Rebecca's Ragnar blogged

Copied from my personal blog for your enjoyment . . .

I LOVE RAGNAR!!!

Another fun relay in the books.  This was my fourth Ragnar and my third Running from Responsibility with David.  This year we were Team #1 thanks to our very ummm . . . dedicated team captain, James!  I love the back of our van which read, "We're #1!  No really, look." with an arrow pointing to our van sticker.

Once again, David and I found ourselves in Van 2.  This picture was actually taken after we finished our race, but it's the only one of all six of us, so . . . here we are: Runner 9, David; Runner 12, Rebecca; Runner 8, Jen; Runner 10, Tiffany; Runner 11, Amy; and Runner 7, Tom.  I was really looking forward to hanging out with Amy, one of my best friends and a great running partner (/slash/ therapist!) for her first Ragnar.

Our team in Van 1 started things off in Huntington Beach at 6:00am, about the time we left our house in Moorpark.  The early morning hours were busy: pack the van, write love notes to the kids, last minute instructions to Grandma Greding, pick up the 15-passenger van, meet up with the rest of Van 2, drive to exchange 6, park, sunblock, sign waivers, safety meeting, find Van 1, cheer as Van 1 finished and cheer for Tom's start, eat a complimentary Krispy Kreme and head out to our first exhange.

Friday was hot.  It just was.  I was Runner 12 so I had hours and hours to watch the sun and the temperature rise.  I remembered last year how miserable I was running my first leg, literally wishing for a car to hit me - just enough to end my run but not actually kill me.  The heat this year was possibly worse than last year.  Runners became walkers and walkers became ambulance passengers.  I prepared for my first run, which began where my run last year ended in Corona, by foam rolling, stretching, and clipping my toenails!  He he.  I forgot to do that ahead of time.  Candid photos by Jen.

I planned to take it easy.  David told me to not try to run the whole thing, it was too hot. Easy advice to take in 97 degrees!  Here I am at 3:04pm, all ready to sprint out of the blocks!  Not really.  Once Amy slapped the bracelet on my wrist, I took off at a very conservative pace.

I forgot to wear my watch, which was probably a good thing since this leg was not about speed.  I felt surprisingly good as I ran along for 4.6 very hot miles.  I kept thinking about how training makes such a difference.  I was very under trained last year (thanks to my knees) and that first run was literally the most miserable run of my life.  This year, despite the heat, I felt good and finished relatively strong.  The best part was my knees didn't hurt for one single second.  Yay!  Also, I didn't wish for a car to hit me and I didn't end up with soggy shorts! 

My van gave me awesome support during this leg.  I love this picture taken by Jen: I'm drinking water from the Camelback I borrowed from Tiffany while David is spraying me down with ice water.  At one point, Amy put some ice cubes down my back.  Ahhhh, thanks, Team!

At Exchange 12 I hugged James and slapped him the baton, finishing our team's first round of runs.  In three years of Running from Responsibility, I have handed off to James or he has handed off to me every time.  That has been unplanned and the streak will end with our next Ragnar coming up . . . more on that later . . .

So our tired and sweaty Van headed off to eat.  Side note:  it is very hard to eat a Subway sandwich with braces!  I had to use a knife and fork which made me feel like Miss Manners.  Also, this is the most awkward picture ever taken of David and me, but I must include it for laughs.  Photo credit to Jen again.  You sure know how to capture a moment, sister!

After filling our tummies, we headed off to our hotel for the evening.  This is the first year we stayed in a hotel.  In the past we've always had someone who knew someone along the way who let us rest and shower and eat.  We thought it was hilarious that the hotel was called the Ramada Limited because it was, in fact, quite limited.  But it was all we needed and it was cheap.  We were able to shower and relax and even sleep  for a couple of hours.  Before I slept, I called and talked to the kids.  It's funny how much I miss them and their silly stories and adventures after such a short time /slash/ how happy I am to have a break from the chaos and literally run from responsibility!!  It was cute to hear their little voices and all the "I love you!"s.  Oh how I love them.

This would be a good time to pause and mention my awesome mother-in-law.  We try to not hurt her too often with watching the kids, but when we do, she is always happy and willing.  I'm grateful to her for giving us time away, and I'm happy the kids have a chance to spend some time with Grandma.  Grandpa shows up a little bit too, with pizza and lolipops.  There's nothing wrong with buying their love, right?

Ok, back to the race . . .

Here is where being in Van 2 was an advantage for once, timing-wise.  Our wake up call from Van 2 was not painful at all.  It was early in the night and we had a short drive to the exchange where David and I enjoyed some yummy pasta.  Then all of our night runs were so short - mine was the longest at 4.7 miles with the shortest being 2 miles - that we were only up for a few hours and back to the hotel for another shower and a few hours of sleep.  I didn't experience sleep-deprivation-induced anger or grumpiness as I have in past Ragnars. But I'm getting ahead of myself . . . .

So we have a pretty good idea about when to expect our next runner to come in based on their estimated pace.  As we were waiting for Amy to arrive, somewhere in Carlsbad, before my run, we were all sitting in the van sharing a few favorite funny videos on YouTube.  This is when I was introduced to The Key of Awesome's spoof on Walk off the Earth's cover of Somebody That I Used to Know.  Obsession!  Anyway, we wrapped up our YouTube binge when we thought we had plenty of time to wander up to the exchange.  As I opened the van door, I heard several voices yelling "Rebecca!" and "Where's Van 1?"  Oops.  So I took off running up like 100 stairs from the parking lot to the start of my run at exactly 2:30am.  Nice pace, Amy!  And sorry!  He he.

My night run was great.  I had my watch this time, but forgot my music in the rush.  At first I was wishing I had some tunes, but I could hear frogs in the cool night and immediately was glad to have left my iPod behind.  My run was peaceful and easy.  I felt a couple of twinges in my left knee, stretched it out once or twice, but felt fine for most of the run.  I didn't see many people, runners or otherwise, along the way.  My van came by a few times to cheer me along, but other than that, I was pretty much alone.  One thing I love about running is the time alone with my brain.  I end up thinking a lot about running when I run, but I also think about solutions to problems in my life, or come up with ideas for changes I want to make in my life.  This was one of those contemplative runs.  I really enjoyed it.    

So as I mentioned, our night runs were all pretty short so we were able to get back to the hotel and shower and sleep again.  That second block of sleep felt so good!  We enjoyed a complimentary breakfast in the morning, then headed back out to run again!

Being Runner 12 means lots of waiting around.  And when Runner 11 gets lost (along with dozens of other runners!) the wait is even longer.  Poor Amy!  Her final leg was supposed to be 4.9 miles, but she ended up running about 8.25.  I admire her fortitude and attitude!  I would have just fallen over and cried if that happened to me!  When we finally saw her back on course, she literally had a smile on her face as she "yelled" the phrase, "I'm so angry!"

Being Runner 12 also means the glory of the finish!  My final run at 3:14pm was my longest at 6.3 miles.  It was easy and flat but my knee hurt slightly pretty much the entire run.  (Is anyone else tired of me complaining about my knees?!  I am.)  This was a "dig in and keep on keeping on" kind of run.  I felt fine, but I was also really looking forward to that finish line!

Here I am, coming through the final tunnel to the beach on Coronado Island, San Diego where my team was waiting!

Victory!!!  We did it!  Danielle, AnneMarie and James Sloan, Wade Altom, John Stewart, David and Rebecca Greding, Jen Jossie, Tiffany Pratt, Nikki Fenske, Amy and Tom Omer:  Running from Responsibility 2012.

I can't express how much I love racing with David.  I love that we share this hobby of running and especially when we get to run Ragnar together.  We have so much fun together and the experience does wonders for our marriage!  Which is why I'm so excited for our next adventure: the Napa Valley Ragnar in September!  Well that and the "Gold Rush" medal we'll acquire for running both CA Ragnars in the same year.  Yeah!  We can't wait!