DISCLAIMER: I have now written this post 4x… seriously I hate technology sometimes. I know I’m saying a lot of what has already been said.

I can’t even explain what running my first Ragnar was like, not in a way that truly conveys the way I feel it changed me as a runner and a person. I’ll do my best to leave a little piece of the memory here, though.

Thursday night P and I met up with Linzay at our house and drove up to Irvine. Heather (Van1) was pretty much our team captain and seriously rose to the occasion; she had EVERYTHING we could have possibly forgotten.

We made our newest teammate, Erica, from Louisiana, eat at the Veggie Grill. Comedy Gold.

L, P and I caught a few winks in the palace of some blogging royalty before we set off on our big first day of relaying.

Day 1 was HOT. I didn’t get coffee in the a.m. which seriously makes me a beez. Sorry teammates for my morning grump, I seriously need to work on my dependence on caffeine. My grumpiness didn’t last long with these ladies. Seriously, I have never met a more awesome bunch of peeps.

Overall, Ragnar was easier than expected, except for leg 1. Leg 1 was hard, for every. single. person. out there.

Running in black trail shoes… stupid in hindsight, but dang that was a cute outfit

I was our first runner and I had no idea what I was in for. I have run in 100F+ weather, I thought 80F was nbd. Wrong. I learned what 110heat index means to your body. I didn’t take water and started my first leg (8.8miles) way too fast and totally bonked. This run was HARD. I mean, almost want to quit and curl up in a ball.

My swollen feet were hating my black trail shoes so I decided to run/walk it in, and as I stopped, around mile 7, to walk another runner came up to me. He gave me some words of encouragement and we ran in together. It was SO nice to have someone to chat with and keep me moving.

The hardest part of the whole race was watching my teammates one by one get taken to hell and back by the heat. Every single lady on my team pushed it hard and made it out on the other side, albeit a little banged up.

Psh, “unsupported legs” in 110F weather, I think not. Just make the creeper van incognito

After our first legs, we ate some much needed In-N-Out, where else would you take E on her first trip to California, and consumed copious amounts of pickles. OMG pickles have never been so good.

Madison bringing in Van1 to Lawrence Welk, she was graceful in her exchanges and I never quite mastered it…

Team SMCOL drove to the Lawrence Welk Resort in Escondido which holds some fond childhood memories, from family vacations. I had my blisters tended by the medic tent, drank some hot cocoa, ate lots of dried pineapple and headed out to do my 4 mile uphill leg.

Reflective Gear and glow sticks fo sho

The night legs were so much easier and everyone finished ahead of their projected time— we were flying and the drop to med/high 50’s was DIVINE! I had the first night leg for Van2, so I had lots of runners around me and didn’t experience the creepiness that some others did. I rocked my new favorite BIC band courtesy of teammate Sandy, it was reflective!

11 of our 12 lovely ladies

After some much needed sleep at our house and some quick showers we piled back in the van and headed out. It was so amazing to see my dad and nephew! Zak(who is 9) was super wide-eyed and overwhelmed with the apartment full of sweaty ladies!

It was FOGGY in La Jolla.

Way too much energy, I was totally punchy at this point

Seagull with a whole bagel…

Flying :-D I hit some 6’s and lots of 7’s on this 7 mile leg :-D

My last leg was beautiful, fast and hard (TWSS). I pushed and gave it my all, like really dug deep and loved it. I realized this weekend that I am getting faster! Those sub-8s are not far away for longer races! Zak and Dad gave me my house keys at one point and I sprinted home to pee, no joke. Flushable toilets were a luxury and it was a necessity, I almost peed my pants for real.

Linzay making an effort to stay on course

Everyone finished strong, and the Ultra SMCOL team had closed our 7 hour lead to less than 2 hours…. those girls are FAST!

Linzay and Danica so much fun, before the 11miles of death

I loved Ragnar, and I would totally do one again. The comraderie, the joy, we didn’t snark, there was no arguing, we all carried each other through. Danica got lost at one point and I ran the last 2ish miles in with her to help keep her head up, because we were teammates and she needed someone there with her for part of the BEAST of an 11mile finishing leg she had. Sharon ran some extra hills as support, basically when we were needed, we were there for each other.

Danica bringing in her 11 miler and Erica flying out of the gate

Our Cajun runner :)

Sharon in the blue socks and badass KT tape holding it down and getting her head right for the last leg of her day

Elisabeth was our anchor and she carried our team through, fast as lightning, we had to hoof it to keep up!

As you can see only about half of us were able to tag along with Runny McSpeedsAlot ;-)

Anddd then we all caught up!

I have to say these ladies have forever earned a spot in my heart and I would run again with them in a heartbeat!

Erica and her friend from La, who now lives in Ca, look at Ragnar bringing people together <3

Our cajun runner, Erica will be back in June and I can’t wait.

I also can’t wait to celebrate with these amazing ladies! They won the women’s Ultra division!

I definitely fell in love with running all over again this week.

And this guy…

Ok, actually this guy.

Has anyone noticed that someone is missing from this post? Phil was amazing, he gets his own personal full shoutout soon. Just sayin [P here, I have no idea what I’m doing with my hand… now back to PF!].

Awwwwww yeah