A Day In the Life of Nicole!: February 2012

Now, I know it's been awhile since I've posted. BUT I HADN'T realized just HOW long it's been. Instead of giving you a 9 month update (I could cry; and goodness knows you don't want to read that much!), I am going to *try* and slowly update on my life. Starting, with last weekend.

This past weekend, I participated in a running event, called Ragnar - on the team French Toast Mafia.

A little bit about Ragnar, for those who don't know what it is:

You have a team of 12 (or 6, or even 3 if you’re insane like a few teams are). It is a 200.5 mile relay race. Each participant runs 3 legs of varying distance and difficulty level. The team is split into two vans, so one van will relay for five to six hours, then have a five to six hour rest while the next van runs. Then, it repeats.

What this means, is the following:

- You get to know your van mates very, very well.
- The vans smell very, very bad.
- You sleep, a little, in the vans. Which means backs hurt.
- You eat a lot of salty snacks, trying to stay hydrated.
- You learn to not even blink at the sight of a port-a-potty.
- You run during the day.
- You run in the middle of the night.
- You’ll be both happy and sad to see the finish line.

This event is so much fun. The first leg I ran was HOT. And all uphill (5 miles). But, I owned it; 9:50 minutes per mile average pace. It was unsupported, which means my van wasn't allowed to hang around and cheer for me - but there were a lot of other runners around that I chatted with. My second run, however, (at 2AM... I will mention!) kicked. my. butt.

I wear my phone on my arm, and I run a GPS app which talks to me every mile (through my headphones and music) and tells me my time/distance/pace (SO COOL!).

This run was 3.3 miles, in. the. pitch. dark. It was, however, a beautiful night. After a little while, my running-man ear friend announced "You've completed one mile!" I was PUMPED! It certainly didn't feel like it had already been a mile, so I was clearly KILLING this run! I continue to merrily run along, when BAM! My favorite man says: "2 miles, complete!" Wow, am I showing THIS run who's boss! And I thought this 2AM run was going to be tough. HA! "3 miles..complete!" YES! I only have .3 of a mile left (wow did this run go fast!) so I kick it up a notch.. have to finish STRONG, right?! Then there's my man-friend, again (huh? he only speaks every mile....) "4 miles, complete! Your average pace is 4:17/mile!" This, stopped me dead in my tracks. First of all, I knew this was a 3.3 mile leg. Second of all, I was feeling good, but not so good that I was only 5 seconds shy of setting a world record for the mile. It was at this painful moment that I realized I had no idea how far I'd gone, but my GPS was *clearly* confused. Had I gone the wrong way? Thankfully, no - I could see other runners in front of me. "5 miles, complete!"...."6 miles, complete!"... It wasn't until 7.5 miles complete that I *actually* finished my 3.3 mile leg. Longest 3.3 miles, EVER....!

My final run was around 10:30AM the same morning, and it was another 3.2 mile run. My average pace was a rocking 8:40/minute per mile - not too shabby for running for the 3rd time in 24 hours, on about 3 hours of restless sleep in a van! (OK, so it was mostly downhill, but who's paying attention to that tiny detail, right?!)

Ragnar was a great time with my friends, both old and new. People keep asking me if I'd do it again. I think once I forget how much pain I was in (was in, who am I kidding? STILL in - I can hardly walk today!), and how exhausted I was, and how much I missed running water.... I'd sign up and do it all over again! :)