Ragnar Relay del Sol - RunOther

This epic race began Friday morning at the rental car place. Josh and I thought we would be the first people there as we were *Shockingly* 15 minutes early. How wrong we were! Almost everyone was already there, in fact Van 2 already had their van seat removed and were loading up! Zach and Fitzy thought it would be fun to play a joke on Tanya and I and pretend they were going to be VERY late since we had made the meet-up time VERY clear. They thought we would blow a gasket but we stayed surprisingly calm. I think after seeing Chris' keys in a thong TWICE before 9AM, anything after that is not worth getting all bent out of shape over! :)

So off we went. Van 1 held : me, Josh (Robot) Chris (Cordova61), Paulette (Paulettejo), Sandy (SandySafety) and Harry (hjmii). Van 2 was a woman and her boy beeyotches: Tanya (StandWithFist), Jerry (Perkins_Jerry), Rick (azstaterick), Fitzy (triguyfitz), Josh (BlueHawaii) and Zach (Bach03). We had a start time of 11AM 80+ miles in Wickenburg so we made our way up there. I knew we were in for an interesting weekend when our conversation went straight from something grossly sexual to gun control. Gotta love it. So we get to Wickenburg, get VERY lost but find the finish line with about 30 minutes to spare. It was pure excitement and we dropped off Harry to get started!

I have to say ESCKTC ROCKED the start line. Tanya got in trouble from the RD for holding up the race start since we were taking pics at the start line! TYPICAL! :) Harry had an awesome pose and was most entertaining at the start and then he was GONE and we were STARTED! LOVE IT! The girls took some time to shop, Tanya inked up our vans and then it was time for Van 1 to go cheer on Harry and drop off runner 2 (Robot). So off we went, stopping at the top of a hill to spell out H-A-R-R-Y with our bodies (although I am not sure if grabbing ankles and sticking out your A$$) makes an "A" but hey we tried. Then it was hand off and we already had ONE leg done. Stopped again midway to do the ROBOT dance for Robot. He robot danced from the side of the road and then we hopped back in to meet at exchange 3. We continued with this, cheering halfway for all the runners. PJ got the ENTIRE team singing her "SABOTAGE" Chris got the chicks mooning him, and I got "It's Sporty Bitch" Ala "It's Britney Bitch" since I had been entertaining the van with my music choices! I think the boys loved Britney and Fergie! ;) My first lap was wonderful, it was so beautiful. I had a 5.8 mile leg labeled HARD. It had a good hill in the middle but I was really running well for me. I was shocked that my slowest pace going UP the hil was a 10:30 that's usually how fast I run on FLATS!! I ended that run with a sub 10 pace and was on cloud 9! I have NEVER raced and had a pace like that before! I was thrilled! Before we knew it everyone was done, Sandy rocked her horribly helly hilly leg 6 and we were chillin at Lake Pleasant with Van 2 preparing to say Sayonara to Tanya. We prepped her to catch Jot, our tri club member who was on another team (nothing wrong with some friendly competition). Off she went and after chatting for a while we left...stopped for Tanya, made a kick A$$ pyramid for her and then went to eat.

Wanted BJ's but none of us could walk that far so settled for Macaroni Grill. MMM MMM GOOD! Then it was a Target trip for costumes (BEER HATS and green boas and wigs) and some more car chalk for some late night SABOTAGE!!! Then we headed to the next major checkpoint to wait for van 2. Most members of the van (save Paulette, Josh and I) wanted to rest. So while they TRIED to do that (I am sure it was a futile effort with some crazy girls giggling outside) we made some "changes" to the van:

I dress Myself now said: I MESS MYSELF
East Side Cool Kids became: BREAST SIDE COOL KIDS
Caution Runners on Road became: CAUTION SEXY RUNNERS ON CRACK
And so on! ;)

Van 2 arrived sometime around 9:45PM and we made the switch to do some night running. We agreed as a team long before the race that NO ONE would run alone at night (good thing because some of those routes were in BFE and PITCH BLACK!) So we had to have lights, vest, etc for a biker and runner. It was a bit of a logistical pain but it was SOO worth it. Harry and Josh went out first, and the rest of the van went straight to the next check point. While waiting Chris got a nice lesson in girly music again from Jen and PJ. We had our own little club scene in the van. Then it was time for Josh and I to go. He had a long leg but I loved biking along. He PRed that leg...maybe I will take some credit for that! Then off went PJ and Chris, then Chris and PJ, then it was time for me. UGH my night lap was AWFUL! I was running late (Chris ran faster than we expected and there was a porta potty line!) So I ran off without water and my music! It was mainly uphill and it was 2AM so I was GRUMPY (ask Josh about this!) HA! But I was so pissy that I ran FAST!!! Faster than ever before. My leg was relatively short: 4.3 miles and labeled HARD and I ran it in just over 9 minute miles! And the whole last 3 miles were uphill I was once again pretty proud of myself. I am not a runner. But it felt good to finally after 1.5 years finally see some progress. However, at the end of this leg, 3AM poor Sandy asks me at handoff "How was your leg" and I am like "Don't ask me right now" :) I was GRUMPY. I had not slept at all, and it was taking its toll. PLUS I needed my Britney! :)

So Sandy finishes out and we head to the next checkpoint in Fountain Hills. We were joking with Van 2 about how mad we were that we were going to get so little rest since it was their shorter legs. We were SO TIRED! I got to Fountain Hill at 4:30 and paid $5 to lay down in their dark gym on their wrestling mats. Josh and I got in there and between the weird noises and slamming doors and having to pee all the time I just laid there. Got up to check the shower situation (cold) and laid back down around 5:30, when at 5:40 I open my eyes and Paulette is standing there! GO AWAY! Zach had called from Van 2 to rouse us. Oh man! NO SLEEP! OK, time to truck on. We bought the nasty breakfast that came right back out (I know...gross) and went back to the cold van. We bitched alot but Harry quietly got his stuff together and got to the exchange to meet up with Zach. At first light we were going again.

After a minor vest snafu we were back on autopilot, THRILLED to be doing our last legs!!! Most of the van had TOUGH last legs, long and hilly. I was excited for mine. I got to run a road we are on a lot (where we do our open water swims - Saguaro Lake). And it was DOWNHILL 4.9 miles labeled HARD. Harry finished STRONG, Josh finished STRONG, Paulette finished STRONG (we sure enjoyed watching her climb that nasty hill and not climb it ourself), Chris finished STRONG and then it was my turn to keep up the amazing performance of our van. Between our two vans we were almost 2 hours AHEAD of schedule. So off I go. It was beautifully downhill and soooo gorgeous. Wildflowers everywhere, sheer cliffs, saguaro cactus and green, green, green, random men in green wigs (Harry). Then there was some NASTY hill (WHERE did that come from?) Well I was thinking 'why did they categorize this as HARD this is awesome?' My pace was a 13:00 minute mile and I was "running" :) So up and over and WHOA crazy downhill. I actually HATE crazy downhill, like body goes all over the place, arms flailing, out of control downhill! But hey it went by fast. And OK I'll admit...baby tears...I just had SO MUCH FUN! Good, no GREAT friends, big personal accomplishments. Ah, I was just sad it was over and happy that I did it. Another accomplishment for the books. This time I made sure to be POSITIVE for Sandy (who ROCKED her last leg too)! :)

So it was done...and we hurried to the very last exchange by the river...when the boys ran off to the exchange with tanya it was FINALLY our time to SABOTAGE their van. Heh Heh. Good stuff. Van 2 ROCKED their legs once again and before we knew it we were meeting at the finish line (absolutely exhausted) to collect our medals and close the book on this experience. Zach rounded the corner and we ran accross as a team. Ahhh...CANNOT WAIT UNTIL NEXT YEAR!!!

Not a DAMN thing...no really...

Oh wait...Buy every single person a reflective vest!!! *wink*

See pics here:
http://gallery.mac.com/j.donahue#100226&sel=0