I AM A MANIAC!

Well, tonight is filled with some excitement for me! After finishing 4 full marathons last year including my Marathon Maniac Bronze level qualifying back to backs within 16 days (St. George and Long Beach), I submitted entry into the unique club and can now call myself Maniac #3597. I've had this "title" since I submitted back in March, but today it just feels official because I just received the hat and arm warmers that I finally ordered last week! I wanted to make sure I had some MM swag to wear in a couple weeks at the Wasatch Back Ragnar, so I could wait no longer to purchase my "elitist" gear (LOL). I cannot wait to wear them and with the crazy weather in Utah right now, the arm warmers will come in handy for sure! The hat will be worn as early as tomorrow!!! :) Thanks to many of you that I was able to join in training many early summer mornings last year! Couldn't do it without you!

The arm warmers are some of the nicest I've ever tried on. Very nice bands at the top that don't pinch but have non-slip rubber. The hat is full mesh with a sweatband on the inside. I'm quite pleased with the quality of both! Next time I'll order a shirt or some shorts, but I figured these are perfect for my upcoming running trip. About that...

If some of you don't know, I'm captaining a Wasatch Back Ragnar team. The race is June 17th and 18th. 8 of us are driving from Phoenix in a 15 passenger van and we have 4 Utah team members as well. Our team name is Sofa King Awesome Runners...don't say that out loud if the kids are around. ;) Fun group of runners of all abilities. I'm also very excited to again be sharing another Ragnar with Al (the amazing man in my life for those that haven't heard from me in a while). It's awesome to get the chance to share your hobbies with your partner! This weekend Al and I went up to Flagstaff to get some elevation training in. We did some major hill repeats on NAU campus on Saturday evening and hiked on Sunday (see pic of the view from the hike - we watched elk grazing in the distance!). Gearing up for this mighty race has been a challenge since we haven't run much since Del Sol, but it feels so good to be getting back into it! We are packing in the training this week especially and will likely travel to Flagstaff again on Saturday. We may hike Lockett Meadow which is even higher elevation than Ragnar's 8950 foot high point. Anyone been there?

We are still hoping all the passes for the Ragnar race will be open and the 192 mile route will go as planned. The biggest part of the race - "The Ragnar" leg - goes over Guardsman's Pass which isn't scheduled to open until late June. Ragnar says they are working closely with the state, hiring excavators, etc to assist in the repair process after already reworking the course routes to avoid the current damage to Old Snow Basin Road (see picture). We shall see! Always an adventure no matter what roads they send us down (or UP)!

More Ragnar updates to come later! Hope everyone is doing well out there in WeLove2Run Blog Land! Happy running!

Believe It or Not - Ragnar Del Sol 2010 Registration is Upon Us!

It's time, ladies! I know we have talked about it in the past, but the time has come! Ragnar Del Sol registration is due in mid-October! Lindy, I know you said you want to co-captain a team with me - let's do this! Again, I'd love to get an all women team together if we can, so call out to all of your girl friend runners!

February 26-27, 2010 - 202.1 miles, 12 runners, 3 legs each, around 3 to 8 miles each leg over about 24-30 hours. AMAZING FUN!

Details here: http://www.ragnarrelay.com/delsol/index.php

We need $85 for registration from each of you that want to join us. I'd like to get your registration and commitment by Friday, October 9th from as many as possible so we don't have to front so much to Ragnar. I know most of you see Lindy, so please get your dues to her. You can get your $85 to us in smaller chunks over the next few weeks if that works better for you too. In addition to the $85 we will need to cover expenses for vans, food, possibly uniforms, rest lodging, etc. From past experience I have to estimate this at approximately another $80 to $100 in addition to the $85. We don't need this until February though. This CAN BE LESS if we can do some good fund raising and get sponsors! I know it sounds like quite a bit, but this race is truly amazing at over 200 miles with the experience of being with a team! Del Sol '10 will be my 5th Ragnar - there MUST be a reason for that, right??!

Anyone can join us - I've had walkers, joggers and sprinters on past teams together...it's all about the team and the fun! Who's with us?!

Chasin' Cheeks

Ragnar Relay Los Angeles - My first leg (leg 10) coming from the Oxnard area and then down to finish out the 5 1/2 mile leg along Pacific Coast Highway.

This was my first leg and I was ready to go! I was runner number 10 and had been waiting to run since our team start at 8:00am. By now it was around 4:00pm. I took off fast after Brandi slapped the bracelet on me at the exchange. This run actually took me a little bit inland through farmland then back out to the coast. In the first couple of miles I encountered several tractors stopping for me to pass which was kind of funny. I was singing the theme song to Green Acres in my mind (and even a little out loud) for a few minutes during the run. Nice day, perfect weather, but wow...coastal winds can be killer! Something to keep in mind - running against high winds and additional gusts from passing cars on a highway gets to be a little frustrating, so plan your pace accordingly. ;)

At about mile 4 the team stopped to check on me and I let them know I was fine - see ya at the end! Then they pulled ahead after a few minutes and stopped again. I was thinking, why on Earth are they stopping again? Did they think I would walk the rest of the way if they weren't supervising?? LOL Then I see they have the camera out...ok, just taking some pictures of me, cool. Just then I'm passed on my right by another runner and all I see is CHEEKS!!!! I literally gasped! When I realized that the team was there to take the pictures I went running at full speed trying to catch him with my palm open ready for the smack! I knew he was running way to fast for me to catch, but it made for some great pictures! To see what I was chasing click here! Wasn't sure if the backside was quite appropriate to post to the blog, but it's out there if you want to see it! I included the picture of my initial reaction - priceless!!! There are more pics of Cheeks' warm up here. Quite funny, but I will remind you probably not safe to be opening at work. :) My Garmin top speed for that mile was 9.5mph (6:18min/mi) - Cheeks was FAST!

Shortly after that he was long gone and I had just a little over a mile left. I continued running into the wind until my pass off to Pete along the coastline a few miles north of Mugu Rock. I felt great after the run and was excited for the roads ahead! I did this leg in about 58 min - a 10:37 pace against the wind which I was happy with!

More general race pictures can also be seen on Pete's site, Mikey's site, and my site if you want to browse the fun! More to come later, but I must say that this leg was the highlight of the race for me! Too hilarious!

Ragnar L.A.!

Hi ladies! Just a quick post to let you know I survived and feel surprisingly good! The weather was great, beaches were beautiful and my team was a group of GREAT people! I tried to real time blog while I was out there but for some reason my phone wouldn't support it and I couldn't download an app that would do it. I will be posting a series of blogs this week to describe each of my legs and some other details of the race. I want you guys to take them in chunks because I know you'll want to make some comments...especially on my first one which I've already named Chasin' Cheeks (I know, the anticipation is killing you now!).

We came in 2nd to last which was a surprise to us. We planned on being dead last. If you have read the blog about my team you will understand why. We had many walkers on our team. We only came in before the solo team (yep - one guy that ran the whole thing!). 30:18:07 was our time. We did, however, win Best Team Name! S.W.A.T.T. - Sprinters, Walkers and Trash Talkers. I think I did a little of all three but they officially qualified me as a Sprinter which I have to laugh about when I think the best pace I had was 10:37 for my first leg. Details and stats to come later, but wanted to tell you all that I had a blast and we're already signed up for LA next year!!

Running Scared!

Just a quick post to share my combined emotions of fear and excitement. Well, as usual, Ragnar changed race legs less than 2 weeks before the race. Unfortunately for me I was impacted the most by this change as well as Brandi (one of the 3 AZ girls). Suddenly I'm picking up more mileage than anyone else on the team! Ahhhh! I was already fearing my route prior to the changes at 15.8 miles, but now I'm staring down 20.7 miles total! They tacked on an extra 10.4 miles overall in the revision and now our total mileage is 188.1.

Maybe I should have just gone ahead and signed up for St. George with you guys. I'm only 6 miles away (but luckily I get some breaks in between during Ragnar). LOL I know I CAN do this and what an awesome accomplishment I will have when I finish it, but I just really need some encouragement - the race is next Friday!!!! If you are interested in what the route looks like you can check out our Race Bible.

The new chart:












The old chart for comparison:

The Story of My L.A. Ragnar Team

This is a motivating story that I wanted to share with all of you as an introduction to the team I'm co-captaining for the L.A. Ragnar at the end of this month. I think that it is great for all to read this inspiring true story as written by Tracey Martinez. It is a real life story that rings true the quote on the blog home page from The Penguin - "The miracle isn't that I finished, the miracle is that I had the courage to start." After reading this I know that one day I could do a full! :) Hope you enjoy!


This is a story about me (Tracey) and my best friend (Mike). We are both in our late 30’s and up until last year neither of us had ever thought of doing a half marathon or "several" half marathons or a 178 mile Ragnar Relay let alone anything else that required "that" much exercise. In May of last year Mike had the "lap band" surgery and he started losing weight. His progress was doing great but at that point he was not exercising much. In June I found out about the Disneyland half marathon coming up the end of August and being a huge Disney fan I mentioned I was going to sign up. When I told my "athletic" friends they chuckled and said "you know that is 13.1 miles right?" When I told Mike he said "great so lets sign up" and that was how this whole fun, crazy idea started. High school injuries destroyed Mike’s knees years ago so we knew he would not be able to "run" but he did start walking and training to maintain a pace under a 16 minute mile. We hear that people train for months to complete just one of these events and we did to but that is not where the story ends. By the time the Disney half marathon was here we now had the great idea that we should do the half marathon at Disney World in January of 2009. We had not even completed our first half and we were already going to do another one in 6 months. I completed the Disneyland one in just under 3 ½ hours but around mile 10 Mike was having trouble taking in water and keeping it down so his pace slowed down. He crossed the finish line in just over 4 hours so he did not receive a finisher’s time but more importantly HE FINISHED IT. At this point he had lost 75 lbs, I was so proud. I knew he could do it and even made up a t-shirt to give him at the end that said "THERE WILL BE DAYS I DON’T KNOW IF I CAN DO A HALF MARATHON, THERE WILL BE A LIFETIME KNOWING I HAVE." With our feet blistered and muscles aching we limped around Downtown Disney and plotted our next event. We decided we would do a "half marathon a month between now and Disney World in 6 months". Somehow this seemed like a great idea for the guy who started out at over 300 lbs and the girl that considers chocolate a major food group. (Did I mention I had a brownie the morning of the Disneyland half marathon (-: cuz it was yummy.)

The Lompoc half marathon was the third week in September and our feet had almost healed so we were ready to do it all again. The week before Lompoc my right leg had a horrible pain that kept getting worse. On Friday I went to the Doctor and they diagnosed me with a blood clot behind the knee. The next day Mike completed the half marathon with another friend of ours. This time he not only "completed" it but he finished 30 minutes faster then Disneyland. The Doctor informed me I could not compete until I am no longer on Coumadin (blood thinner) and that would be about 6 months. By now we had already decided it would be Long Beach in October, Pasadena in November, Las Vegas in December, and then Disney World in January. This was Mike’s big chance to back out and wait until "we" could do them together but he decided to finish what we had set out to do.

He completed Long Beach and with that he had done 3 half marathons in 7 weeks. On the morning of Pasadena the race was cancelled due to the Loma Vista fire and with such short notice he could not find another half marathon in November.

By around November I started looking for half marathons that "I" could do once the Doctor cleared me hopefully the beginning of April 2009. Mike decided he would keep doing these half marathons up until April and then "with me" after that. Each event we went to I would be there at the beginning, middle, and end cheering him on. I mean how many "big" people do you usually see at a half or full marathon. Mike and I decided even if we came in last it was more important that we tried in the first place. Since I no longer worried about the pain and blisters I had the time to look for new races and challenges :-). Then I ran across this race called a "Ragnar Relay". From the moment I opened the page I loved the story about "beach bunnies...and you and 11 of your friends....going 178 miles....and how the rest of them would support you with water, cheers, and love". I told Mike about it and showed people we work with the web site. I told them how fun it looked and they said yes until I explained it was 178 miles in 24 hours then they said I was crazy. I explained how we (Mike and I) would need team mates and again how "fun" it would be. About this time they started to remember I (me) had this blood clot but I promised I would be better by then so I would be participating.

In December we went to the expo for the Las Vegas marathon and there it was...the Ragnar van. I am sure the nice young gentlemen and ladies there thought Mike and I were crazy but we stopped and chatted their ears off about how much we wanted to do this. We said we were not sure if we could complete all 178 miles with our "semi" in shape team. I explained to the people in Vegas that we are "looking for some really fast runners that are willing to lose". They were so nice and encouraged us to go for it. We came home and told our co-workers and friends that we just had to do it. We have watched so many of those videos and my favorite quote is from "Friends, family, and a fool" when this lady is holding a water bottle to her head and she says "this is fun except for the running part". I kept telling our team just don't think about the running part. Our team keeps pointing out to me that all "those people" are skinny and in shape. So we have decided to bring some "bulk" to the race. We know we won't come in first and we will be thrilled to come in last because at least we will know we made it. Signing up for this race has inspired some of the team to join a gym. I am proud to say I will be the biggest cheerleader out there because I think it is awsome that my friends are doing this with me as we push ourselves beyond what we thought we could do.

As for Mike....he completed Las Vegas but somehow I ended up with a cheerleader outfit?? :-) I believe he said if he is doing these half marathons then I get to wear the cheerleader outfit. I even have a picture of me next to the Ragnar van while wearing it. January came and Mike could only sign up for the FULL marathon at Disney World so that is what he did. He was a bit disappointed because he got to mile 24 and they picked him up. He had 7 hours to complete the marathon and at mile 24 he was at 6 1/2 hours so he was really close but the blisters were slowing him down. This was his FIRST full marathon and if your keeping track that was 5 half marathons in the prior 6 months. At this point Mike has lost 115 lbs. He does not realize how much he inspires myself and his friends. He is someone with 2 bad knees that was once classified as "super morbidly obese" but yet he has not let that slow him down. He may not be "running" but he is definitely an inspiration for people to get out and start moving.

In February he finally took a month off to let his feet heal but he has decided to make up for it in March by doing 2 half marathons a week apart.. Come April you will see us at the Ragnar. We plan to start doing half marathons together again from May to Sept when Disneyland comes around again. After Disneyland the only one definitely planned is the Goofy challenge (a HALF marathon on Sat and FULL marathon on Sunday) at Disney World in January 2010.

I have walked in five 3 day 60 mile events to raise money for breast cancer and I know how much I enjoyed ALL of the people I walked with then. I am so excited and can not wait to experience the Ragnar Relay with over 60 other teams.

The Ragnar Drug

Caution: Novel Ahead. Read if you dare, or if you happen to have some extra time. :)

First just a quick intro to a Ragnar Relay for those that are unfamiliar. It is close to 200 miles more or less depending on location, 36 legs of the race, 12 runners with 3 legs of the race each of varying distances, 2 vans, maybe a couple drivers, maybe an ounce of sleep, and a good deal of fun. Van 1 runs 6 legs then hands off to Van 2 and this process keeps going through leg 36 when everyone meets at the finish line.

I just finished my 2nd Ragnar Relay Del Sol in Arizona the last weekend in February. This year was 13 miles longer than last year - 202.1 miles from Prescott to Mesa. Van 1 had to be on the road by 4:30am since they live in Mesa to pick up Suzanne and I from the west side around 5:00am, then on to Prescott! As soon as we arrived we all got out into the cold and decorated the van with window markers and donkeys. Our team name was Draggin' Ass, so the donkeys were fitting and quite cute! Fun pun at that. 8:00am start time and Runner 1, Jamie was off! After cheering him on along the side of the start line we had to hurry back down the hill to get back in the van to get Runner 2 to the 1st exchange point. Jamie's leg was only a little more than a 5K so there was no time to spare! The handoff from Jamie to Sarah was the first of 36 exchanges over the course of 34 hours and 33 minutes.

I was runner 5 and my first run was 5.3 miles into Skull Valley, AZ! Me being quite the Halloween fanatic I thought this was perfect for me. I wore a skull bandanna around my hat, a glowing skull ring and 2 mini plastic skull flags criss-crossed through my pony tail. The flags whipped through the wind as I was running - a reminder of the fun we're creating during this race! About 3 miles in I found my team van along the side of the road in front of the Skull Valley Cemetery waiting with gatorade, orange slices and a camera with the backdrop of the cemetery gates. Kind of silly, but a cool pic! Quick photo/drink break and back to the road. I continued my run into the town so tiny and quaint that I thought I was running through Mayberry in 1950 for about 10 minutes - see the pictures. My exchange to Suzanne was on a dirt road in the middle of town just past the town museum which was only about the size of my garage at home! Bracelet slap and she was on her way. 1 of 3 legs complete for me! Such a great feeling!

When Suzanne finished her first leg in a town called Kirkland around 1:15pm we had about 5 hours or so to go try to get some rest. We drove down to Wickenburg where went to grab a bite to eat at a local restaurant right outta the 60's and to get some rest. We were lucky enough to have a motel room donated to the team to rest and shower (an extreme luxury although it was a very old Best Western!). After lunch we all tried to get a little rest back at the room but all of us were too excited to sleep. The time flew by and we were back on the road headed up to Congress, AZ where Jamie started his 2nd leg around 8:00pm.

Jamie's leg was mostly on a trail and the van could only get to him once along his 6.3 mile route. Good thing, because his headlamp had just about gone out and little did he know how much he would need another light. He definitely won the prize for completing the worst leg of the race (unfortunately it was horribly set up by Ragnar...new to the course this year and hopefully not a part of next year's). We saw many runners come out with bloody scratches and VERY upset from falling into washes, getting lost off the poorly and mostly unlit trail, and even running into barbed wire and cactus! This was the only "treacherous" leg that caused some blood...don't let this dissuade you from running a Ragnar race. The runners all made it through eventually including Jamie. He passed the slap bracelet on to Sarah and we all continued on through the cold darkness lit only by our MANY glow bracelets, necklaces and vehicle headlights as they passed.

My second leg didn't start until about 11:45pm and was about 7.5 miles long heading out of Wickenburg with a .4 mile pickup along the way from the van to get past construction. An interesting twist to start getting warmed up and at 3/4 mi in you have to jump in a van to get shuttled around the road work and then quickly hop out and get going again. A couple miles in I was getting so tired and also getting a little creeped out being out there so late in that darkness. I ran by this weird white bicycle that lit up by the light of my headlamp and thought I may have been hallucinating until another runner came by and noticed it too (see the link below about the ghost bike). We both said at the same time, "Weird..." After about 50 minutes I saw my van and my team along the road. I was really hoping to have seen them earlier. Where they met me they thought it was only 3 miles in making me freak that 50 minutes had gone by and I had only gone 3 miles! They unintentionally messed with my mind. After that I picked up the pace through my sleepiness and knee pain (left knee was no good by about mile 5). They told me they would go ahead 2 miles and stop again. At that point (2 mi ahead of their last stop), there was the 1 Mile Left marker! I couldn't have been happier at that point! That meant 6.5 down when I was thinking it was only 5 miles! They set the trip mileage wrong in the van...I REALLY wanted a Garmin at that point, still do! I came around a corner and was running to the exchange with 2 other runners...they, like me, were commenting about how it felt like there was so much more uphill than we had expected! As soon as I came within 50 feet of the exchange I tripped over a high spot in the road at full speed and almost fell on my face! Then as soon as I handed off to Suzanne my knees just gave out as if to say "I'm done!" and my hands skidded through the gravel. Slightly embarrassing, but I got up a little dizzy and stunned looking around for someone I knew and yelled amongst the 25 people or so standing around, "Where's my team?????............Draggin' Ass?????" (It is all kind of funny thinking about it now.) Just then I saw Sarah coming over from the van which, had I really just looked RIGHT in front of me, was...you guessed it, RIGHT in front of me! She helped me get my braces and shoes off and get myself snapped out of the daze. Then it was off to meet Suzanne along her short, 3.3 mile leg. About 35 minutes later we started to worry that we hadn't seen her, but just then the other van called to tell us, "Hey, where are you guys!? Your runner is here!" We'd missed her entirely - she was too fast for the van! :) We went to get her and went back up the road 10 miles to Wickenburg back to the motel to get our showers in and a couple of hours of much needed sleep (only a couple!). I remember texting my husband right before I crawled into my sleeping bag to tell him to remind me NOT to sign up for this again next year. I was so tired and sore that I couldn't believe I had forgotten this feeling from last year. I think it was just the tired talking though as you will see at the end of this novel. ;)

By about 6:00am we were on the road to get to Cactus Shadows High School in Cave Creek. Jamie started running at about and it was already getting HOT. By the time runner 3, Heather, got to mile 6 of her leg around noon, she just couldn't keep going. It had to be about 88 degrees by then. She was definitely suffering from the heat and her face was beet red. Jamie met her at the road and she gave him the bracelet to finish out her leg. Heather had been amazing though - she had completed more mileage than any other runner on the team at 20.2 miles. A true warrior. We got her off the road and got her somewhat comfortable and tried to cool her down. Meanwhile, Jamie is out there running her last mile after celebrating the finish of his 3rd leg with a couple of beers! Jamie not only got the prize for running the worst leg the night before, but also the prize for running under the influence. ;)

I was lucky that my last leg was only 3.4 miles, but it was all uphill (good for my knees, but not the best when it's that hot). I pushed through it with plenty of support from the team coming out to drench me in cold water. I was just excited to finish the leg so I did awesome on the hills! Pass off to Suzanne and I was DONE! YAY! Suzanne, however, had 6.4 miles to go and it was only getting hotter. We stopped many times to support her and other runners. She even had another van put ice in her hat, which she described as a livesaver! She finished with the company of another runner, pushing each other to finish, and handed off to runner 7 in Fountain Hills at the LDS church. Van 1 was all done! We couldn't be happier and the church had plenty of lush grass to stretch out and just relax for a bit.

After some relaxation we went on to Riverview Park in Mesa where the finish line was. We had a nice lunch at Chili's (yay for real food - pb&j was really getting old...) and we waited for Van 2 to get to the finish. Van 2 met up with us and we waited for our last runner to get close and when she was in sight we all ran with her to cross the finish line as a team! When we all crossed the finish line around 6:30pm we were handed our medals. They were huge! Then we found out that they also double as a bottle opener...a useful medal! :) My husband, Tim, and Suzanne's husband came to meet us at the finish and Tim took some pictures of the entire team for us.

Now it was time to get the vans cleared out and get home to shower and go to bed. I think I slept the entire day away on Sunday. It was long enough to forget the pain after leg 2 and the absolute fatigue I felt at 4:00am. I know that I have forgotten it because on Monday the emails flew back and forth amongst the team. Brandi, on of the girls I had just met mentioned wanting to do another one in another state. I emailed her and Suzanne to see if they would be interested in doing the Los Angeles Ragnar. Brandi responded with a big yes, and before Suzanne could even check on the dates I had found us a team! Turned out Suzanne couldn't do the dates so Brandi called Caitlyn, another member of our Del Sol team, and she was in!

The 3 of us are headed to LA at the end of April for a new 178 mile relay. 178? Bah! That's nothin' when you've done 202! ;)

Ah, yes...an addiction...it must be a drug.


LINKS: The weird ghost bike; Some of our pictures (not for the easily offended!)

Finished 202.1!!!

Just a quick post to let you all know that my team, Draggin' Ass (appropriate team name for the way we felt), finished the Ragnar Relay Del Sol this weekend! 202.1 miles total divided amongst 12 runners. I personally made it through my 16.2 total miles on about 2 hours of sleep over the 34 hours that it took the team to complete the race plus a few more hours of prep, drive, loading and unloading time. I feel surprisingly good after the whole experience, but I must admit I'm pretty exhausted today and I've been lounging the majority of the day. Off to bed in a few minutes after I get some pictures uploaded. I'll be posting a couple more blog entries this week with the details when I've got my mind back in order!