Ladies with Altitude

I am always up for a new adventure.  In fact, it's pretty easy to talk me into things.  Might have to do with turning 40 this year.  Who knows.  Who cares.  Bottom line is that when a friend sent out an inquiry many months ago to see who might be interested in running a huge relay race, I was in.  I'd heard of the Ragnar Relay series from some fellow Utahans (the race directors are there and the original Ragnar was from Logan to Park City and was called the Wasatch Back) and it sounded so fun.  My best friend from college has done a couple of relays like this and she convinced me I would be fine.    

I trained most of the summer, including a lot of night running and that was fun in and of itself.  The relay consisted of 12 women and we ran 188 miles over 34 hours without stopping.  It was intense, grueling, fun, beautiful, exhausting, challenging, breathtaking and bonding all at the same time.  Our team of 12 women, all moms, had 36 kids between us with one on the way--yes, that means one of them ran while 20 weeks pregnant.  Pretty amazing!!

I think trying to explain the intricacies to someone who wasn't there is tricky, but I'll give it a shot.  Basically, our team was divided into two vans, each with 6 women.  I was in van 1 and we got to start first.  Each of us ran three total legs and each one started from where another person finished.  Van 2 then took off while van 1 had about a 4-5 hour break.  Each leg varied from 2 miles up to almost 10 miles and the terrain was everything from straight downhill to straight uphill and everything in between.  We were at altitudes from 6,000 to 10,000 feet and for the first time in my life, I truly understand the lack of oxygen at high altitude.  

If I had one lasting impression from the whole experience would be this:  I ran with some amazing women whom I grew to love and respect and the state of Colorado is stunning!  I ran in parts of the state I had never seen before (Basalt and Carbondale to name a few) and I almost tripped a few times taking in the scenery.  

My 3 legs were so different--the first one nearly killed me (2 miles straight up at 10K feet to start followed by 7 more miles of hills), the second one was at night and was a blast and my third one was absolutely gorgeous.  It was really an experience of a lifetime!

These pictures don't do the scenery justice--wish I had taken more photos of just the places we ran! Next time!!! :)

Van 1 

The whole crew

Van 1 at the starting line

A nice welcome for Jen Z finishing up her first leg and time for van 2 to take over

I think this was halfway between Breckenridge and Copper Mtn on day 1

Ready to start our second legs -- about 8:30 at night somewhere near Glenwood Springs

The halfway point

Van 2 gals ready to go at 6:30 am after about an hour of sleep in their van

Finishing up leg 3! Look at that scenery!

At the base of Snowmass having lunch at the very end while we waited for van 2 to finish.  Nothing like lunch at the Ritz Carlton to finish it off.