Monday, June 22, 2009

the RAGNAR diaries...

ragnar(n): a raider, a conquerer, an explorer

run. drive. sleep? repeat.
24 hours of non-stop goodness.

Day 1 
11:00 am: I tell my mom that for weeks I had been dreading running this race. The thought of running instead of sleeping made me tired! Anyone in their right mind would rather sleep in on a Saturday morning than waste their time running with a bunch of loonies out in the middle of nowhere. But I was committed, so we made the long drive from Salt Lake to Eden to begin what would become an excellent and truly out-of-my-comfort-zone experience. 

3:00 pm: Time to start the race. I waited anxiously for my teammate to cross his first finish line and pass the baton onto me. I had 3.8 miles ahead of me in the HOT sun on even hotter pavement. The nerves set in. If it weren't for my cute fan club, I probably would have killed over in the first 100 steps...



3:35 pm: I think to myself, i'll be lucky if this heat doesn't kill me. A little dehydrated and still a bit out of shape, I thought at one point I was going to kill over and die. But I did my best to cross the finish line in Old Town Eden, red in the face and all. 
YES! One leg down. Only 24 hours and 2 legs to go...

4:00 pm: Who doesn't wear sunscreen in the blazing heat in the middle of the day when they're outdoors....?
                                                                                                       ...me.
5:30 pm: Uncle B starts the first hard uphill leg of the day. And thanks to his brawny man strength, we made it up over the hill to the most amazing view!! I wish my photog skills could have done it justice.

8:00 pm: Our van pulls up to Morgan High to have a nice spaghetti dinner and try to catch some shut eye while the rest of our team keeps pushing on down the road. After dinner, we curled up in our blankets on the schools lawn and started to drift off for an hour of rest. And right as my eyes closed and I began to drift off... "And here comes Diana on Miss Sally-may, the worlds fastest barrel racer this year. Watch as she turns around those barrels effortlessly and then speeds across the finish line..." Rodeo a block away = no sleep at pit stop #1. Here comes a long night.

11:30 pm: Time to start leg #2 - my hardest run of the 3. 4.0 miles uphill. Death. As I start my run up the first stretch of hill I think to myself, this isn't going to be that tough. i can't even see two feet in front of me so I won't even know I'm going up a hill. sweet. I was wrong. It doesn't matter whether or not you can see the hill you are running - you can still FEEL it!! 52 minutes later, pure exhaustion.

4:30 am: After a quick hour nap in the back of the Tahoe, I woke up as Bart started his 2nd leg. And what a treat that was. The sunrise made the whole sleepless night worth it! 
6:30 am: Our van is finished and it's up to the second half of our team to carry us through the morning hours. We parked at South Summit High School to FINALLY rest up before our last big jaunt. Inside the school's gym were about 300 people camped out on the floor in the dark and quiet. All I had with me was one blanket, the clothes on my back, and a bandana. But I made good use of each of those items as I folded my blanket up three times, soft enough to sleep on, bundled up in my sweat pants and sweatshirt, and tied the bandana around my eyes and ears. As soon as my body hit the blanket, it was curtains for me! 3 whole hours of sleep!!! And on a hardwood floor. It felt sooooo good. 

9:30 am: Time to get up, pack up, and meet the rest of our team for the last 6 legs! I was first and couldn't wait to get it over with. I started running with a nice cloud cover and a light rain - much better compared to the day before when it was 1000 degrees. 5 miles. I could do it! 2.5 miles into it... I was ready to die. I would have laid down right there by the cows and given up had it not been for my teammates driving by me and cheering me on to the finish line. I was so tired. As I rounded the corner to see the "One Mile to Go" marker, I said to myself You're here Lindsey. Commit to it! One mile. One mile. One mile. I turned up the old iPod and off I went. One mile to go. As I neared the finish line, the rain began to pour and I sprinted to my last finish line!! I had made it!!! Wooo-hoo!

2:30 pm: Team DOA sprints across the finish line together to see that we made it in a victorious 26 hours!! Way to go team. 123rd place out of over 400 teams in our division!!


...bring on RAGNAR 2010!!

7 comments:

Amanda said...

THIS IS AWESOME!!! YOU ARE A TOTAL ROCK STAR!!! YEAH LINDS!

I'm SO glad Caitlin was able to go and be there... represent our family. she's the cutest!

loves.

Amanda said...

Oh, and did i mention you are are AMAZING!!!!????

well you are.

grace said...

Linds, you are an animal! Way to do it. I'm so glad it worked out for you. We were in the first van, and we started a few hours after your team, so that's probably why we didn't see each other at all. Pretty amazing experience though, eh?

Way to go girl!

The Tesimales said...

YEAH Skynerd! I'm so proud of you. Sounds hard, but great! You are inspiring

sarahbjolley said...

you NEVER cease to amaze me! good job girl, i admire you! the 5K in two months is going to be a breeze for you!

Unknown said...

Go Linds!!! You are a true champ! I loved reading your entry and you have great pics!

I want to do the Ragnar in Cali one year....it just goes straight down the coast. When the time rolls around I will be contacting you to see if you want to come run it with me! :)

Justin said...

Way to go, Linz! Who is that adorable kid cheering you on?????