Wasatch Back 2015 - Part III

After our second legs of Wasatch Back, it was time to drive ahead to our next major exchange and get some shut-eye. I don't remember what time it was when we got to Exchange 24, just that the sun was just starting to brighten the edges of the sky a little bit. I snuggled up in the front seat of the van and I was out like a light for a couple of hours. It felt so good to sleep, even if it was only for a short period of time. When I woke up, the sun was shining, and Ragnarians were everywhere. It was a beautiful sight! I do have to say that at that point, I just wanted to go back to sleep, and it took everything I had to get up, put on my shoes, and get out of that van. Once I had a couple of sips of coffee, I felt much better about the whole thing. We all got moving, and then it was time to hook up with Van 2 and find out when their last runner would be finishing. We got Matt off for his first leg of the race, only to discover that his leg was non-support. We parked in a parking lot, snuck over to him to refill his water and make sure he was feeling okay, and then we were off to the next exchange to get Lacy ready to run. Lacy's last leg was a "choose your own exchange" with the leg after hers (mine). She was awesome and ran almost a mile into mine because I had quite a bit of uphill at the beginning of my last leg. Here she is at the end of her last leg of the relay!

Quick picture pit stop before I headed out...

And away I went!

It was getting pretty hot by the time I started this leg, and I had 7 miles ahead of me. Turned out that most of it was on dirt road and single track mountain bike trails. I wished I would have known that and worn my trail shoes. Oh well, all part of the adventure, right? This leg of the relay did have some pretty stellar views, despite being hot and dusty.

I was so glad to be done with that leg by the time I finally shuffled into the next exchange. It was longer than it was supposed to be and the one mile to go sign was way further than one mile from the exchange. I was hot and dusty and out of water by the time I came in, and I was beyond happy to get in the air conditioned van and be driven through the rest of the course. Kristen took over when I came in to the exchange, and had a great next run!

Chris had the next leg, which was a trail run and completely non-support for him. Luckily it was about 3 miles, so he didn't have to be away from support for very long. Then it was time for Ami to tackle her third and final leg of the relay, which was a gnarly trail run behind Park City High School. Keep in mind that she was 7 months pregnant at the time. She crushed it! 

Once Ami came in from that leg, our van was done with our runs. Woohoo! Then we had some time to kill while our second van climbed up and over Guardsman Pass and into the Heber Valley. We went and had lunch at Squatters in Park City, then headed to Midway to relax at Soldier Hollow where the finish line was. We were there for several hours and then got word that our last runner was a couple of miles out. So we headed up to the chute area so we could all run through together. Brian was hauling ass when he came in at the end of his leg, and we all blazed through the finish together. 

Isn't that a fine looking group of people? I sure think so. While Kevin and I weren't in the same van for this Wasatch Back, it was definitely fun knowing he was out on the course with me. Here he is at the end of his first leg, which was a little over 7 miles, and all uphill. He did great, especially considering that he didn't have a ton of training time under his belt before the relay rolled around. 

And as proof that Kevin had a good time, he has already signed up to run again in 2016! 

As always, this is such a fun time of year for me with my bestie. We don't get to see each other nearly often enough, so Ragnar weekend is that much more fun because I get to spend two straight days with her. 

It was great to have Kristen in town for the relay weekend too. I would add that Lacy was here too, but she moved here a few weeks before Wasatch Back, so we get to run together all the time now! I love my running friends, and I absolutely love my relay weekends! I can't believe we have to wait 9 more months to do it all again. 

Week 55 - 2,982 Miles

We added 31 miles last week, and are closing in on the Alabama border. We have now run a total of 2,557 miles in our journey across the country. Every week I find myself wondering what will be next when we finally get to our destination. And I still don't have the answer. Ha! Guess we better do some brainstorming!

Wasatch Back 2015 - Part II

After our first legs of the race were done, we headed to Exchange 12 for some rest and food. We started off with our annual van selfie. This year's photo had 7 of us in it because we were spoiled and had a dedicated driver. 

We ended up not being able to get very much sleep at this exchange, because it was still pretty early, and a lot of people were up talking and walking around and not considering the fact that some of us picked a spot off the beaten path so we could zonk out for a couple hours. Rant over. But we really didn't get very much rest, which was a bummer because we got up so early and we were already pooped after one run. Plus, Matt still wasn't feeling well and really could have used some good sleep. We didn't start our second legs until it was dark, and as usual, I didn't get hardly any night time pictures this year. We did snap a few at the exchange waiting for Brian to come in from his first leg. 

This photo gives a good idea of what the chaos looks like at a major exchange during the night time hours. Flood lights, people everywhere, and a lot of blinking lights and reflective vests.

Our night runs felt longer this year, and I'm sure it was partly due to not getting much sleep after our first legs, as well as the heat sapping our energy. This was my 7th Wasatch Back, and it was by far the hottest year yet. I would even venture to say that it was hotter than either of the Vegas Ragnars I've done. In addition, the whole course had major changes made to it this year in an attempt to alleviate traffic problems that were not able to to be successfully addressed with the old course, and in an effort to just make it better overall. It was really fun to be on a different course, and it threw an element of surprise into the event as well. I had run the old course enough times that I knew where the exchanges were, how long the legs were, and what the terrain was like. So imagine my surprise when right before my second leg, I realized that I was about to run the same leg that I did last year. Last year I was runner 7 and this brutal hill was my second leg, about 3.6 miles. This year, I was runner 3, and ended up running that same exact 3.6 mile section. That just shows how major some of the route changes and leg changes were that this section of the course used to be Leg 19, and this year it was leg 15. That leg was tough, but I felt better on it this year than last, so I considered it a victory. 

We made it through our night runs successfully - and Matt was even feeling well enough to tackle his 4.3 mile run to start us off. Everyone did a great job and we made it to Exchange 24, where we were all able to get a couple of hours of sleep and recharge a bit. When we woke up, the sun was shining and runners were swarming everywhere getting ready to start their third and final runs. 

More on the final leg/day of Wasatch Back to come soon!

Week 54 - 2,982 Miles

We added 57 miles last week and are now in Mississippi! Not too much further to go now - hope we can make it by the end of the year! 

The One Year Mark - 2,982 Miles!

We have hit the one year mark of our journey to run 2,982 miles, and have made it to New Orleans! Our original goal/hope was to complete the mileage in 52 weeks' time. It would be easy to be disappointed by the fact that we did not reach that goal, however, we still ran 2,449 miles in 52 weeks, and that is quite the feat. We don't have much further to go to get to Fayetteville, and then this challenge will be complete. 

Then what should we do!? We are brainstorming another challenge for ourselves, and are hoping to bring awareness to a great cause through the challenge. Let us know if you have any great ideas for the next Sweat Sisters challenge!