The Ragnar Relay was this weekend and it was so fun! I was worried about spending two whole days with a bunch of people I didn't know, but everyone was really nice. It was weird to send our first runner off at the start at 1pm on Friday and stay pumped up until we finished on Sat at about 4:30opm. It was also weird how motivating it was when it was your turn to run because your van mates meet you every couple of miles to cheer you on and most of it you are running alone (runners really spread out over the 182 miles) so when you see them, it really gets you going. I actually put up some of my fastest runs on this race! My first leg was 7.56 miles and was very hilly. It was considered a hard leg and I started it at about 10:45pm. I ran it in 1:00:49 with a 8:02 average a mile. My second leg was 2.9 miles at about 8:15 am (we got about 3 hours of sleep which is actually good from what I've heard about these relays!) and was actually hilly as well. I ran it in 20:52, which is about a 7:11 mile. My third leg was the second to last run before the finish line and was through Mesa. They couldn't shut down traffic for the race because it could have shut down a huge area all day, so we had to wait at traffic lights. It was so annoying to stop and than try to pick up the pace again. I got stuck a LONG light (it felt like 5 minutes!) right before my last mile. Good thing my team was waiting a few yards after I crossed the street to help get me motivated again! My last leg was 4.2 miles and it was very hot. I did it in 33:17 which is about a 7:55 mile average (although I actually logged my first two miles at a 6:15 per mile pace which is a first for me). It was really fun to finish and Corey, the girls, Bob, and the entire Babb family were sooo nice to meet me at the finish line. I felt bad because they all came out to celebrate the race finish and I think I said two word to everyone because I went back to the team manager's house with my team to clean out the vans. So, thank you so much for coming out to see me cross the finish line! If anyone ever gets an offer to do one of these relays, even if you don't run, my advice is to do it! It is such a cool experience!
