to kill it. Not. For some reason I just didn't have it in me. I got a mile or so in and needed to take my jacket off. You can see that I have the reflective vest over my jacket and my team number pinned to it so it took some doing to get this accomplished while still running. Once I got all settled, I realized I had the baton (slap bracelet) over the sleeve of my jacket. Not any more. It was gone. I debated on going back to find it but decided I would just keep going and have my team go look while I finished the run. No luck. Anyway, I felt like I was running fast, but I ended the run at 10 minute miles. For me, that is not good. Especially on a small run that was completely flat. It was all I could do to not cry.

We didn't let Rhett do the night run for safety reasons and for his own comfort. After our second runs were done, we went to a hotel in Anthem to shower and rest. For some reason I couldn't stay asleep and kept worrying that we were going to over sleep. I didn't have a clock so I decided to get up and do my hair and get ready. Once I was done, I found my phone and realized we still had over an hour to sleep. I went back to bed and tried to sleep but Janice texted to tell us they were getting close. My team couldn't understand why I would straighten my hair before a run. Hello?? Anyway, we loaded up and headed to our final runs.

This was my Goliath for this event.

A lovely 8.8 miles mostly uphill. No one else on the team wanted to take this so it got left to me. I'm certainly not qualified to run a leg like this, but I had determined that I was going to DO this. It's so much in your head. I knew that if I kept myself positive and determined I could do this, even if it was slow...I was doing it. This ended up being my best run. Slowest, 11:20 minute miles, but I killed it! I felt so good!! My legs were tired, my chest was starting to hurt...my whole back and neck hurt from hunching over chugging up those hills, but I kept going. Glade kept pulling over every couple miles to give me water. At one point, I saw them but they hadn't gotten out to bring me water. I opened the side door to get it myself and scared the crud out of my team. That was kind of fun. Ü What a serious rush to finish this one!

This was Rhett's last run. We told him not to push quite so hard so he wouldn't puke after. This was a 5.5 mile run. He was excited and feeling really good about it. He flew! It was so fun to watch him passing people and having people cheer for him and compliment him along the way. He had some pretty good hills on this one as well. We pulled over every mile or so to give him a drink and check on him. He said he was doing great so we kept going.

This was our last stop checking on him. There was a turn coming up so we wanted to make sure he didn't miss it and get lost. The final stretch for his run was downhill. He passed 9 people along the way. When we got to the exchange, he was coming in so fast!! There was a large group there and everyone was screaming for him. It honestly brought tears to my eyes to see him coming down that hill and to hear the cheers for him. He finished and came right over and hugged me. My boy!! He had a great time and has already asked if he could run again next year. I think I might just let him!! It was really rewarding for both of us.


Finished!! After our last runs, our van went home to shower before we went to the finish line to meet our team. I showered and started to blow dry my hair ( I was at my mom's house) but she had taken the blow drier with her to my house. What??? I had no blow dryer and needed to leave in 30 minutes. This was bad. After searching for an extra one, I went over to the neighbors, who I've never met, and asked to borrow theirs. That's what desperation will do for you! Anyway, we headed back to watch them finish. Everyone did really well and we all had a great time. When asked if he was ready for next year, Dave says "you can't ask me that, I just gave birth to this RAGNAR!" I say we're in!!


Celebratory dinner at Texas Roadhouse. They made us wait about 15 minutes to get our tables ready so we asked if we could have rolls while we waited. They said we could have as many as we wanted. We had a lot!! Glade was asleep by 5:50, me by 6:30. Both of us slept 12 straight hours. Walking was a bit of a challenge all day, but not too bad. Even Rhett was a little sore. That made me happy! Thanks for a great weekend Cotton Headed Ninny Muggins!