We finished with an 8:25 pace which I was super proud of. That's my PR so far! There were a few points in the race where Brady decided to pull ahead of me because he was feeling good. The first time, he ended up slowing down and saying that he was going to burn himself out as I caught up to him. The second and last time was toward the end. He went ahead and I couldn't catch him for a good mile or two, but I finally did with just 2 miles left in the race. He had hit a wall and so we were able to push each other at the end. We probably won't have the opportunity to run a race like that together again til our kids are all grown, so I'm glad we did it :)
Side note: I found out I was pregnant the day after our race. Good thing I didn't know because that would have been a total mental block for me!
Then, in June I was able to run the Ragnar Relay with Brady's work team. I was on and off the team three different times, so I'm glad it actually worked out for me to run with them! I've done two Ragnars in Washington (Northwest Passage), so this was my first here in Utah (Wasatch Back). Let me tell you, the Utah one is WAY harder. So many hills and mountains to climb! I was really impressed with all of our team members and the elevation gains and mileage they took on. I was grateful that my legs weren't too strenuous. I was runner number 1, so I started at 8;30 am with a 6.2 mile leg that went on a little mountain trail. It was really beautiful. Also, I was the only girl in our van, so that made things interesting... Brady's first leg was brutal. He had to run 8 miles uphill on a dirt road in 85-90 degree heat. I felt so bad for him, but he did really well! I think he gained 1,000 feet and probably guzzled a pound of dust from all the vans passing by him on the dirt road.
My second leg was at 9:30pm and was about 4.5 miles. This was my favorite run. I love to run in the dark... somehow, you can't tell as much when you run up hills and how far you're going. My first mile was a 7:28 pace. When I heard my phone tell me that, I was like, "Woah!! I'm the fastest runner on the planet!" But then of course, I slowed down and my average was an 8:40. Brady then ran 9.7 miles in the pitch dark. He said he kept hearing things in the bushes which helped him run faster! :)
After our van was done with the second leg, we had a long rest in Camas, Utah. Brady and I were not prepared to sleep outside. We thought that since it was so hot during the day, we wouldn't need much for sleeping bags, but being up in the mountains at night... it gets flippin' coldies! We both ended up squeezing into Brady's mummy bag and then getting in our double sleeping bag. Both of which are really thin bags. Our body heat kept each other warm and we were able to sleep for a couple hours. It wasn't the most comfortable though. We definitely were squished! :)
I remember going to the bathroom in a port-a-potty the next morning and sitting down on a warm toilet seat. Normally, that would have totally grossed me out, but since I was so freezing, I was like, "Hey... this is kinda nice". Haha!
My third and final leg was 5+ miles and I started at 7 am. I seriously had the best start times for all of my legs. It was never too hot or too cold. I was especially grateful for that because I was 13 weeks pregnant at the time, and so I needed all the good weather I could get! Brady's 3rd leg was really good. He ran super fast with an 8:22 pace and his first mile was 7:35. He only ran 3+ miles for that leg but in total he ran 21 miles. What a stud muffin! I only ran a total of 16 I think.
We had a lot of fun together. Once again, I don't know when we'll be able to run a Rangar Relay again together. One of Brady's co-workers, Greg, was kind of the dad of our van. There were a couple times where I asked Brady if he would come with me to my next exchange, and he said he couldn't because he was "busy". So, thankfully daddy Greg stepped in and went with me. I was glad somebody cared about me ;)
We saw some beautiful country as we ran from Logan, Utah to Midway. I think my favorite was where Brady ended his first leg in Paradise. There were fields of grass and yellow flowers. I want to go hiking up there sometime.
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