Race 3 of 4 - Epic Cache-Teton Relay

I was excited yet very nervous for this race. I was excited because it was free. A group of people at work put this team together and then someone had to back out at the last minute, so they said if I'd do it, I wouldn't have to pay for it. Score! A race that costs $100 to register, completely free? Yeah, I'll do it!

Then about a month before the race, someone else injured his knees. He was told not to do the race at all, but he wanted to because he'd already paid the registration fee's, so he was supposed to be in van # 1 (my van), but he was transferred to van # 2 to run one guy's easy leg and van # 1 would have to make up his 3 legs.

Then, literally 2 days before the race, someone else had to drop out because he was on a backpacking trip with his dad up in the high Uintas in Utah and his dad had a heart attack and had to be life flighted down off the mountain. That's an understandable reason to back out. I don't blame him. I would've backed out too. So, my boss, Sylvia, ended up joining the team at the very last minute. The thing that sucked, is the team captaion pulled a VERY dirty trick on her. The person she replaced was supposed to be runner # 11, which was 3 legs that were all downhill. Some of them were pretty steep downhill. Well, they didn't tell her until they were on their way to the first major exchange that nope, she wasn't running that leg, she was going to be runner # 7, which had some of the hardest legs to run, which was supposed to be the team captain's legs.

So, I ended up picking up one of the extra legs in my van, so instead of running 3 legs, I ran a total of 4 legs, but in kind of only seemed like 3 legs. The extra legs that had to be picked up were runner # 2's legs, so I picked up his 3rd leg, so my last leg was just a VERY long leg.

Our start time on the race was 5:15 a.m. on August 12th. God that was super early! So, my van decided we'd head up to Logan Thursday night and camp up there so we didn't have to wake up super early to be up there Friday morning. We got up there and got a campsite, but the tent we had could only sleep 3 people and we had 5 people in our van. So, I slept in the van and so did Jonathan. I slept absolutely HORRIBLE that night.

In the manual for this race at one point it said you needed to be to the starting line 1 hour before you were to start running, at another part in the instructions it said you only had to be to the start 30 minutes before you had to start running. Since there were only 90 teams in this relay, we opted for only being there 30 minutes before I had to start running. BAD mistake. That's one downer about this race. This is only their 2nd year doing this race and they still aren't too organized. We still didn't have all of our t-shirts, etc., before I had to start running.

So, at 5:15 a.m. I started running and had to run a 7.39 miles. It started out kind of rough. I had a hard time getting my breathing right and stuff like that. I thought it was going to be a VERY long 7.39 miles. But...it went by pretty fast and I did it with a 9:39 pace!!! Woot woot!!! I was SO happy! I had 2 roadkills (people I passed) as well. I was SO happy! Then I passed off to Terry. It would be a while before I'd have to run again.

That's one thing I don't like about relay's. It just seems like it is FOREVER until you get to run again. :( Boo.

So one weird thing happened at exchange # 2. This lady came up to me, called me by name (pronounced my name correctly) and everything and was talking to me. I have NO CLUE who she is!!! Here's a picture of her. She's wearing yellow.



So, I didn't run again until about 4:00 p.m. that day. This was my hardest leg. It was only 4.67 miles, but it was in the heat of the day and there were 2 pretty big hills I had to climb; therefore I only had a pace of 10:23, but I had 1 roadkill on this leg! Still, I'm impressed with my pace.

This is Alex, runner 12 from van 2 passing off to me to run my 2nd leg:


1 mile left to go on my hardest leg:


We finished our 2nd legs about 10:00 p.m. at night and headed to some small town in Idaho to sleep. We actually got some pretty decent sleep that night and then I had to run again at 5:00 a.m.! It was SO early and OH SO COLD!!! I was freezing. This was my last leg I had to run and it was my longest because it was my leg 3 and 4. It was a total of 8.58 miles. I was able to run it with a 9:59 mile and I had 1 roadkill. By the time I got done, I was numb from the waist down because it was SO cold. We were so close to finishing. We only had 4 more legs to go and we could drive in to Jackson Hole.

I've never wanted a shower SO bad in my life. We weren't able to check in to our hotel early, so we went and got a bite to eat and had a beer. :) Yum! We went to the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar too and got a shot of tequila too!




After we ate & had a beverage we went back to the Teton Village to wait for van # 2 to finish running so we could run in to the finish together.

Once we saw van # 2, I found out some interesting information. The team captain had given up one of his legs to the guy that had injured his knee caps because thatw as one of the easiest legs, plus he supposedly got injured the week before, but was able to run all of his legs. So, since he gave up one of his legs, he decided to run with one of the other runners to make up his other 3 legs and then proceeded to brag about it that he didn't have to run at all on the 2nd day. So, since he didn't have to run at all on the 2nd day, he stayed in the very back of their suburban the whole time and slept, refused to drive and wouldn't get out to help support the runners.

So, finally our last runner comes running in. He looks absolutely LIVID but nobody knows why. We all shortly found out why. He only had a total of 3 miles to run. There was no where for anybody to stop and support him, he didn't take any water on his one and only run, so he was mad that nobody stopped and supported him. Plus, he was following another runner and this girl that he was following took a wrong turn. Well, her van stopped them and said no, you turned the wrong way, go back, and so he got pissed and called this girl from a different team an f'ing cunt!!! HOLY CRAP!!! It's not her fault that you were stupid and decided to follow her. Maybe you should've looked at the map to see where you were supposed to run. So, after he came in to the finish, he started getting in to an arguement with this other team. Can we say unsportsmanlike conduct? There was alot of other drama regarding this particular teammate as well. Needless to say, I will NEVER being doing an event with this team captain or other person on this team again. Period.

I would LOVE to do this race again though. I think it'd be fun to do an Ultra team, where you have 6 people instead of 12.

So, here we all are at the finish! Yay! We did it!

Opportunity of a Lifetime

I had to make a really tough decision this week. I literally had to sleep on my decision and make sure I was making the best decision before I told them I would do it.

A group of people from my work every year do the Ragnar Wasatch Back Relay. I was asked if I wanted to do it this year, but I had already registered for a race that weekend, so I told them no.

Well, two weeks ago, my manager told me that someone just had to back out of the race & I should cancel my triathlon that I was going to do and do the Ragnar with them. I decided it would save me money to do the Ragnar than to do the triathlon I was going to do, so I said I would.

I emailed the coordinator and they already got someone to fill the spot. :( I was kind of bummed. But then the coordinator came to me the other day & asked if I would be the driver for one of the vans. I told him no because I didn't want to cancel my race just to be a driver.

THEN...he came back to me later that day & said if I would cancel my race and be the driver for the Ragnar, then I could do the Epic Cache-Teton race for free! It costs $120 to do the Epic Cache-Teton race.

Just a side-note. The Epic Cache-Teton race is an identical race to the Ragnar, but it is done by a different company and you run from Logan, UT to The Teton Village in Jackson Hole, WY.

I really had to think about whether I wanted to cancel my race this weekend and do the Epic Cache-Teton because it is sandwiched between two triathlons that I'm going to do. First is the Bountiful Triathlon, which is just a Sprint, then I would have to do the Epic Cache-Teton, and then the very next weekend I'll be doing my first Olympic Distance open water triathlon! Eeeekk!!! I just didn't know if I could do it.

I thought about it and slept on it and decided this is too good of an opportunity to pass up, so I'm going to do it!!!!

I am SUPER excited to be a driver for the Ragnar this weekend. It is so inspiring to me to be a spectator. Granted, I'll be driving for basically 36 hours straight. At one point we'll be able to stop and rest for about 5 hours in the gym of a high school. It ought to be interesting. But it should be fun.

Last year I went and cheered the team on when they were running in Heber, and it was so inspiring to me. I can't explain it. So, it should be even more inspiring being a driver.

Then, I'll be able to mark off my bucket list the Epic Cache-Teton Relay. Can you imagine how beautiful that run is going to be? Running through the Grand Teton's? It's going to be breath taking! I can't wait!



I mean, I'm really super nervous about doing my Olympic Distance Triathlon, but I think I'll be able to do it. As soon as we finish the Epic Relay, I plan on taking an ice bath to help my legs get back in good shape. If I feel like I can't do the Olympic, I know I can always pay a few $$$ and go down to a Sprint distance triathlon.

Either way, I'm super excited.