Anyhow, we woke up at the crack of dawn on Friday morning to get to the starting line. and oh was it so cold! hence the winter coat up there in the photo. Brent's brother Scott ran the first leg of the race, and we followed him in our van until the exchange, where the next person (Alan, Brent's other brother) got the slap-on bracelet (that acted as the baton passed from one runner to the next) and ran the next leg. I was the fourth runner and I was so nervous! My scheduled pace was an 11 min. mile and I was worried about being able to keep it! My in-laws are beyond wonderful... but they do like to tease... oh the pressure!
My first leg was 4.3 miles, and it was so hard. I ran straight through the first mile, but after that I had to walk every 3 min or so. I was absolutely elated when I reached the exchange and realized I had stayed on schedule, keeping the 11 min mile pace. I may have cried a little bit about it... though not being able to breathe after I stopped running may have contributed to the tears... Nbd.
After the run, back to the van. And about 7 hours later I ran my second bit... 4.2 miles this time (with a safety vest and head lamp cause it was kinda dark). This one was way harder. I ran between a 12-13 min mile... shameful. but what can you do when you don't train properly (oops). Also, I got a little freaked because while I was running, there was an unchained great dane chilling by the road side. Thank heavens it didn't start chasing me... though granted it may have improved my pace :). Ha. and then later... a random unchained goat on the side of the road. I know. it was kind of a country area but still!
That night we slept at a hotel (we are spoiled because most runners just bring sleeping bags and just kick it on the ground wherever) and woke up at 5am the next morning to keep on. My last run was later that day, it was my longest leg at 6.1 miles.
To be honest, the 6 miler didn't feel any harder than the 4 milers... I feel like once you run a little bit... it's all just hard. But I loved this last one because the first few miles were downhill, which made it SO much easier.
^This is Rich, one of Brent's brothers (who kept a very impressive 8 min 45 sec mile pace... show off :). But you can see the kind of terrain we ran in, it was pretty.
The Ragnar was fabulous. No I won't do it again, but it was fabulous :)
And a little update on the townhome? Don't mind if I do... here's our kitchen with the cabinets and granite put in and the walls painted:
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