Remember when Scott and I did
THIS?Well, I also did it the summer before we were married. Both Scott and I were signed up to run this last year, but I did not feel ready to leave my very new baby. So, we dropped out a few weeks before the big race. I was craving to run the Ragnar this year. After two years of not running it, I had forgotten everything I hated about it and could only remember only things I loved. It's funny. There are probably more things that I hate about the Ragnar then I love, but what I love far outweighs those things I don't. A friend of mine and I tried to round up a Pinellas County team but most people rejected our offer. Whimps! I Kid.
Well, a week and a half before the big race, I was talking to my sis who was hanging out with our good friend. This friend has a sister who lives out here in the FL and she was running the Ragnar. Half seriously, half not, I told her to tell her SIL that if they needed a runner, I was their gal. Now you know how sometimes we offer our assistance half heartedly? That was kind of what I did. I really didn't think that two days later, I would be getting a phone call inviting me to run the Ragnar...Had I been training? No. Did I have a good pair of running shoes? No. Did I know anyone on my potential team? No. Did I say, "Yes?". Of course!
I did run one 11 miler the Saturday before Ragnar and it made me super nervous for the race becuase I realized just how unprepared I was. Oh well, it was still amazing!
Here I am, a Sole Sister, ready to head out to the first exchange (I ran in the 2nd van so that means we didn't start our legs until later in the day).
Oh the Love. Van 2 in all of her Glory. We really did have a great little group. I felt like I bonded with each of these girls and felt so close so fast. Aubrey (far left standing by me), was the reason I got invited to run. She had been running in her marathon and injured her leg. So, she did what any good person would do...drive the car for us. We totally appreciated her. The rest of the ladies were amazing and so fun. We had many serious conversations that even involved some tears, laughs about bathroom humor, and even some pretty scary faces. Oh the crazy things that we thought were funny when you are going on no sleep!
No, I wasn't really running, but I was ready to go
The whole group. No one could beat the "Sole Sisters!" I mean that figuratively and not literally beacause we got beat by just bout every team.
Still feeling good!!! Oh wait, because I hadn't run yet. I was just about to start my first leg. I told myself that I didn't want to get passed by ANYONE. Well, about halfway through my run, I notice someone slowly sneaking up behind me (well running). We will call her, "Fishy." Well, she snuck right past me and I never could catch up. She just had a lot more in her than I did. The team she was on was being sponsored by their husbands who were professional Bass Fisherman. They had video cameras on them and everything. I bet they recorded her smoking past me. I was a good sport and went and patted her on the back afterwards. I even admitted to her that there was no way I could keep her pace.
We were pretty tired in this picture. I believe it was a couple hours before our second leg. We spent a lot of time in this van. I can't imagine what it smelled like once all of us peeled our stinky selves off of the seats for good.
Our awesome driver, Aubrey. She saved us from some crazy drivers!
Shelly was one of my van-mates. Shelly, me and Aubrey spent way to much jabbing and not enough time sleeping.
So, I have more pictures that I need to post, but my computer is being dumb, but I have some little funny moments that I want to write:
1. There is nothing more beautful and perfect than a nice warm shower when you are stinky and sore. But is it really worth it when they are community showers?? At our last exchange (one more leg to run), there were showers. Well, a few of our van mates had already showered and told us the water was nice and warm. Nothing else, NOTHING else was said about them being community. SO you can imagine the shock on our poor prudish faces when we walk into a room full of naked women with no shame. Three of us girls huddled in the corner, fully clothed, debating what to do first. We decided that we couldnt shower at the same time, because that would just be weird. SO Laura started first. She was back in less than a minute. Shelly was next. She was gone about 3 minute and told me she found a nice little corner and didn't turn around. SO I found the little corner she was talking about and did it. YES, I showered in a community shower. Granted, I didn't get as clean as I would like because normal shower routines can be awkward with others close by. Was I a little disturbed about the "Openess" of some of the women? Yes. Was I grossed out about the dirty underwear left on the floor? Yes. Was I happy that I was able to conquer a huge feat? ABSOLUTELY
2. Forgetting how to sleep. One would think that you could fall asleep at the drop of a hat when you have had next to no sleep, been running throughout the night, cheering on your teammates that were running throughout the night, etc, etc. Not the case for almost my whole van. We were so tired that sleep did not visit us. Not once during race time did I snooze. Okay, maybe for 30 seconds cause I woke myself up after a little snore.
3. I am going to have to write more later, only because I am realizing that this is turning into a long post and I am totally putting more important things on hold to finish this. Like, cleaning my apt.
Just know that anyone that even is just considering trying out a Ragnar...DO IT. It is so dang hard, and yes, you may puke, yes you are more tired than you can ever imagine, and yes you really start to stink from the dried up sweat and dirt stuck to you, but you bond with the people in your car, you accomplish some really hard runs, and you stay up all night doing it. Now, how could that not be fun!???
