Ragnar

This weekend I ran my very first Ragnar Relay race.  If you want to know what a Ragnar relay race is, watch the video above.  We watched it about 15 times on our trip and it never got old.  If you have ever run a ragnar race, you MUST watch the video above.  It is hilarious.

We left Thursday, had a nice drive to Vegas, got settled in our rental house, then ate dinner at IHOP and took a trip to Wal Mart for supplies. In the morning we got ready and drove to the starting line where my team members filled me in on the logistics of the race.  It was freezing and windy in Vegas.  Let me repeat.  Freezing and Windy.  I was not expecting it.  Phoenix has been incredibly warm and so when I heard we were going to have a cold spell, I was thinking in the 70's.  But it was actually more like highs in the 50's.  Which if you are used to being a desert rat, that is very cold.

I was runner number 8.  I started my first leg which was 5.7 miles, somewhere around mid morning.  I cannot remember specifics because I basically was in a time warp for the whole weekend being that the only 3 places I spent my time was 1. on the course  2. in a van 3. in our rental house.  I ran through the suburbs of Vegas.  The wind blew my hat off twice and I would say the first 2 miles of that run was pretty crappy.  The wind was so loud I could hardly hear my music.

After that run I got back in the car and sat there for oh, about 6 hours.  Then we got dinner at Quiznos, returned back to the house, showered, rested a little, and then got up around 11 PM and headed back out to the course.

Did I mention it was freezing?  I tried my very best never to have to get out of the van. And I am proud to say that I only had to use the Porto Potty once the entire trip.

I started my night run at about 2 AM.  That leg was 4.7 miles.  There was one point in that run when I was listening to Cold Play, that I really enjoyed myself and felt good.  The other 4.6 miles was sheer will power.

Then I got back in the van and slept uncomfortably until the sun started to rise and it was time to head back to our house to once again shower and stretch out for a little bit.

I stumbled into bed and awoke feeling invigorated and refreshed.  Not.  I felt like I had been run over by one of the vans.  But after some intense stretching, a shower, and some food I felt better and was ready to get my last run done.

The last run was 4.2 miles and I am not ashamed to admit I walked a good portion of that run.  I was pooped.  Right before my run I ran into (not literally) one of my old college friends, Sam.  That was pretty cool.  The whole experience kind of made me feel like I was back in college.  For a couple days I had no responsibilities but myself, and it was 2 days of joking around and talking about silly stuff (well, except for some Political discourse).

After my last run I felt fantastic. I was done!  And I ate an entire take out container of Panda Express.  Which wasn't the wisest thing I have ever done.  I knew we had plans to eat at the Billagio buffet later that night, but I completely stuffed myself on orange chicken and Beijing beef.  I am pretty sure I managed to still gain 5 pounds this weekend even though I ran almost 15 miles.

Our team finally finished around 7 PM.  We got our medals and hobbled together through the finish line.

And then it was Buffet time!  I made sure to get my $41.08 worth of food.

I ate enough to feed a village in Ethiopia.   And then we went back "home" and I literally walked through the door, fell down on my bed, and didn't wake up until 9 in the morning.  I had an amazing night's sleep.

And then we came home.  And I basically slept the whole way home.

I was excited to get back to my family and Chloe stayed awake until 10 PM asking me about my race and what the President does.  Apparently she has picked up on the prevailing conversations around here.

So final words?  Ask me in a few months if I ever want to do another Ragnar.  I had a blast with the people in my van.  We had a lot of good laughs and I felt like I was 16 years old again.  The body aches and the lack of sleep made me feel like I was 60 years old.  All in all, I had a really good experience, made some new friends, and did something crazy.  About as crazy as I get.