Craftiness meets Running-ness

With Melanie's help I created this little gem that I LOVE!

It's so fun to flip through my race bibs and see what I've been able to do over the past two years.

26.2

I wanted to share my experience with you all by posting one photo for each of the miles I ran yesterday.

But I ran into some snags with that idea . . . . 

So here's the first 13 miles in photos!

This is mile 0 -- More accurately, this is all of us in a tent trying to stay out of the rain pour that started just before the race started.  This is our view when the start gun (muzzle loader) was fired. Ah, nice start!

 

Mile 1 -- People think they are hot and leave clothes on the side of the road.  We are all bundled up and running at this point, not willing to give up any clothes.

Mile 2 -- Time to use the Handi Hut!  Oh, Honey Buckets, I missed you.  You are the best port-a-potty around, this one just wasn't the same.

 Mile 3 -- First aid station.  Apparently this set of folks run the mile 3 station every year.  They are runners also, but like to help out in this way.  The flags were an awesome touch!

Mile 4 -- Pretty run down the canyon!

Mile 5 -- There were some great signs along the course.  It was really fun to see the message that were left for people.

Mile 6 -- We just came through our first hail storm!  Look at my freezing arms -- at some point I thought my arm would just fall off!

Mile 7 -- Here's are awesome race bibs.  Melanie is 3055, Jamie is 3052 and I'm 3044

Mile 8 -- I have a steady drip of rain water running off my hat.  I think that's gonna be the worst of it, but I was so, so wrong!

Mile 9 -- Two miles after it happens we take a closer look at Jamie's leg.  She has fallen out of the Handi Hut and had a crash landing.  That's two falls in the last two races for Jamie, maybe it's a sign.

Mile 10 -- More hail.  We run in it, we cry in it, we end up laughing in it.  At some point this race has become completely ridiculous!

Mile 11 -- Low lying clouds.  We hear lots of thunder claps over head followed by intense rain.

Mile 12 -- More water .. . this time we like it because it's in a river.

Mile 13 -- We are about to the bottom of the canyon.  A waterfall in the distance is nice, but we are soaked!  The camera is soaked and the battery is dead.  We hand the camera off to Jeff at Mile 14 and wish we could hand ourselves off too.  

We ended up finishing the race in just over 6 1/2 hours.  It was very hard and quite the accomplishment for us.   I was happy that I didn't ever get completely overwhelmed or angry.  We kept our wits about us.  I appreciated Jamie for bringing along some stories that she'd read to us every once in awhile.  I appreciate Jeff and Emma coming along and checking on us during the race.  And it was great to see Tani and the kids at the finish line!

This was really a hard thing we trained to do.  The time it has taken away from my family, my schedule, Ethan's football game, Josh's Homecoming dance, and many other things, has been hard.  I think that although I feel great about finishing, I won't do this again.  It was a sacrifice for my whole family for me to do this, and I love them for helping me finish!

And to my two running partners, I couldn't have made it without you gals.  Thanks for going on these crazy adventures with me and pushing me through to the end!

P.S.  When I get a photo of the finish line and medal I'll post that!

Ingredients

INGREDIENTS

Tulle

Cardboard

Cotton batting

Ribbons

Beads

Running Shirt

Iron Ons

Running Skirt

Muddy 4 Mile Obstacle Course

3 Runninng Buddies

RESULTS:

The Cotton Rockettes running in the "Kiss Me Dirty" Race

Thanks to Jaime, we were rockin' celebs in our costumes.  We had people laughing and wanting to take our photos.  One group of people watched us walk by and we heard one ask her friends if we were chefs.  Her friend said, "Those aren't chefs . . . . "  

Another little girl asked her daddy what we were, he took a second look and just started laughing.  Poor girl won't find out what we were from him and probably not for another 10 years from anyone.

We ran over hay bales, through tires, over a climbing wall, under an army crawl, down a COLD river and through tubes.  It was really hard coming off of no sleep at girls camp, but it was fun!

And my awesome family surprised me by getting up early and coming to watch us.  I'll have to add a photo later of me and Josh and Ethan.  Not sure how those boys felt watching their muddy mom dressed up like a tampon. .  ..   Ha!  So funny!

Thanksgiving 1/2

Wow!  My 3rd half, and it was harder than the first.  This was a pretty rolly course and the snow at the beginning was not particularly fun for me. 

But the company was good and they kept me going!

I refuse to talk about the marathon . . .  this race just didn't go THAT well.

36 Legs 36 Experiences

Oops I did it again!

I guess it wasn't so much an accident as an adventure.  But count that as my third Ragnar. 

I'm currently snuggled up in bed suffering from a head cold, but figured someone's gotta update this blog and record this Ragnar.

So to keep my foggy head from thinking too much, I'll just give you 36 experiences from the Las Vegas 2010 Ragnar.  36 is representative of the total number of times someone had to get out of the van and put the shoes on the road.

Here we go!

1.  Just call me"U-Turn" Wendy.  I liked to get us close to the place we should be at and then complicate the situation with a series of U-Turns that just got us back to where we should've been.  Kudos to Cheiko for holding it together while driving.

2.  Have you ever seen the Valley of Fire?  It's where we started the race.  Here's what it looks like at 6am:

Yup, it's impressive.  If you add in some nerves and reflective gear, it's even more cool.

3.  Actually, here's a pretty good photo of what the area looks like:

(This is Lisa H running down hill after cresting a freakin' hard hill)

4 & 5.  Yes, I'm only at 4 and I'm wondering how long this blog could possible be.  But since I saw two of the following, I think that it will count.  Of course I saw one alive and one dead.  Either way, it was kinda creepy/cool and gave me a reason to stop running for a little air break.  The live version was photographed and emailed to me by the Scouts.

6.  Speaking of Scouts.  This was one of my favorite teams!  Apparently a Boy Scout group had provided service to Ragnar for two days previous to the race and then ran the race.  I can't tell you how cool it was to see them out running.  They all ran IN their Boy Scout Uniform shirts and with a hodge podge of shoes.  One boy had skater shoes on.  They were extremely polite as they passed me . . . .  I do remember one scout who took off out of the 2nd exchange.  He was young and amazingly fast!  Very inspirational, actually.

7.  Another note about my first run, it just happened to be the EXACT same first run as last year.  I was STOKED to see that I ran it nearly 1 min 20 seconds faster PER MILE than last year.  And it was 7.2 miles long!  I was thrilled to see improvement.  Now, do I credit the performance to a year's worth of running or the bag of Circus Peanuts I ate before I ran??  (You know it was the Circus Peanuts!)

8.  When you are the 'inactive' van you get to go to the next major exchange and wait for your next turn.  It's really tough depending on where you get to wait.  How rough do you think this was?:

(We're hanging out poolside at a swanky casino on reclining chairs)

9.  Another look at this exchange:

(I will say that from here on out the exchanges just got worse.  Poor van 2 had a horrible sleeping situation at exchange 30.  Unless you enjoy a rocky surface to roll your bag onto.  Ugh!)

10.  Red Shoes!  That's a great memory for me ~ These are NOT my shoes, but they belong to a rockin' awesome runner who really did a bang up job at the race.  Not saying that it was easy for these Red Shoes, but you have to respect them, and I do!  Go ahead and guess whose shoes they are.  She is RAGNAR!

11.  I was again fortunate and HUGELY surprised to find that my second run was the same one as last year.  Last year I was runner 11, this year I was runner 5.  So having two of the same courses is quite odd.  But, I was really grateful for this.  My second run was the one where the man was killed last year.  I took a detour last year to avoid the accident scene and was very emotional about it.  There was no detour this year, and it was still pretty emotional.  Cool though!

12.  On that same second run of mine the man in front of me reported that he was struck by pellets from an air soft gun.  A car driving by had shot at him.  Freakin' people!!!

13.  I didn't realize something had happened in front of me, I think it was because I was getting passed by one of the 1/2 naked runners in a speedo.  That's an incredibly distracting event  to have butt cheeks like that passing you, Just sayin'

14 & 15.  Did I mention I have a cold?  Let's call #14 my sister-in-law Tif who gave me 1/2 of the cold and #15 is the cold night I spent sleeping outside with a sweaty, wet head which caused the other 1/2 of the cold.

16 - 20. Ragnar Bling.  I'm counting each of the toes . . . .except I'm pretty sure that one of these is going to fall off now.  I'm thinking about surgically removing them ~

 

21.  Have you ever been the scape goat?  Well I have!  And here's what happens when Chieko thinks you're the one to blame:

(Cheiko's evil eye -- P.S.  Don't trust a word Lisa says in the van!)

22.  After being the recipient of Cheiko's evil eye, I let it go after this happened;

(sleep affects people differently)

25.  Suppose I should make some mention of my last run.  Let's just say it was bad . . . .   We could also say that it was a lot like running on the canal.  Except it was rockier.  And it was uphill.  It looked like this whenever I looked around;

And of course the rest of the trip wouldn't have been complete without the following:
 
26.  Libby -- I think this may be the last time I talk Libby into something like this.  Libby bailed early on our trip.  I think it had to do with a hot car and a man. 

27.  Lisa -- I blame Lisa for EVERYTHING!  It's completely her fault that I find myself sitting on a curb in the dead of night wondering why I'm there.  It's her fault that I love crossing the finish line too . .  .

28.  Dena -- I love Dena AND Kim.  I think the best part of my whole thing was riding around with Kim and Tifany at the end of the race.  Kim was howling at the burros and dropping drawers . . .  .Ha!  So funny even now, good times! 

29.  Cheiko -- the previous photos say it all!

30. Brenda -- Nickname "red shoes"

31.  Cyndi -- I so wish I was in the same van as Cyndi.  There's something really cool about watching someone do something hard and trying something new.  I love hearing about how this was for her.

32. Jen -- 41 hours with no sleep.  Thank goodness she finally fell asleep.  I was worried she'd  be up all night.  Jen was putting out crazy miles/min and was still going strong with no sleep.  AMAZING!

33. Kellie -- How's this for my fabulous friend who has followed me through all of these Ragnars?  Beautiful!

34.  Jaime -- Queen of decorations.  Sorry you got stuck doing this twice out of the three times we've gone.  But you are great at it!!  Looking forward to that marathon next year . . . .

35. Tifany -- Crazy Tif!  You fly out from Iowa each time we do these.  I can't tell you how much I rely on you running in with me for the last bit of my legs!  Thanks sis!

36.  Melanie -- Thanks for everything you did to help things flow smoothly between the vans!  You are great at helping out and seeing the needs of the people around you.  Thanks for letting me run in with you on that last leg.  You did great!

Ah!  I made it to 36. 

My head is still stuffed like a  Thanksgiving turkey!

Not sure what my next BIG thing will be . . . but it's looking like a marathon next year.  YIKES!

Guess it's good I'm headed to HAWAII soon!  YIPPEE

12 Runners = One Crazy Race

Well, we did it again.

We ran another Ragnar Relay Race.

This time, the Wasatch Back.

A race that starts in Logan and ends in Park City.

Team 454 - Save Our Soles

There were 12 great runners who helped us reach this achievement.

And in honor of those 12 runners,

I give you 12 Highlights from the Race.

*******************************************************

# 1 -   Overall, the race course was lovely!  We passed through small towns and in/over mountains.  It was much more scenic than Vegas.

Tifany running in front of a lovely field

# 2 - We met new people who joined our team.  I think this gal's name is Helen, maybe it's Norah, or Ruth . . . . Regardless, she was great fun and a rockstar runner.  We were really tight by the end of the race (as you can tell from my ability to remember her name).

(Alright, I know her name - it's Ruth. And she's getting married this weekend - Congrats!)

#3 - Running up Avon Pass was my running highlight.  It was a 1200 foot gain, and all dirty, dusty road.  You can tell it was a hard run because of my boob sweat, again . . . .  

 

There should be a picture here of me.  But when I looked at it again -- I was horrified!  So just picture a completely haggard, chubby girl with boob sweat and a sunburn.  I also had mud on my teeth. It's not a picture for the world to see .. . .

#4 - My first experience showering in a middle school girl's locker room.  Don't even scroll down looking for a photo!  Let's just say that my nakedness probably made a lot of skinny gals feel REAL good about themselves. 

Oh, don't even bother leaving me a message that I'm not chubby.  The freakin' 'shower attendant' charged me DOUBLE for my shower -- she must've figured that I used twice as much water as the other gals. 

#5 - Hanging with other running teams.  Okay, we didn't do a whole lot of mingling, but just watching other teams is a kick!  It's definitely a PG-13 race when you take a look at all the different team names.  But here's a few of my ' favorites '

(Oh, the funny-ness of computer geeks who run!)

(Sorry, didn't include his teammates who were dressed similarly and cheering him on)

# 6 - Watching the success of  my teammates.  Man, this is really one of my favorite things!  I love supporting the gals who are out running and then watching them finish their legs.  I love, love it when they feel success. 

I know that for all of us there are some runs that don't make us feel successful, but then there are those that do.  Like these:

(Dena, after her first LONG run.  She has done 10 min miles on this run -- AWESOME!)

(Adorable Cheiko after her HOT, uphill, 6.5 mile run)

# 7 - Being loopy.  Ah, the joy of being completely off your rocker after getting little (if any) sleep and running like there's no tomorrow.  Being this loopy makes you think that mooning and flashing your friends is funny.  Along with this stuff:

(Melanie blasting herself with the sprayer)

(It's Helen's name spelled out on our shirts)

# 8 - A Massage at the end of the race.  How do I even begin to describe this messed up highlight?  Can I just say -- LARGE, LARGE sweaty man, with sweaty boob marks (just like mine) touching my body while sweat drips off his forehead and plinks off my hands and arms.  Not to mention the LARGE, LARGE man's overhanging 'areas' around my head and hands!  And why, oh why, did I still have to enjoy the freakin' massage and walk away like a drunken sailor?  I'm so confused by this experience.

 

Yeah, no photos for this one either!

 

# 9 - Proud Kids / Families.  I do love the power and strength of women.  I think that doing hard things makes our kids and families see us in a new light. 

(Cheiko and Ethan)

(Brenda, Mike & Jenna -- Mike & Jenna were two of our AWESOME volunteers!)

(Jaime running in with her family - minus Bailey - after a long run on a crappled knee)

(My Support Club)

# 10 - Miracles.  With 1050 teams moving from Logan to Park City it's easy to appreciate that people made it through safely.  It would definitely be considered a miracle and an answer to our team's prayer that we were safe.

But sometimes it's even more miraculous that one person's prayer could be answered out of so many.

Alexis, told us how she spent her third run (a run that was unexpectedly increased by 1.5 miles), talking to a lady about the church, about Jesus, and sharing testimony.  This lady told Alexis how she was an answer to prayer.  The lady prayed that she would make it through that leg, and that with Alexis she was able to do it.

Finally, it was a real miracle and answer to prayer when Jaime lost her wallet (containing $300 and her Ragnar medal) and found it again.  She found it on top of the car, which had been driven wildly down Provo Canyon in the middle of the night, to church and back and parked in front of Ruth's house. 

**************************************

The one thought that has stuck in my head during this Ragnar race comes from the back of some guy's shirt. I saw it at the first major exchange.  It just simply said:

Do Hard Things

And so I will keep trying to Do Hard Things -

Thanks for the journey, ladies!

See you in Vegas ~

50 by 50

Caught this on the evening news and just thought it was incredible.


Mom Overcomes Obstacles With 50 Marathons By 50th Birthday


Makes you think your life is easy, eh?

Three Reasons

3 Reasons I Won't Be Running On The Canal Again:

1.  Melanie saw a snake on the canal

2.  I saw a snake on the canal

3.  I think there's probably more snakes on the canal


'Nuff said!

Personal Trainer

I'm in love with my new personal trainer!

I'm running faster than ever,

I'm feeling motivated,

Seeing results,

The trainer is AWESOME!

And Jeff paid for me to have this personal trainer,

as part of my birthday gift.

This is no cheap trainer, either!

I love you personal trainer ~

Moab

Following the race we took a little drive out to Dead Horse Point and took some photos.

The kids did some hiking,

Melanie jumped on rocks,

I limped around a little.

The next day we went to Arches National Park and did some more hiking.

Nothing too serious, since it was FREEZING cold.

It was fun, and when I combined the photo taking with some Photoshop tutorials, here's what I ended up with:

All in all it was a pretty darn good weekend!