Del Sol Ragnar Relay 2011

Thursday February 24th I boarded a jet plane to fly to sunny Arizona. I was brimming with excitement, but nervous at the same time. I had been training for the last several months for this weekend, and hoping that my training would pay off.

Friday February 25th I got up at 3:30am to shower and get ready for the race. Why shower? I wanted to at least start off clean. 

We arrived at the starting point around 5:00am. After a brief safety orientation and gathering our gear, we took a few pictures and got Steve ready at the starting line. 

Jake was runner number 2, followed by Patrick, then Katie and finally me... Runner #5. 

My first leg went remarkably well. I ran 6.8 miles with a 12.5 min per mile pace. The scenery was beautiful and the music was motivating.

Leg #2 was not so good. My iPod battery was dead, so I had to run it in silence. I had my watch to keep time, but other than that I was on my own, no van support, no music, no energy. It was 10:30pm and I was sore. The leg was my longest... 6.9 miles. All uphill. About 5 min before finally reaching the 1 mile left sign, I got a call on my cell phone from Jake asking how I was doing. I was not doing well. I wanted so badly to give up, but I refused to do so. I just kept putting one foot in front of the other. When I finally reached the volunteer that announced to the exchange what runner number was coming I began to sprint. I sprinted to the exchange then limped away wheezing. I was so glad it was over. 

After a good 3 hour nap at the Brown's home in Phoenix, we trekked out again. This final exchange went much better. With a fully charged iPod, I was energized and ready to go. 4.8 miles through the hilly desert. Call me crazy, but at one point I got a high five from another team, it was a guy wearing a speedo and an afro wig, it gave me a huge burst of energy to push forward and plow ahead. I was so happy when I got to my final exchange. I was done! 

At the very end of the race we joined with our last runner to sprint to the finish line. In the end I had run over 18.5 miles. I was stiff, I was tired, but I felt amazing. I hope to do it again next year. It is an experience unlike any other.