Best Weekend of the Summer

I was so graciously invited by one of my BEST friends ever Katie Bryson to join her on a Ragnar team for the Wasatch Back this weekend!

Before I did a Ragnar, I only had some vague idea of what it was, so for those of you who don't know I'll explain Ragnar a little.  Each team of 12 has two vans with 6 runners each.  Each runner runs three times, so all six in van 1 run a leg, then all six in van 2 run a leg while van 1 rests/drives to where they pick up the race again, on and on.  The legs are of varying distances/difficulties runners of varying experience and in-shape-ness can participate.  You start Friday morning, run/drive all night (we slept 3 hours), and end Saturday afternoon or evening depending on how fast you are.

Doesn't that sound like fun!?  Their motto is something to the effect of

run, eat, sleep? repeat

which about sums it up

I was the last runner in van one, so I didn't run for several hours after we started.  My first leg was like this

Looks fun because it's all downhill, right?  This was actually the leg I was the most worried about as downhill running has KILLED my IT band in the past.  It turned out to be my very favorite magical run of my life.

A mile before I picked up the torch from the runner before me we got stuck in traffic, so I jumped out of the van and ran a mile past all the stopped cars so I could beat the guy running to meet me.   The adrenaline was pumping so hard I had to make myself slow down even though it was a solid uphill run. I picked up the slap bracelet (what they use as the baton) and started my first leg!

The first mile was up hill through the most BEAUTIFUL scenery!

Basically this, in the tippy tops of the mountains with green valleys and lakes spread out below.  I kept tripping because I was looking all around me at a piece of my gorgeous back yard I had yet to visit.

Well I raced to the top of the mountains and tried to hold back because it was a STEEP descent and I know what letting it loose can do to a body.  But I started to pass people...and I liked that feeling.  So I kept speeding up...and passing until I was just letting my legs fly as fast as gravity would carry them, picking it up every time I spotted a new runner I could pass.  I seriously felt like I was flying!  I gambled that I was in shape enough for my quads to handle it, and I won.  I felt like I was invincible the whole time, and I passed some pretty in shape dudes, which I was proud of :)

 Meanwhile my support van was stuck back in traffic and didn't catch up with me until probably mile 5 after it had flattened out a little.

This is a picture of when they caught me, they lined up on the side of the road and did the "wave" as I went by, with someone standing at the end with water to run with me for a minute while I took a drink.  The guy you see behind me caught me and said, "You have the best support van!"  And it was true.

My average mile pace for that run was 7:15...for 7 miles!  Of course it was all down hill, but it felt sooooo good!

This was my second leg.  8 miles of up hill, in the dark of the night.  Again my van was backed up in traffic so I added an extra half mile to catch my runner at the exchange.  I felt so strong for almost the whole run.  For the first 6 miles I again had to tell myself to take it easy because my body was so flooded with adrenaline I could hardly think straight.  At about mile 6 I could feel myself running out of steam and I knew I had that last uphill push still coming.  I was just preparing myself to start running on mental energy instead of actual physical energy when I found my team waiting for me in the dark with water and an energy goo!  I think this is the classic Ragnar moment.  

It kicked in just in time and helped so much, but towards the end I started needing some SERIOUS self talk.  It started out with whispering to myself, "Come on Sarah, you got this, this is exactly what you trained for with all those hills, come on.."  Then the run got steeper, and longer, and my energy was draining.  I needed more!  The whispering morphed into all out cheering myself on very much out loud, "YEAH, YOU GOT THIS!  YOU ARE STRONG!  YOUR TEAM KNOWS YOU CAN DO IT!"  I celebrated the crest of every little hill by throwing my hands up and yelling "Yeah!  I'm awesome!"  I also told everyone I passed and passed me that they were awesome, and I think it was all the positive energy that carried me through.

Average pace was 10 minute miles, which was awesome for me as I usually average 11 on flat ground, so 10 uphill for 8 miles ain't too shabby.

When I finished the run I felt high as a kite on adrenaline but my legs weren't quite working right and kept buckling.  My van was lost in a mess of traffic and it was pitch black so it was about 20 minutes before I found them again, which actually worked out great because it served as a cool down for my poor legs.

Then we went to a high school and slept on wrestling mats for three hours.  Just like the good ol' days!

My last run was a short little jaunt through Heber City.  I was so sore and tired, but as it approached I got excited to go as fast as I could!  I'm not really a fast runner, and most of my training runs are about 11 minute miles, 10 if I push it.  Thanks to an awesome cheering team, and some One Republic-Til the Love Runs Out I ran 2 sub 8 minute miles, even with so much fatigue.  I felt amazing in every way!

This is already so long, but I want to talk about what REALLY made the weekend so much fun, and that is the team.  I think I'll save that for the next post though so I can do it proper justice.  I know I generally don't read blogs that take me more than 5 or 10 minutes to get through so I don't expect anyone else to :)

Quick shout out though.  Katie Bryson, standing to my right in the picture.  She flew thousands of miles and brightened my life substantially.  She has been a true and loyal friend since we were three.  We haven't had the opportunity to spend much quality time together in the past few years as she has been busy teaching school, getting married, raising her daughter, moving to Ohio, and sharing her light with people all over the world.  In the short time we were together we connected on the deepest levels there are.  I am so grateful for her, and I'm so grateful the bonds we formed growing up have not faded in the least.  We're sisters.

The bummer is that about 10 pm Saturday night I noticed the outside of my foot starting to hurt.  Then today at work it started to really hurt, and now it is killing and I have no idea why.  But what this means is that since I can't get back out and keep training for my next race (triathlon in a month) I have time to write in my blog.  Which reminds me...I should probably catch you all up on how I got a full time job, and am going to Alaska, and am getting married...ha, just kidding on the last one!