Ragnar Relay

In the middle of June the Mr. and I were able to run in the Ragnar Relay Wasatch Back with my two sisters and their husbands.  What is Ragnar?  Well, it's pretty crazy I and I keep coming back for more.  It's a relay style race with teams of up to 12 people.  You pick a team name (some teams wear crazy outfits) and you run for about 31 hours.  Of course you don't run the whole time but you don't get a lot of sleep.  There are two vans per team with 6 people each (Van 1 & Van 2).  Van 1 starts the race and each person runs their leg of the race (6 legs).  Then Van 2 takes over and Van 1 rests!!!  Repeat this with three times.  This means that each team member runs 3 times (each leg is anywhere from 3 to 9 miles) within about a 31 hour period.  The atmosphere is so fun and, if you have a great van, (which we did - thanks guys) then it is a blast.  Staying up late and laughing until it hurts is why we love Ragnar.  This is our Wasatch Back experience...

LEG 1- our girls got to come and cheer us on!

They loved it.

Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa too, who were GREAT SUPPORTERS!

 I LOVE this pic of E and my mom in the back of our new ride!

LEG 2

LEG 3

RAGNAR HILL- I am not doing this leg again, it is killer

Notice we got Dad to participate.  I think he LOVED it.

Next year he is running a leg!!!

Red rover, red rover, send Heidi right over!

YAHOO, we finished!!!

What a fun race.  Thanks fam for such a great time.  Can't wait to do it again!

We found this idea when we ran the Vegas Ragnar and it worked awesome!!!

On the left is our bags (which we don't need until we stop for a shower) which are buried.  Then our water jug in front.  I love this idea because we didn't have half full water bottles all over our van.  Everyone brought their own empty water bottle and we keep refilling them.  Then the 6 drawers.  This is where each runner puts their stuff that they need to run; each outfit (in a gallon sized zip lock bag, shoes, socks, vest, light, Garmin, ipod, lip gloss, etc.  That way when if you need it you don't have to search all over the van for your stuff.  Our food:  We had a 2 coolers and a box for our dry food.  We had a few blankets and pillows in the front of the van.  We took the rest of our stuff we to where we were staying (thanks Cap for letting us crash) the day before.  If we were doing the Las Vegas Ragnar Relay we would have to use a cargo bin on the top of our vehicle to hold all of that stuff.

We found that this organization worked great for us. 

Range Rats 2011- So Fun!

This information is for me but you are free to use it because it is useful.

Car: water jug, 6 drawers, 2 coolers, container for dry food, garbage bags, baby wipes, stinky towel to sit on.

Food: sandwiches (at least 2 for everyone, and we loved the "Flat Ones" and also "regular bread"), pretzels, beef jerky, gum, carrots, peas, ranch dip, ranch rice cakes, grapes, oranges, bananas, string cheese, chocolate milk, Cytomax, chocolate popcorn, oreos, and peanut butter.  We didn't need to take breakfast but don't forget this if there is no where to stop to load up on carbs.

Clothes: team shirt, reflective vest, butt light, head light, water bottle, running shoes, flip flops, 3 pairs of socks, 3 different clothes to run in, hat/visor, and cold weather clothes.

Extras: money, camera, toothpaste/toothbrush, deordorant, shower stuff, sleeping stuff, sunscreen, phone/charger, ipod, Garmin/charger, race bible, and a cowbell or noisemakers.

We also found these Crayola Window Crayons were awsome for decoratating our vans.  No mess like the window markers make and you can do details like eyes for stick people. Thanks Missy G for the crayons.

TIPS:  *Elevate your legs as much as you can while you wait for your next leg.

*Have good music - if you like to run with music. It will help you run faster and farther.

*Use the bathroom.  Don't hold it.  It will kill your bladder.

*Eat your pre and post run meals.  These are crucial.  Don't eat a lot of junk or you will feel like crap.  Don't get caught thinking, "I will be running my buns off so I can eat whatever I want".  Junk is not fuel.

*HAVE FUN and Don't stress the little things.