Ragnar

My birthday weekend didn't end with Torchy's Tacos and strawberry shortcake, I committed to my first Ragnar Race just three days before my birthday! Austin hosted it's first Ragnar this year and we found out about it early in the year. Brian asked if I wanted to run it and I said, "No way." Running in the middle of the night and the lack of sleep were my number one reasons, plus paying for it and having to find someone to watch our kids for two days wasn't very appealing either. Brian was going to run, but the team fell apart when youth conference got scheduled for the same weekend and many of the team members have callings that committed them to that instead. So Ragnar was not even on my radar because Brian and I ran a half marathon together the weekend before (more to come on that) and I was finally DONE training...hallelujah! Well, Emily texted me on Monday and asked if I wanted to join their team as they had a teammate drop out last minute. I almost immediately texted her back with a "Thanks, but no thanks" but decided to forward it to Brian with a laughing emoji. He texted me back and said, "I think you should do it!" I thought about it and took everything into consideration: I didn't have to do any of the leg work (organizing the team, asking for volunteers, finding a place to sleep/shower), I didn't have to pay and I was already in great running shape and didn't have to stress out about this race while I was training. It was kind of a win-win situation that I couldn't say no to! Emily was so glad when I texted her back with a "Yes" and filled me in on everything I needed to know before Friday. Before I knew it we were on our way and our first runner, Susan was on course.

We were Van 2 which meant we had more miles and ran in the crazy heat on the first day.  

Her first leg was 10 miles and it was mid 80s and most of it was run on black top, so not the best conditions, but she did great anyways. None of us were running to be the fastest team ever, so not having pressure was a good thing. 

I was the fourth runner in our van and I only had 3.5 miles in that heat and did pretty good. I can run in just about any conditions for that distance, so it was a good start to my race. 

I did not take very many pictures (am hoping to get some more from teammates at some point) so just words and finish line pictures will have to do for this post. 

After all six of our runners finished, we changed and took Mexican baths in the van and headed to BJs for dinner. Our break was about 4.5 hours and we exchanged in San Antonio around 9:30 p.m. I was lucky and fell asleep for an hour or two in the back row of the van until about 11:30 p.m. It was fun to cheer on the other girls while they ran and I was pumped and ready to go for my second run around 2:30 a.m. I had 4.5 miles on a very dark and quiet country road and I was a little nervous to start out with but it ended up being my favorite run of the race! It was nice and cool and I was able to run pretty fast! After our last two runners finished we were lucky enough to have a time share to head to for showers and a couple hours of sleep. We didn't lay down until about 5 a.m. and had to be up by 7:30 a.m. to get out the door and meet our team at 9:30 a.m. to finish up with our third and final leg of the race.

My last run was 6.5 miles through Austin and I thought it would be a fun, scenic run through the city...it was not.

(Here I am getting my last hand off) 

 It was kind of through the ghetto, but I still had a lot of fun anyways! I was feeling great and was mentally in a great spot because I was well trained and didn't feel any pressure so I ended really strong. Each team and runner kept track of their "road kill" which meant you just counted how many people you passed up during your run and I think on my last one I passed 12 or 13 runners and that made me feel good...haha! Lots of fun!

The race ended at the rodeo grounds and my family was so sweet to come and greet me at the finish line-

 Blisters and Blue Bonnets

I love this cute family of mine. I told Brian he didn't have to haul the kids down, but he insisted and I love that about him! I wouldn't have been able to have this fun weekend without his willingness and encouragement for me to participate and I just love that so much about him. I'm one lucky lady.

And having these goofs "roll it out" with me always makes me feel lucky-

I love them to pieces and they were taking it very seriously.

This was such a fun experience and I would definitely do it again!

Emily and Stacey are the cute sisters in the pink visors that are in my ward and asked me to do it. I didn't know anyone else beforehand, but had such a good time anyways!

Go Blisters and Blue Bonnets!