Ragnar: Bringing out the superheros and babies in all of us

Nate and I ran the Wasatch Back Ragnar Relay last weekend! So lately it seems like everyone runs it these days cause I see those car stickers everywhere! It always sounded fun, sure, but now I totally get the craze… I’d do it again in a heartbeat!!!!

So in case you’re wondering what I’m talking about, the ragnar is a relay race, around 200 miles, and you have a 12 person team that runs it. So each person has 3 legs of the race, some harder than others, and the rest of your team cheers you on. There are 2 vans, I was in van 1. So the 6 people in van 1 each take turns running their first leg, and then van 2 starts while we rest, and then we start our second leg, and so on. So the way cool thing about ragnar is that yes the running is individual, but a group effort at the same time. You run for yourself AND for your team. Definitely easier than a marathon in my opinion, but on par or harder than a half marathon, depending on which leg you have. AND it is different than a marathon because it is running, running, running, all through the night! It is a weird feeling driving in the van at 2 in the morning and seeing blinking bum lights and head lamps and reflective vests on the side of the road.

The other thing that makes this experience unique is that when you finish your first run you have to tell your body, don't get too comfy dear, you’re not done yet cause you gotta be back out there running in a few hours!! So you try to rest in between, but you’re already tired and sore for your next leg. So the mind games can drive you crazy!!! Cause there you are, with 3 separate runs, and leading up to each one I am like, okay, what do I eat, I can’t eat too much, I can’t eat too little! When do I take my ibuprofen? Should I take my Cliff shot blocks now or later? Should I drink more? Should I stop drinking? Should I hit the porta-potty one more time? And don’t forget the Tums!!! (something I have found helps my tummy issues, thanks Lindsey!) Then by the time the run comes I’m SO nervous and anxious, pumped up and waiting at the exchange point for my teammate to slap that bracelet on me and take off! AHHHH it’s exciting and nerve wracking at the same time. I LOVED IT!!!

So Nate and I got up at 4 a.m. Friday morning and met up with our van (me, Nate, Jon, Lindsey, Dale, and Tom) and drove up to Logan, the start of the race! (it ended in Park City). I was pretty excited to finally experience this ragnar thing everyone talks about. I was a little nervous, because I only went running twice since the marathon, so I was not sure how prepared I was. But, the fact that our team was in it for fun, not for time, was comforting.

So Nate was runner ONE so he got to start off the race!!! Team start times are staggered so that you don’t have billions of runners trying to start (there were like over 13,000 runners I heard!) and our start time was at 7:45 a.m. Well off Nate went!! His leg was pretty difficult, his first leg was 6.9 miles, classified as “hard” but he rocked it. So riding in the van, you watch your teammate start their leg and then go find them later and ask how they're doing. We’re there to provide water, Gatorade, support, cheering. Then they’ll usually say to go up ahead a half mile, or mile, or to the exchange (the places the “baton” or in this case “slap bracelet” goes to the next runner). So watching Nate run that first leg I could tell right away this was gonna be awesome!

For one thing it is crazy seeing all the other decorated vans ( it is a MUST to decorate your van, you’re pretty much lame if you don’t) AND to see all the other teams!!! We were definitely in the minority because we did not have costumes or matching shirts. It is seriously like one big Halloween party! And some people are SO FUNNY!! I saw hilarious team themes, team names, running gear!! There was one team whose theme was the old “Johnny Lingo” so their van had a coconut bra and the team dressed up in hula gear, there were some cows, seriously so funny. I saw tons of tutus and wigs, and seriously way too many fake bums. Some teams have their runners do crazy things like run with a surfboard or a parachute! It is like one big weird running party! Such a blast!!!!!

Well I was runner 5 and my first leg was 7.4 miles and classified as “very hard.” It was all uphill, a total elevation gain of over 1200 feet… I was pumped up though and I had a feeling it was going to go great. And it did!!! It was basically trail running, on gravel, and up I went, but I felt SO strong and SO good. My body totally cooperated with me, no weird tummy pains, no knee problems, nothing, I felt like a superhero going up that hill. I hardly wanted to stop for water. I was seriously on a HIGH, I so love that runner feeling, on air, giddy! And it was a real accomplishment for me cause I HATE uphill, always have, and yet I conquered it. GO ME GO!!!!

Here is what that run looked like:

Coming off my first leg I felt amazing. I was like I LOVE RAGNAR THIS IS THE BEST DAY EVER! I had awesome teammates in my van, I loved doing it with Nate, seeing him ahead waiting with water for me was like awwww there’s my hubby. Our van thing was barking at each other and at other runners… we were the “McGruff Milers” (as in “Take a bite out of crime” McGruff yep our team was sponsored cause Nate’s brother-in-law Ryan is a Dare officer) it was made me laugh. Bonding with your van is another cool thing about the ragnar, cause you’re all rooting for each other, you’re all sweaty, stinky, and salty and changing clothes in the backseat and running to the porta-potties every chance ya get… I must have used the porta-potty like 30 times, nope can’t be too much of a germ freak for ragnar you just won’t survive...

So then our van was done with our first legs so we had some down time before our next leg while van 2 went. We brought all sorts of snacks and food in the van. We were up at Snow Basin when we started our second legs, Friday night! Nate’s second was 8.3 miles, “very hard” and he struggled a bit yet still managed less than a 10:30 pace, he is pretty awesome. My run started around 10:30 or 11:00 p.m. so I had my head lamp and everything and my leg was 4.2 miles, slightly uphill, and running that late at night with the stars above… YEP I was on another high, I felt INVINCIBLE, and I SO felt like I was booking it. I felt fast, I mean given I had a difficult run earlier and was a little stiff from that (my IT band on my left upper thigh) I was doing great. I was like, look at me!! Runnin like the wind! I wonder what my pace is! So as I finished up and Nate met me I immediately asked him, “Do you know what my time was?” (cause Nate tried to keep track of those things) He’s like “well the time accidentally stopped in the porta-potty... (note to self, get an actual stop watch, not the stop watch feature on the cell phone) ...so I’m not sure, but I think maybe an 11:20 pace??”

I was like EXCUSE ME!! Oh my gosh, THIS is where my fatigue and emotions kicked in, my teammates were there so I tried to hide how ticked I was, but seriously I wanted to shove Nate right then, wrestle him to the ground for being SO RUDE!!!! (you know I really wouldn’t!) In my head I was like “OH NO HE DI’INT!! WHATFREAKENEVER! Why is he LYING to me!!!” (did I mention I was delirious?) I was SO MAD at myself!!! Nate tried to make me feel better, like, oh yeah the stopwatch stopped, and you made it to the exchange way faster than I thought, I’m sure my initial timing was wrong, BLAH BLAH BLAH but it was too late I was being a baby! ! We get to the van and it’s all dark and I am trying not to cry, then some tears come and I hate myself for caring so much. I felt defeated, like, I can’t even be fast when I try to be fast and feel good! Nate has a better pace when he has an awful run! I was letting my mind beat me up. I was like well FINE I get it I’m NOT a runner, I’ll NEVER be fast, I am LAAAMME. Well it took me a few minutes (and a LOT of cheddar Chex Mix), but I finally calmed down from my silent rage and let it go. I mean, the truth is I had another great run and felt strong and in my head I was flying despite all odds, so WHO CARES!!!!! There is a quote that goes, “In my mind, I am a Kenyan.” Totally!!!!!!

So our van finished up our second legs around 12:30 or 1 a.m. and it was FREEZING. We drove to the next exchange, at a high school, and got sleeping bags out and slept on the field outside where tons of other runners were trying to get some sleep. I got a good 4 hours or so, it was nice! I was afraid I’d freeze to death, but I was nice and toasty in my sleeping bag (even though the blanket on top and edge of my pillow was soaked through by morning).

Then van 2 called us and let us know their last runner would be done soon, so Nate needed to be ready. I had a bagel and we were ready for our last legs! I was nervous for my last one, it was only 3 miles (although I heard someone’s Garmin showed it was more than that!), but I had a feeling it’d be hard. And yes it was definitely my hardest run! I was tired and there was a huge uphill, and I REALLY wanted to run up all of it, cause so far I hadn’t walked any of my previous runs (only stopped to drink) but my legs were like, hellooooo you’ve already run so much uphill in the last few hours, we can’t do it anymore. So that plus the HEAT- I was done pushing it. I walked up a lot of that hill and then HALLELUJAH it went downhill from there so I ran the rest. Then I was done!!!! Our last runner, Tom (SUPER FAST!) went, and then van 1 was done!!!! Yay!! We then had to wait for van 2 to finish, so we could all run in together to the finish. It was van 2’s third leg that contained what is actually called the “RAGNAR!” it looks like this:

Yikes! Nate’s sister Kellie ran it this year and did awesome!!!!! Yeah Kellie!

So during that time we paid $2 to take a shower in the Heber high school’s gym. SO WORTH IT! Then we headed to Park City and ate at Red Rock, I got the chicken parmesan YUM!!!!! Food never tasted so good. Then ICE CREAM!! We deserved it!!!

Then we ran in with van 2 across the finish in 35 hours! Whew! (but if you look up our team the website shows 28 hours... pretty impossible, so it's kinda funny!!!!

Here are a bunch of pictures! I took almost 200 so.... yeah here are just some highlights, lucky you.

Nate at the start.

Lindsey waiting to go.  Ain't she cute!!!

Yeah Lindsey!

Dale and his son, Tom.

Jon, ready to go!

Dale is ready!  This guy is so funny!

Excited!

Look how pretty!! Softened that uphill a bit!

GORGEOUS!

And off Tom goes!

Meetin up with Kellie and Ryan at the van exchange.

Nate's ready for his next run.

Jon & Lindsey.  I think it's a great pic.  It was so much fun running with these guys!! (this is Nate's cousin and his wife.)

Lindsey rocked her second leg!

And passing off to Jon.

The only picture of my second leg, pretty freaky.

Nate's almost done.

Loved it!! Hopefully I'll meet ya again, Ragnar!!

And a HUGE THANKS to my dad who watched our kids and had them for 2 nights (my mom was on her sisters' retreat so my dad had them all by himself, changing diapers, makin bottles and everything, isn't he the best?!!) and to my mom-in-law, Pam who watched them all day Saturday and had their clothes washed and the kids bathed when we got home that night, seriously, I wanted to cry. THANK YOU!!!!!