Ragnar: Check!

The slogan says it all: "Run. Drive. Sleep? Repeat."
Wow! So much to say that it's hard to know what to write. We finished the Ragnar. Many may not know the update that Barrett found a team to run with and was able to do the Ragnar as well. The fun part was that we ran the exact same legs. Our teams started a few hours apart, but it was fun to compare/contrast our 3 legs. It was cool to train with Barrett and to learn and grow from each other. I will try to explain more with the rest of the pictures.

My happiest part of the race, which you can see in my face. Our first leg was 6.9 miles, steep downhill, during the middle of the day. Both of us underestimated the effect of downhill on your thighs, so the first leg wasn't so great. But we did train for uphill. Our second leg was 8.1 miles, steady uphill with a steep incline the last 1 mile. I got to the top and was ecstatic to pass off the wristband! So ecstatic in fact that I was ready to keep running. The best part of the leg was that Barrett's parents and youngest sister were there cheering me on. These are the two pictures they took after. Running up the canyon at night was gorgeous! I loved having the chance to be alone with God and gaze at his amazing creations. As soon as I finished I knew Barrett was going to kill this leg... which of course he did... but his story comes later.

Our last leg was only 3.1 miles. And it was flat. But, funny enough, it was the hardest leg for both of us. My parents were there at the finish line and it was so good to see them! I had a few tears in my eyes seeing them and knowing I had finished something I never knew I could do.

Here comes Barrett....
I saved the best part for last. (I like bragging about Barrett's Ragnar experience) Barrett joined a guy from our ward's team and ended up being half the age of the youngest on their team, ha ha! They also had a blind man on their team who was an extra and ran when he wanted to. Between his 6 vanmates they had run a total of 110 marathons! Barrett learned a lot about the culture and wisdom of running being on this team. He also got to stay in a sweet cabin after running his last leg in Morgan.

If you look closely in the picture you can see him preparing to give my dad "bones." After you hear his story you will be surprised he had the energy to do so. So Barrett had a little adrenaline on his first leg and started by running a 6:30 minute mile uphill, before realizing he should slow down to save some energy. During the second leg he knew his parents were there to watch him so he already was excited for the run. However, the cabin they were staying in for the night was at mile 6 of his run. A runner from his other van planned to meet him at the 6 mile mark and finish the rest of his leg. But Barrett did not see his parents and still had a lot of energy. As a result he decided to run the rest of his leg to see his parents and then run back the 2 miles to the cabin. He made it to the top just as excited as I was, but still did not find his parents. So he made the trek back down the mountain only to find out that his parents just happened to be parked in the driveway where he was staying. He had run past them, but neither had seen the other. The next morning one of Barrett's vanmates was unable to finish his leg so Barrett picked up the slack and ran another 5+ miles uphill (probably steeper than our second leg the night before). A few legs later he got out again to run his last leg. All in all Barrett ran nearly 26 miles! After training for only a few weeks before Ragnar, Barrett discovered that he is a runner.

I left my team for a little while so I could see Barrett run in. How fun! This is us with my parents after we both had finished.
I was able to meet all of Barrett's vanmates and they were so nice! They made me jump in a picture with them. I wish we had pictures at the finish line. This was our finish line, but our other vans still had to run their last leg for the final finish line.
Barrett has more fun stories from his second van, a bunch of past BYU cross country runners who drew names at the beginning of each leg to determine who would be running next. I guess we could also talk about trying to sleep in the van and the quirky conversations after a van full of stinky, sweaty people come in from running. But if you want to experience that you will have to run it yourself. Overall, we had a great experience and love that we were able to share it together.
Next goal: Top of Utah Half Marathon. 13.1 miles. August 28, 2010. Bring it on!