At this point I am not even sure where to begin, considering all of the hype and energy has escaped my brain by now. I decided last year that I wanted to challenge myself to run a Ragnar. Part of me thought that I could never do something like this because in all honesty...I despise running. So I decided to head up the team so that there was no backing out for me, and of course I always prefer to be in charge.
I got 11 other women from my ward, although 2 of them moved and had to travel from Utah and New Jersey, and we called ourselves the Real Housewives of Palm Springs.
I hated all of the training and really began to wonder why on earth I was doing this, but I knew it was to have a moment of pride and accomplishment.
And so it began...
We drove 2 vans up to San Francisco on a Thursday morning. We left at 5 am and that's when the no sleep began. That night before the race we all rode the trolley to Fisherman's Wharf and had dinner together. I was a fun night to enjoy each others company before it all really began.
And then after a few hours sleep we woke up at 4 am and left for the race.
It started over the Golden Gate bridge.
It was breathtaking, for us, and of course Lillie who was actually running.
I was the 3rd runner and I started right after the sun had come up. I ran along the water in Sausalito. It was so beautiful, and the temperature was absolutely perfect. I want to move there.
Here is my van of ladies...
I can't claim any of these pictures as my own... they were all taken by lizzie and lillie.
Yes, I might have gone into a Nordstrom at an exchange point to use a bathroom, and came out with a new necklace.
My second run was right when the sun was starting to set. Hence my headlamp, although it was never even dark. Definitely not worth the huge bruise it left on my forehead.
There was a mile of it that was up a steep hill and I wanted to cry, but I had told myself that I really wanted to run all of my legs, and so I did.
Lillie had to do some pumping throughout this road trip.
all of the girls together in the end.
What an experience. I loved every minute of it. We slept probably a total of an hour over about 36 hours total. We used port a potties the whole time, and quite a lot I might add with the nerves. We snacked on bagels and lunch meat and protein bars and starburst. And went through 2 huge flats of water. We cried, out of exhaustion and hormones and anger and sleeplessness. We piled 6 woman in a van to try and sleep. We laughed more than I can remember in a long time. We got to know each other in ways we never imagined. And we ran and ran and ran once more.
I have to say that I am already so excited for my next one. I am excited to experience one with Tyson. I think that will be amazing. I am so proud of myself. I ran one of the least amounts of the 12 women, but for me it was still a lot.
And then we came home.
