RAGNAR 2011
Super terrific Ragnar! All the girls I run with the most were on the team BLING! So we put together a pretty great SLUMBER PARTY ON WHEELS this year!!! With a few new awesome additions! And a last moment RETURN. It was so GREAT!
With the first step of my first “leg” I realized that my hamstring issue (Ive been trying to be in denial about since before PF CHANG’S Rock n Roll Marathon) was going to make this weekend a challenge.
My Mantra for the Trip: Its Only Pain
1st leg:
Ow, ow, ow, its only pain, get through it, don’t have to go as fast as last year…maybe 8 min miles? Upon finishing, my Sweat Sisters got me ice, got me rolling on a foam roller, gave me a protein shake…these girls are so great! I am so lucky to be friends with such Awesome Gals!
Dinner at Olive Garden:
Bring on the Breadsticks Please!!! More Pasta! More Carbs!!! The FOODY in me will take any excuse to CARB LOAD!!! Ill take bread and pasta over brownies! Mmmmm, mmmmm! I did avoid the cream sauce as you never know how that will digest once you hit those mid-thirties! Gotta be careful when your next run is in a few hours!!! And be sure to hit the clean flushing bathroom on the way out- what a treat! After Porto-Johns, a ceramic bowl and a flush is heavenlyJ
Trying to Sleep at the School:
We were able to go in to the basketball court and try to catch a few winks, or go into the Ladies Locker Room and get a shower. After just one run thus far, a nap or a shower didn’t sound necessary yet. We tried for the sleep, but I think only Lisa slept in that Gym. Im glad Lisa got a little shut-eye, cause she has been our Driver, kindly driving her mini- van so that we could chill and enjoy the scenery! Or enjoy a van snooze. Yes we did use mini-vans this year instead of the big kidnapper vans. (When I was a kid I was scared of the big white vans with dark windows and always thought that kidnappers drove them) And less space worked just fine for us. Cause we like each otherJ Id do mini-vans again. Not saying Id turn it down if someone offered me a free kidnapper van…but the mini van was super great!
2nd leg, aka the NIGHT RUN!
Loved this one the most. It was dark and so I didn’t look at my watch much. And party of my run was an off-road trail course. With loose gravel and also sandy patches. At one point the ground just seemed to end, and there was a huge drop- I had to carefully walk down- I considered sliding on my bum! The terrain made it impossible for a speedy run, so I enjoyed the freedom of just letting that go (the need for speed), and just enjoying the night and the change in terrain. I had a good time and a smile on my face the whole time.
Karen reported that the turns weren’t marked very well during her night run, so right before my run I memorized all my turns- right or left, and the names of the roads. Weeelll, maybe not a good idea for me. I took a left on a smaller “Lake Pleasant” just one street shy of the major “Lake Pleasant”, and came to a dead end. Turned around. Ran back onto the correct course. Gave myself an extra half mile on my favorite run of Ragnar. Really enjoyed the extra mileage, but sorry we probably could’ve beat the “Muffin Tops” if I hadn’t gotten lostL
3rd Leg: the Final
My final leg was 8 miles, a very slight down hill for much of it. After getting lost last leg, the first mile of this run made me nervous. Because right off a girl with long dark hair stopped with me at a traffic light- do we turn or go straight she asked me? Turn that way, I guessed. We saw one runner, way far ahead of us, in pink. But she could’ve been a recreational runner and not a Ragnar Racer. I wasn’t convinced that we were on the right route until some young, long-legged, born to run fellows passed me up. Then I was sure that we were all heading the right way. I let dark hair girl take off and get way ahead of me. I wasn’t going to push things with this left Hamstring pain. But eventually I passed girl-in-pink and caught up with dark-hair-girl. I passed dark-hair-girl but heard her right behind me for a long time. Hearing her immediately behind me made me run faster than I intended to. In your head, sometimes, you don’t care about being passed, but its that awkward feeling like you cant just let it happen…so youre thinking “Just pass me already!!! So I can relax!” I didn’t have allot of fight in me for this race, but just enough to not move over and wave her ahead! At the end, for some reason I didn’t see Sarah waiting in the shute, and the (ultra) guy in front of me kept going, so I got a little panicked that I had to keep going! But then I saw Sarah and was so happy to give her the slap bracelet!
Some extra FYI:
*Our dear Brynn got so sick at the last moment. We were so sad for her to have to miss! We were so happy that Sarah with the long flowy hair was able to fill in! And she only found out the night before! Amazing! Sarah only had a baby just a few months ago. And has been running some, but not back to her regular load…but her family rallied and got things covered for her 5 kids, including baby! What a great Husband! And we got Sarah back! I wish we could’ve had Brynn AND Sarah!
*Bridge was our Team Captain again! We were lucky to have her experience and appreciate all the pre-planning and set-up that she does for us!
*We missed others from last year….Jenn Gloria who had a baby recently, Beth who is prego, Sarah who lives too far away to come every year, Sharon who is running with Shadow these days, and poor Brynn who got sick at last moment.
*We got to know some great new people this year…Barb and Aubrey who have been running with us for awhile now, Kecia who teaches our kids art and is a great runner, Lisa’s friend Laura we’ve been hearing about for years, and Barb’s friend Linda who flew here, and also filled in kind of late in the game…
*My favorite rivaling team: You are often around the same teams for much of the race. I loved Victoria’s Secret. They wore big padded bras, panties, banana slings, all of it over their running clothes, and wings too. And usually even RAN their legs with their underwear on. I was very impressed! They were cute and energetic, always had music going and dancing…seemed like a really fun team! We tried to stay ahead of Flamingo Girls, and Cynthia did some trash talking to a cheetah girl. Maybe she can tell us about that in her blog accountJ
*Many had injuries or health issues to work with but still pushed through the challenges and took one for the teamJ Way to go Girls!!!
*Ragnar was all about SAFETY PRECAUTIONS this year, as last year’s Del Sol had a fatality. Im glad Ragnar made some changes, gave some extra safety precautions, and gave us a good race this year.
*I didn’t take pictures, so Im counting on one of you girls to post some Awesome Pictures, because Pictures are the Best!!!
Thankyou Ragnar!
