Ragnar Del Sol

it all started at 7am friday morning, but this group was still snug as bugs in their beds while the first van got to brave the cold Prescott starting line. after the first six runners ran each of their legs, we met them at the first exchange point around noon where rachel took the wrist band and the first group got to take a rest. with joe as my super supportive husband and our dedicated navigator, the seven of us fervently began our first portion of the race.

everybody knows that one of the first steps in preparing yourself for a 7 mile run is flossing. i dunno, i just can't begin a run feeling dirty. [besides, you really shouldn't neglect your gums.] being my first leg of the race, i knew i really wanted to push myself. my legs were well-rested and itching for a challenge. to my surprise, i ran the whole leg in decent time [for me], including the hills. previously, the most i'd run consecutively was a little over 5 miles on very flat ground. my neighborhood isn't much for hills, so i was pleasantly surprised with myself. yay, me! my short, little gams were burning toward the end and it felt good.

jane and raquelle pulled us through to the end of our first leg where we ended up near Wickenburg just as the sun disappeared behind the mountains. with van 1 on the trail again, we took a break and ate a hot meal at a restaurant in town and then headed to the next exchange point. we tried our best to get some shut-eye on the gym floor of a local elementary school, but i'd say most of us didn't get more than an hour or so of sleep. at around midnight, jeri called to let us know windee would be coming in soon. so we packed up and got rachel outiftted with her reflective vest, head lamp, and flashing tail light.

just before i was up for my second leg, i was thinking about who i needed to blame for talking me into this. i was tired, it was 3am and it was cold. but i wasn't 5 minutes into my 6.2-mile leg when i was all fired up. turned out that a little ting tings was all i needed to get me going. [thanks for the loaner, rach.] and once i was, i loved the novelty of running in the middle of the night with no moon, bright stars, a cool breeze and the silhouettes of the saguaros next to the city lights in the distance.

raquelle finished her leg around sunrise where we bid ruth farewell and promptly crashed hard on the high school gym floor. this time, we really needed it and i couldn't care less about eating. we all slept a few hours this time before meeting van 1 just outside Fountain Hills. our stand-in [ben] left us after the second leg, so my mom filled in on last-minute notice for the final leg. she tackled a pretty pesky hill before passing the torch to rachel. my leg began just north of the Lehi area in Mesa and was the longest 3 miles i have ever run. i was unconsciously exhausted and my body wanted me to know it. and don't think that because it was february that it wasn't 90 degrees outside. yet, we all made it to home base and received our medals that also double as bottle openers. because if nothing else, the ragnar will drive anybody to drink.

i kind of loved every minute of it and would definitely do it again. so who's in? washington? california? texas? yes.

that's not my name - the ting tings