I know. I know. I am a terrible blogger. I have waited FOR-EV-ER to post part three. Forgive me. Life gets crazy. Plus, I just didn't want to post this because then it would mean that Ragnar is for sure over. (le sigh)
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(bright light)
I half woke up from my not so power nap. Why was there a light on? Where was I? What time was it? Oh my goodness I think I'm going to hurl. Then I heard Stefanie talking and saying something about us needing to get to the next checkpoint. I was so confused. Nothing was making sense.
I sat up and tried to figure out what the heck was going on. I groggily reached around for my shoes and started putting them on. As I was lacing them up I freaked out thinking my feet had swollen up because my shoes were so tight. NOPE. I was just trying to stuff my hobbit feet into Jillian's shoes. Oops.
Stefanie started briefing us on how her and Jenn hadn't wanted to wake us and so they quietly went to the exchange together. How sweet are they?
To say I felt like hell would be an understatement. I had slept for around 45 minutes. I kept trying to shake it off. I didn't have the brain power to fight off the self doubt. I was so tired during this part that things are pretty hazy. I remember we stopped by a gas station and they ran inside to get coffee but the line was too long. I also remember getting to the exchange and being oh so thankful for our toilet paper supply. I was probably quieter than usual.
Brent was smilin' and ready to run. This dude is my hero.
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| Brent and Chris goofin' off before our last legs. |
The sun was starting to rise which seemed to perk me up a little bit. Soon we spotted Jenn's bright shirt as she came running in from her 5 miles. I remember I said to her,"You're done! Can you believe it?" It was a small relief but mostly just sad.
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| Jenn coming in, handing off to Brent, and then being sad that her part of the race is done. |
We had received word from Ragnar that the leg distances were messed up. Runner 2's leg was a mile shorter -making it 3.7 miles. However Runner 3 would be taking on that extra mile making their distance 8.9 miles. That'll wake ya up in the morning.
You already know by now how quick of a runner Brent is. We all ran to the van to speed on to the next exchange. Chris is a trooper. He was not phased (or was really good at pretending) by the extra mile. He seemed like he was ready to tackle his final leg.
On a more serious note (not really) I was freaking out because my final outfit "Patriotic Ivy" was not going to be warm enough. I was going to have to ruin my theme and wear something else. Boo.
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| I'm really good at taking blurry photos. |
Brent finished his leg and Chris took off on his long final leg. I was still feeling terrible but prepping for my run. I was more awake now and trying to convince myself that I could do it. Everyone else in my van was also convincing me that I could do it. Brent even saved the day by providing me with a navy blue top that would work with my "Patriotic Ivy" outfit theme. CRISIS AVERTED!
As we drove on to the next exchange we honked and hollered as we passed Chris. Then we all were making all sorts of "OH NO" "AHHHHHHH MAN" as we drove the route and saw all the hills Chris would be running.
I think the only reason I was able to get my act together was because of my friend Janell. I knew that she was up and prepping for her 1st marathon in Pennsylvania. I knew her race started at 7 a.m. I knew that I would be running 'with' her. I needed to be thinking and feeling positive for her. So I geared up and got ready for my 5.6 mile final leg.
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| "PATRIOTIC IVY" |
This portion of the race was on the Cape Cod Rail Trail. It was such beautiful weather. I kept thinking of Janell and praying for her to be mentally and physically strong. I kept praying for great weather for her. I just kept praying for those 26.2 miles to seem easy.
Pretty soon I saw Chris haulin' a$$ towards me. I didn't know if I had it in me but I sure was going to try my hardest. I started running my third leg at 7:01 a.m. according to my Garmin. It was serendipitous- I started my final leg only 1 minute after Janell started her marathon. That thought alone made my body surge forward.
This is when I discovered just how mental this sport is. An hour before I was hobbling and feeling terribly sick to my stomach....now I was cruising and ran the first mile in 9:17. I promise you I was smiling the entire time. My best friend was on her way to her dream.
I was passing people.
My stomach stopped hurting.
My knee pain didn't bother me much.
I saw a man a ways up ahead and just focused on getting to him. Finally at about 3.5 miles in I was running by his side. He asked my pace and then said he wanted to try to tag along. Someone on his team was hurt and he was running straight through the exchange and running her leg too. He wanted to stay under a 9:30 pace. I didn't mind the company. We talked some and ran in silence also. He would fall behind a few steps and then surge ahead a bit. I felt amazing. The views were serene. The wind picked up on the second part of the leg but it didn't bother me that much.
At the end of the leg was a big hill. I turned to the guy and said," I'm eating this hill for breakfast." He laughed and said,"ENJOY!" I sprinted up the hill and tried to pass one more chick. Then rounded the corner to come down to the exchange.
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| Finishing out my part of Ragnar |
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| Passing off to Jillian |
As soon as I stopped running my knees became stiff and achy. I didn't care...I was done. I immediately checked my phone to see if I had an update on Janell.
I remember feeling so happy that I had overcome everything and ran my final leg. It taught me a lot about myself. It showed me that I am stronger than I think.
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Stefanie, Me, and Jenn
I was freezing cold after I ran. |
I found out during this time that Van 2 had an injury and needed help. Brent graciously offered to run a leg for them- a 6.3 mile leg. He's a beast. Jillian was running her 3.1 (final) leg and cruised in pretty quickly.
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| Jillian exchanging with Stefanie. |
Stefanie sped off to run her 6.1 miles. It was hard to digest that we were almost done with this long anticipated race. We were no longer strangers, but good friends. We drove on ahead to the next major exchange, except that we wouldn't be passing off to Van 2. Instead Brent would be running that leg and we would pass off to them at the next exchange. That way after Brent's additional leg we could go on ahead to the finish.
I got out and went into the grass and stretched. There was a guy that was doing yoga and I joined in. We talked quite a bit. He used to live on Cape but recently moved to L.A. He was a personal trainer. All the stretching and yoga really helped my aching body and mentally I felt fantastic. I couldn't believe how energetic I was for only about an hour of sleep in 30+ hours.
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| Brent getting ready to run his 4th leg of Ragnar. |
I saw Stefanie's bright shirt from afar and we all started jumping around and cheering.
Brent took off and we all knew that it was officially our van's final run for this race.
The next exchange was absolutely beautiful so we were kind of glad we had a chance to see it.
It was insanely windy and chilly. It was nice to talk to the folks in van 2. I had all sorts of energy for some unknown reason. By this point in Ragnar you could tell your runner was approaching by how they ran from afar. We were all tired and therefore speaking jibberish. It was kind of a weird phenomenon. Even though we were all speaking this new Ragnarian language, we all understood one another.
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| Our final exchange to Van 2 |
Now all we had to do was go to the finish line and await their arrival.
Even though we were exhausted, sore, and mostly fully speaking Ragnarian we were all pretty blissful. We had done it. We had pulled our weight in the race. We knew Van 2 was strong and would bring it home.
We all went out to lunch together. It kind of felt like high school and as if we were having our one last get together before it was time to part ways. It was so incredibly bittersweet. We laughed a lot. We retold stories. We enjoyed the fact that all six of us were together. We ate food. We laughed more. These people were 5 of my new closest friends. We celebrated and savored the moment.
We grabbed coffee. I met Batman. No big deal.
We stopped to get a Van 1 photo.
Then we all sat at the finish area and relaxed.
I was in shock that it was over; I didn't want it to be.
Who knew that you could feel such a bond with people in just a couple of days?
I don't know if I just got exceptionally lucky or what. All I know is that Van 1 ROCKED! We all got along so well. It was, as Barney Stinson would say, LEGENDARY.
A few hours later Van 2 arrived and we all congregated, waiting for our final runner to come in.
It was awesome. It was sad. It was amazing.
Eventually "There's a Faster Way to P-Town" finished in 30:21:46.
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Since Ragnar people have asked me if I liked doing a relay and would I recommend it.
YES! YES! YES!
This rates in my top life experiences.
It's hard to describe the feeling of community in an event like this. You can strike up conversations with anyone. All the usual social norms are out the window. It's completely acceptable to ask a stranger if you can borrow something. You stand around with your teams and multiple other teams and everyone cheers for everyone. We all laugh with one another. We all cringe when we see someone hobbling in pain. If someone shouts out they need water we all extend our water bottles for them to take. It's the craziest and most wonderful thing. I wish real life were more like a relay environment. Even though we were all technically racing one another....we all wanted to encourage one another. We all wanted to cheer one another on. We all wanted to be sure that everyone had food in their stomach and was properly hydrated. We all kept each others spirits high.
I don't want to post this because then I know that this incredible experience is really over. However, it's been two weeks and it's time. I guess I can start counting down the days until next years relay when the girls in my van maybe just crazy enough to run this as an ultra.