I got the chance to do the Ragnar Trail Relay in Zions over the weekend. I did it with April and Toby and lots of Toby's family. It was awesome and horrible all at the same time. Awesome because it was a trail relay and I love trail running. Love it. Also awesome because of great company, tons of food (more than we could ever eat - invite the Johnsons if you want good food), and the party that Ragnar races always are. The awesome part about trail races is you get to camp instead of sitting in a car for hours. There are three trails and as soon as everyone has run each trail, you're done.
The place we were camping at had pools and hot tubs. Super cool. I was the first runner for our team. A three mile loop. Then I got to go sit in the hot tub. Sigh. From now on I'm only doing races that have access to hot tubs. I realize that limits me with races, but I'm ok with that. Anyway, I got to hang out, relax, buy new trail shoes (gotta shop), and eat good food before my next run. My second run was an eight mile loop in the dark. It was awesome to run in the dark, but it definitely slowed me down. My old eyes had a hard time seeing even with my lights (one on my head, one in my hand). And I'm kind of bummed I missed out on the views. I'm assuming they were amazing, but I couldn't see anything. And I bet the stars were amazing, but the clouds were in the way. Oh well. I finished that run in less than optimal time (I've lost my running edge) and crashed in my tent.
Then the fun began. We saw the forecast going into this and knew it was supposed to rain. 100% chance of rain. Due to my past experiences of running in the rain, this made me super excited. As noted above, I made it through my first two runs in great weather. No rain, a little wind, nothing crazy. While laying in my tent I heard the rain start. And it just kept raining. Luckily I brought decent clothes, but still, there's no way to avoid getting wet while running in the rain. I started my last lap at around 5:00am. Still dark. I started out running and quickly slowed to a walk. If you could call it that. The mud was amazingly horrible. Thick, slippery mud. Everywhere. It was all I could do to not fall over. I was grabbing branches and rocks to make it up the hills and wishing I had skis for the way down. When my watch beeped that I'd gone a mile, I realized it had taken me twenty minutes. Yes, twenty minutes for one mile. I would have turned around (really I would have - I am getting slightly smarter in my old age) but since it was dark the only way I knew to get back to camp was by following the trail. It was like something out of a nightmare. All these people, sliding everywhere, in the dark, lit only by their head lamps. Eery for sure. It took me fifty minutes to make it the first two miles. Fifty! It was so fun. By the end the trails were like rivers. I wish I could have taken a picture. Part way through the run the rain turned into a blizzard. Even better, right? I was lucky enough to finish before the signs could get covered with snow and I could get lost. I finally finished my 4.5 mile loop in an hour and a half. My best time ever.
When I got to the transition area Toby was there waiting. I've never been so happy to see him in my life. Luckily by then they were stopping people from going out. This is good because Toby was about to run his eight mile leg and we would have never seen him again. They ended up canceling the race a little later. I think the worst part of the whole time was after my mud run. I was warm while running (walking/slipping), but as soon as I stopped I was freezing. I tried to take a shower, but the lines were eternal. So I changed into some dry clothes. But then I had to go back out in the snow and take down my tent and help get everything loaded up. I kind of wanted to die. But I didn't. We managed to get everything loaded up and I finally got to sit down in a nice, warm car. We may or may not have stopped to eat twice on the way home. Because we deserved it.
The moral of this story is: If you are signed up for a race and the forecast looks cold and wet, don't do it! Drop out! Its not worth the pain and misery! This is what I'll be doing in the future. If I ever do this race again (which let's face it, I probably will…its trail running and has a hot tub, thus fulfilling my qualifying criteria) I will run in the good weather, but as soon as it turns bad I'm out. Just so you know.
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| getting ready to run in a tank top and shorts |
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| Sisters! This was April's first race:) |
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| Pre-snow |
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| Post-snow |
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| After my mud run - this picture does not show how wet and muddy I am |
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| Pretend the road is a trail…that's what I ran in |
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| Our team…Johnson's Jollies |
