Ragnar: Leg 2 Road kill = 1

In the time leading up to my second leg, I tried unsuccessfully to sleep. I tried unsuccessfully to stretch (very difficult considering our lack of space). At some time, one van mate picked up the nickname of “Poopy Pants” and another the nickname of “Stinky Pits.” There was much laughter, camaraderie, and sisterhood.

But, once we reached the exchange point, I just got out to spend my time with other runners and allow (hopefully) my teammates some quiet time in which to sleep. It was about 2am, after all! Carrie and Diane joined me, and as we waited for Lisa, we chatted with the volunteers.

By the way – BLESS THOSE VOLUNTEERS! An event of this size couldn’t possibly be successful without hundreds of people willing to sit through the heat of the day and the cold of the night for nothing but a thank you.

Since Lisa was so successful, I didn’t think that I would have to wait long for her to arrive. I was right. Even though she had a tough leg, she seemed to breeze through it. The exchange was smooth, and I was off – facing the section that I had feared for months.

I was nervous at the time of registration for this section because it was five miles of gradual ascent. Then, when the race organizers had to change the course in order to avoid last year’s mess at Rockport, my 5-miler because 8.1 miles – still gradual uphill. [Gulp.] Knowing that I would struggle, I entered into this as a realist.

I started this leg with approximately 7:1 intervals which (too) quickly became 3:1, 2:1, and 1:1 intervals. I hate doing run segments that are that short, but I’m not an elite athlete. Besides, I really felt rejuvenated after the walk segments. The course had rolling up and down with the overall result being up. However, most of the hills were easy to accomplish in 2:1 intervals. If I ran the down, I could also run most of the up within two minutes. Then, I would walk the remainder of the up for one minute. Then, I would reach the top and start running again.

At about mile three, I was actually approaching someone! I stalked her with my run/walk method for about a half mile. She was really struggling; her breathing was heavy; her footfalls were hard. I stayed right behind her until I was sure that I could overtake her and stay ahead even though I was walking. Finally, I made my move and got my first (and only) road kill of the race. I was so excited, but I didn’t want to celebrate too much for fear that she would get her second wind and pass me!

I stuck with my run/walk plan and plugged along. As I approached the East Canyon dam, the noise of the water was almost deafening. There must be so much water in that reservoir! But, of course, I couldn’t see it because it was so dark. So, I just continued to kick it up the hills. The whole thing wasn’t as awful as I thought it would be, but there was one point of dejection: the final hill to the exchange point. I rounded a curve in the road and there it was. Vans were crawling up it, and it appeared to be about 70 miles long (or whatever). My response: “Oh, man!” A guy waiting alongside the road for another runner responded with “Yeah, this isn’t an easy one…”

However, it, like the rest of the leg, wasn’t as bad as it looked. I did walk it a bit more than I had planned, but only because I wanted to look strong and fresh at the exchange point which was at the top of the hill (yeah!). When I arrived at the top, I cursed inwardly. This wasn’t the exchange point after all! It was the pre-exchange where a volunteer radios the team number so that their teammates would be ready. Crap! I still had 500 yards to run, and my tank was pretty empty. But, because I didn’t want to let my team down (or embarrass myself), I continued to run as fast as possible.

After the exchange, I excitedly told my team about my road kill. I think that I was much more excited than they were. Whatever. I had road kill. And a pace of 11:44mpm. Not blazing fast, but still, it was eight miles of hills!