Well, we had a fun, yet eventful week last week!
Last Thursday, my darling oldest son graduated from High School! Even though I’ve been preparing myself for it all year, it still seems surreal to me. Man.
How can I possibly have a son old enough to graduate!??!? It’s especially weird since I feel like I graduated high school, oh about 5 years ago myself. It absolutely blows my mind!
I definitely put a lot of my own blood, sweat and tears into my sons diploma (that’s the understatement of the century!), so I told him I needed a cap and gown as well. Ha ha.
He is such a soft-hearted, sweet, darling boy and I’m not sure I’m quite ready to send him off into the world.
I decided to scrounge up my son’s Kindergarten Graduation pics and it just about killed me.
Where did that little boy go…and that little girl!??!
We were living in New Hampshire at the time and they didn’t have public Kindergarten (I know, weird!??!) so I put my son in a private Christian Kindergarten called Sonshine Inn. It was a great school and that’s why he’s holding a Children’s Bible at his graduation. Ha ha.
My mom has told me that it seems to take a long time for that oldest child to reach all the milestones, but once they reach one, the other kids reach those milestones far to quickly and *poof*, they’re gone.
I’m not a fan. 🙁 🙁 🙁
I’ve definitely already noticed those milestones flyin’ by as my kids have graduated Kindergarten, finished Elementary School, started and finished Junior High and now High School. Time really does fly and my heart really doesn’t know how to process it all. 🙁
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Well, my son graduated Thursday afternoon and on Thursday evening, we drove up to our friend’s house to spend the night before our relay race! We went to bed around 11:00 PM and woke up bright and early at 3:00 AM! I slept terribly those four hours too; I never sleep well the night before a race!
FYI, we ran the Ragnar Wasatch Back Relay Race. It started in Logan, Utah and ended in Midway, Utah (just outside of Park City.) It was beautiful and I loved it!!
For those of you who aren’t familiar with relay races….here are the basics. Most teams are made up of 12 people, unless it’s an Ultra team….then it’s just 6 people. Each team runs roughly 200 miles, with each team member running three times (or 6 times for an Ultra team.) Someone on the team is always running….even through the night. It’s fun, in a weird sort of way!
There are two “vans” for each team, with 6 people in each van. I was in Van #1, which I was grateful for because we didn’t run as much in the heat, but it was hard because our van had to start running so early! Our first runner started running at 5:15 AM Friday morning, so we started the race already sleep deprived. The whole sleep (or lack thereof) part of the race was by far the hardest thing for me!
Here’s a pic of our entire team right after we finished the race (we finished right around 1:00 PM on Saturday.)
I love our team! Our Van #1 consisted of Kev and I, our good friends from New Hampshire (who live in Utah now), Kevin and Kelly, Kev’s brother, Neil and Kev’s college friend, Heidi. It was a great group.
Oh, and I was the only non-marathoner runner in my van. Awesome. My friend Kelly is a two time Boston marathoner, her husband Kevin is an Ironman guy, my Kevin has run two marathons and my bro-in-law and Heidi have both run 10+ marathons. I was more than impressed.
For some reason I have just not felt the “I want to run a marathon” desire. Maybe someday. I think I subconsciously (or consciously) know I just don’t have the time to train and my body would implode. Ha ha.
Our Van #2 was mostly our friends that live in our neighborhood + one of our friend’s brothers. I love them all! Oh, and we were a “Master’s Team,” which is really just a nice way of saying we’re old. Ha ha. We were all over 40! I still feel 20 and am really just so shocked I’m actually in my 40’s now. Freaky.
Here are some pics of our Van #1 as we were waiting for our Van #2 to finish the race….
I have to give mad props to our friends, Kevin and Kelly who did all of the vinyl on our vehicle! It was so awesome!
Our team name was Straight Outta Logan, obviously. 😉 I took this picture shortly after our first runner started…
I was runner #2 and I was a little nervous because my first leg was my longest at 10.1 miles. I just hoped my body would hold up well and I’d feel good!
Kev snapped this pic of me just before I started running!
My first leg was actually really fun, other than a strange incident right around mile two. As I approached, I saw a nervous dog barking and nipping at passing runners. It looked like he almost bit the guy who was running right in front of me. I think it was a volunteer’s dog who had somehow gotten off his leash. I slowed down a bit and then the dog came at me! I’m a huge dog lover, but I was afraid of this dog! It was a little freaky.
I was a little bit ticked off because the owner came up to us and said, “Can everyone just stop running for second!?!” So, a few of us stopped running and then this guy still couldn’t get control of his dog. It was almost as if he was afraid of his dog too??! Finally a good Samaritan runner tried to distract the dog and lure him away from all of the other runners. I took this opportunity to get past the dog and get back to running. I’m not sure what actually ended up happening with the dog, but it was a scary and unfortunate scenario!
The rest of my run was great! I headed up to some beautiful country with rolling green hills and farmhouses all around. It was so gorgeous and I just soaked up every second. Our friend, Kevin on our team had run this race and my same legs the year before and he told me, “Right around mile 7, you are going to die.” Sure enough, just as my Garmin told me I’d reached mile 7, I started up a huge, steep hill!
I felt great though and sorta, kinda enjoyed the hill. I took this cheesy pic as I was running up…
I finished my leg in just over an hour and a half. My overall pace was right around 9:30. I know I could have gone a little faster, but I was worried to push it too hard knowing that I was running 10 miles and still had two more legs ahead of me. Overall, I felt good about my pace though. 🙂 It was probably just right.
We didn’t get too many “actual running” pictures because a lot of the legs were in places where our vans didn’t go (smaller country roads and trails.) Hence, most of our pictures were taken at the exchange places.
Kev did snap this pic of me at the one place they were able to stop and support me along the way. You can see my little Ragnar “tattoo” on my calf. 🙂
He also snapped this “less than flattering” pic of me too! Ha ha!
It confirmed to me that I definitely have some fluff on my body that needs to be worked off! FYI, I’m not hard on myself…just honest! If there is work to be done, there is work to be done! Simple as that.
I actually have some big “shape up” plans coming up that I’m excited ’bout! I signed up to do the Oxygen Magazine Challenge that starts on Monday. Woo hoo! I will share all the deets soon. It is just what I need right now!
Anyway, Kev was runner #6 and he did great! I was able to snap a few pics of him…
This picture makes me laugh!
We’d pulled up right beside him so we could cheer him on! We’d brought a water sprayer thing with us and sprayed him (and all the other runners out there!) with water too. They were all grateful and we made a lot of new friends!
This stretch of the race was so beautiful! My friend Kelly and I decided to take the photo opp….
After all of the runners in our van completed their first legs, we made the exchange to Van #2. The exchange place was at Snowbasin Ski Resort, which was nice because there was a lot of space to sprawl out and take a nap!
We slept for about an hour and a half on the grass, which was blissful!
Afterward, we got some lunch at a nice place called “Eats of Eden.” Our waitress told us that the Ragnar race is always their busiest day of the year and that they bring in past waitresses that don’t work there anymore to help them. Crazy!
Well, my second leg was my shortest by far (only 2 miles!), but it was the hottest and my least favorite. It was a quick run, less than 20 minutes (my pace was just under 9:00), but I didn’t love it. I seriously just fall apart in the heat. I’m a wuss. I don’t mind long distance running or hills, but the heat just kills me.
Part of my run was through a cute little neighborhood and I got a high five from a darling little local boy, which was the highlight. 🙂
This is the only pic I have from this leg….
I think Kev took this just as I was getting ready to run! Oh, and I have to mention that my teammates made fun of me because I liked to carry my water bottle with me during my runs!
I do have a fuel belt, but it bugs me, so I decided to just carry my water bottle with me! I’m kind of a water Nazi. I just really like to have my water with me at all times….I don’t guzzle it, but I like to sip it throughout my runs.
I snapped this pic of Kev during his second leg…
Isn’t that the cutest? The locals were awesome and so supportive! There were so many people out cheering the runners on and spraying them with water. It was just so cool! We definitely felt the love!
Oh, and I took this “horse selfie” along the way too…
These horses were gorgeous! They enjoyed the weeds we fed to them. 🙂
After we all completed our second legs, we headed over to a small hotel, which was so so so nice! It was a local “ma and pop shop” type of hotel and they were so nice to us! They were so supportive of Ragnar and were totally fine with us staying there only 4 hours and then the other half of our team crashing there afterward.
We were so grateful! We just ate some of the food we brought with us in the van and then crashed in the hotel for a few hours. We woke up just before 2 AM so we could get ready to run our last legs!
My last leg was about 5 miles and it was my favorite! It was on a small trail that paralleled the freeway. I ran around 3 AM and it was just such a strange run. It was pitch dark, on a small trail and the only light I had was from my headlamp. For most of the run, I could see another runner clear up ahead of me and one trailing far behind me….that was it.
I didn’t want to divert my headlamp to either side of me because I was afraid of what I’d see off in the brush. Ha ha. I wondered how many wild animals were out there silently cheering me on. 🙂
As I got closer to the end of my run, I passed by several other runners, which was nice. It made me feel like I wasn’t out there running all by myself! I even passed a “runner” who was in a running wheelchair. It was inspiring. That runner was a part of an entire team of disabled people and I just thought they were so so so cool!
I finished that last leg just under a 9:00 minute pace. I was a’ight with that. It was a fun run! I’m happy to say that I felt great after I completed all my runs! I was super tired, but I felt good.
I also have to say that I got me a new pair of running shoes right before this race and I loooooove them! I got some Saucony Triumph ISO 2’s and they are so cute, comfy and they just work!
You can see me wearing them in that picture of me in the pinkish tank.
Hey, and just a little “bargain shopper tip.” These are not the newest model of the Triumph. The newest is the Triumph 3 and these are the Triumph 2. They retail for $150, but were on sale on Saucony’s website for $115. However, I found them on Amazon for $80. Boom.
I’ve always found that if I buy a running shoe that’s the past year’s model, it’s always a lot cheaper and still a great shoe! I actually thought the shoes I got were cuter than the newer model too. Oh, and my last running shoes were the Saucony Triumph ISO 1’s. I loved them. I actually went to a running store and they told me they were good shoes for me. I love the wide toe bed and all the cushioning. They are awesome!
Anyway, after I ran my last leg I totally crashed in the car while the rest of my team finished their legs. Afterward, we hung out around the finish line while we waited for our van #2 to finish! Sadly, it was hard to find shade anywhere! We finally found a few large pine trees to rest by, but we had to put our blankets on top of a bunch of pokey weeds. I really didn’t care though; I was just happy to lay down and sleep!!
Kev told me he found a huge spider on his pillow though, so I kept having that “spider crawling on me” sensation. It was awesome.
Well, our van #2 did eventually finish and we took a “Hallelujah, we finished” picture with them!
We also took a pic with just the girls…
Oh and the medals at Ragnar races are always cool! The backs of the medals all fit together to form a message…
What a cool idea!
Our team finished the race in just over 32 hours. We came in 81st place (out of 168) for Coed teams and 182nd place (out of 425 teams) overall. Ha ha! That’s not too shabby for an “old” Masters team.
All in all, I loved the race. It was a great experience. I was blown away by what an organized, awesome race it was! I really have mad respect for Ragnar. I’ve ran a few relay races before (one other full one and a couple of shorter ones) and Ragnar was the best by far. I loved everything about it.
However, it’s now been almost a week and my body is still recovering from the lack of sleep! It is amazing how taxing it is on the body. I really didn’t think the running was too hard. My body was a little sore on Sunday, but that was it. The whole sleep deprivation has just kicked my can though. I also think just being outside and running in the sun completely wore me out too!
Oh, and poor Kev now has strep throat! Gah! I really think the whole, run a bunch of miles, hardly sleep and hang out in the sun just wears out the body. BUT, runners are crazy like that! We still had a great time!
I loved the Ragnar Relay Race, but I’m glad it’s now over! I hope you all enjoy the rest of your weekend! Woo hoo!
Congratulations! What a fun race that looks like! I have the same feelings as you regarding full marathons. I just don’t think I have the time to put into one. I love the half marathon length because I can ramp up to that really quickly.
All of our oldest son’s friends graduated this year. He would have, except he went on exchange. That means he has to do his senior year when he gets back. Does that mean I’m one year younger? I’m going to go with that.
I really love the half marathon length too. It pushes me a lot without absolutely killing me. The training is doable too!
I really think that’s so amazing that your son was able to go on his exchange….now he can enjoy high school a little bit longer. 🙂
Congratulations with the marathon! I did one full marathon years ago and the feeling was amazing when I crossed the finish line. Congratulations also on your son graduating high school. I, too, feel like I just graduated high school not too long ago. However, its been quite some time since that era. Time has a way of flying by. Just found your blog. I look forward to stopping by. Have a great weekend!
Woo hoo, that’s amazing you ran a full marathon! I have so much respect for marathoners. I really cannot imagine doing one. Maybe someday….
You look the same in that kindergarten graduation photo!! You’re clearly doing something right. AHH I’ve been waiting for this recap. WHAT.a.BLAST! I love that you were the only non marathoner, I just don’t have the desire to do 26.2 either. I actually don’t have the desire to run much at all these days. LOL. You did so awesome with your turns, one of these races would be such a blast. Congrats to the team.
Oh, and if that “unflattering photo” showcased areas you think you need work on…shoooott you don’t wanna see me running. HAHA. Basically you look great, so this challenge will make you look like Wonder Woman.
Ha ha, thank you so much Britt! I think you would love running a relay race. It’s pretty brutal, but also so much fun, especially if you run with a fun group!