Recovering runner.

I am back from the gorgeous Wasatch mountains where I survived the Wasatch Back Ragnar Relay.  I swear, one of these days I will stop talking about Ragnar altogether.  That day might be tomorrow.  Please don’t let me sign up for the Wasatch Back again.  Don’t get me wrong, I am overjoyed to have done it once and be able to check that off the list, but NEVER AGAIN! (Unless I can be runner #4.)  Avon Pass has ruined me for that.  Avon Pass is probably a lovely Sunday drive to take in your SUV, but Avon Pass is not a run I’d ever like to do again.  It sucked rocks.  I was able to run quite a bit for the first probably 3.5 miles.  There were some nice shady and barely uphill parts, but then the last 4 miles?  YUCK.  I would call that a hike.  Not a run.  My hip sockets were starting to freakin’ kill me so I was just trucking it at as fast a walk as I could manage.  I was keeping up with a girl in front of me who at one point burst into tears.  I hear you LOUD AND CLEAR sister.  I had to literally force myself to look up and take in the beautiful surroundings every once in a while and remind myself that there was more to it than that hideous dirt treadmill under my feet.  My team was awesome with the moral support and I love them so much for that.  When I finally dragged my chunky butt across the exchange someone from my team asked “how do you feel?”  And I can’t tell you my reply because this is a family blog.  But if you know me well you know what I said.

My second leg was a nice little jaunt through the cute farmy towns of, um, let me look it up…  Oh yes, Morgan and Richville.  I loved jogging past the cows and couldn’t help myself so I said “Hi ladies!!”  I was wussing out and walking at the end of that one until some girls on their front porch said “Come on!  Run!  You can run!”  And I was like “I CAN run goshdangit!”  I loved the spectators who watched from their yards and cheered me on.  I needed it.  Soooooo tiiiiiiiired.

Then a Ragnar miracle occurred.  I’m not sure if my team understands that this is a rarity.  We got 5 hours of sleep.  Blissful sleep on a grassy field.  Ahhhhh.

The next day was my third and final run.  3 miles.  Keri, wonderful Keri, came up to run with me and that was just awesome.  Bless the last mile of that one for being a beautiful downhill.  I needed a downhill desperately.

Wow, I wasn’t intending to do a full race report but there you have it.  Had a hilarious time with my team, loved stumping John at his own game (Pat Benatar!), loved all the poop jokes, and I am so glad I did it.  I don’t think I ever really blogged about the last Ragnar because I wasn’t stoked about the fact that we only completed two-thirds of it because a young man was hit by a car just a couple of miles ahead of us (he died a few days later), which threw the whole race off and basically thwarted our will to carry on.  So it feels awesome to have finished this one. 

Sad news is I lost my camera.  Sob.

One more race this summer.  A 10K in July, and then I’m going to be a 5K girl from here on out. 

I know.  I’m a pansy.  :)