Run. Drive. Sleep? Repeat.

Sound fun? That's what I did for the Ragnar Wasatch Back last weekend, and it was FUN!

We started the race dark and early Friday morning- 5 am to be exact. Since the race was in Logan and we had to be there an hour early- 4 am to be exact- the six runners in our van spent the night in Logan. Too cheap to get a hotel, we crashed at a friends' townhouse, on the floor! I tossed and turned all night on the old carpet, and it didn't feel like I got much sleep. But once we got to the race, our team started to get pumped up! The team atmosphere was A-ma-ZING for this race! There were over a thousand teams participating, and most teams were made up of 12 runners. Each team had a name- we were a team of 12 woman called "Sweet Spirits" and everyone dressed up and decorated their vans. Here's a pic of our HUGE van:

I was the 6th leg, so I was the last runner for my van (most teams had two vans, so each van would drive for six legs, then switch and the other van would take over for the next 6 legs). I was exhausted from lack of sleep the night before, so I tried to rest in the van. But it was too exciting! The absolute best part of this race was cheering each other on, and I didn't want to miss out! We'd drop off a runner at an exchange point, then drive a little ways ahead and pull over on the side of the road to cheer for our runner. I've never had this kind of support in a race before! Then we'd drive a little further on, stop and cheer again, then finally go on to the next exchange point. Then we'd start all over encouraging our next runner!

I finally ran my first leg about 10:30 Friday morning. It was one of my hardest legs- 7 miles of straight up hill then straight down hill on a dusty road. Luckily I had my team bringing me water and cheering my on the whole way! Then we had a rest while the other van ran their first 6 legs.

And then the repeat part- we did all of this 2 more times! Friday night at about 8 I ran my second leg. It was through the gorgeous city of Morgan, the sun had just gone behind the mountain, and it was beautiful run! Until mile 7- when I hit my first of many steep hills. I was SOOO tired! "Don't stop running," I told myself, "or you'll never start up again." So I pushed through it. At the end of over just 8 miles, I saw the exchange point just around the corner, all lit up, and I admit a gave a little sob of relief!

Rest time again. We went ahead a few exchange points to a high school where they had food and a place to sleep. While we were in line for spaghetti, they ran out! We had to settle for pancakes at 10 pm. The gym was available for sleeping, but it was a hardwood floor and my team hadn't brought mats, so we opted to sleep outside under the stars! Maybe it was the fresh air, the full belly, or maybe the fact that I'd just run over 15 miles, but I slept so well! We had about 4 1/2 hours of sleep before we had to start all over again!

My last leg was only 3.1 miles, through the city of Heber. I don't know where I got the energy, but I flew through that leg! I even had a couple "road kills"- passing someone on the course. And when I was all done- finally a shower!

To describe this experience in one word- unbelievable! Unbelievable how hard it was, how fun it was, and unbelievable that I felt so strong when it was over!

The Sweet Spirits of Van 1 after our first legs:

Xenya, Wonder Woman, Large Marge, Amberlicious, Hot Tamale, Easy V

My husband was wonderful to take care of the kids while I was gone during the race, and when I was training. He was supportive during my crazy running schedule, which was sometimes twice a day, and he never complained!