Ragnar: 200 miles, 2 days, NO sleep, ALL Awesome

For weeks, I've struggled to sleep because this event was coming.  Just after getting my knee issues under control, I strained my right hip flexor.  The only way to let it heal was to take time off running.  However, taking time off running, will exagerate my knee problem.  A real catch 22.  I knew, no matter how I handled the situation, I would be in pain while running.

On Friday morning, we drove out to the ends of the earth... (aka Buckeye...) to check in and wait for van 1 at the first major exchange.  Behold the check-in line.....

Van 2 girls... Hilary, Kate, Sheri, Adrienne, me and Karin.... waiting, waiting, waiting...

The theme for the next two days would be "hurry up and ... wait...."  

Karin taking the "sole sisters" theme to a new level.  Check out the disco ball earrings!  And no, she did not run with any of that stuff on.  Whew...

 Van 1 finally arrived.... it was good to see our girls!  Hillary and Shaylen....

 Sara and Beth...

And Sheri got the baton from Trina... and van 2 is ready to roll!  Yay!  Sheri was so cute... she is giggling with excitement!

This was  common sight over the next two days...   and I'm so happy to finally be getting my first run under my belt.  It was dusty and hot, but it felt so great to be out running!

Adrienne and Hilary ran after me.  Adrienne and I had the shorter runs, and then Hilary busted out a 10 miler.  She was awesome!

 

Kate and Adrienne... still smiling!

Karin getting her groove on... halfway through her 8 mile run.  She said she hated every minute of that run, but she faked it well!

We survived the night.  I don't have any pictures from our night runs... mostly because I was so tired.  I didn't know if I would survive the night, but I did.  We tried to sleep for 2 hours in Anthem, but that didn't pan out too well.  We did "rest".... which helped, for sure.  After our night runs, we drove straight to Fountain Hills and tried to sleep some more.  I don't remember sleeping, but it's possible I dozed off for a minute or two.  We are all wearing our matching pink tanks for the last run.  Sheri is getting ready to start her final run... she has a big hill that was meant for me.  She doesn't know what she's getting into, which worked out well for her.  She ran it like a rockstar!

I'm handing off to Adrienne for the last time.  I was in so much pain on my last run... and I was so relieved that I survived... thank goodness for sweat and sunglasses... because, yeah, I was crying!

Adrienne, Kate and Karin waiting for Hilary to finish her run.  

These exchange signs were our favorite things to see... 34... almost done! 

 All of us at the finish line... hallelujah.... we are done!!!!!!!!!

Adrienne, Chelsea, Trina, Hillary, Karin, Sara, Kate, Sheri, Hilary, Beth, Shaylen and me!  Check out this map below to see our route... the most round about way you could go from Wickenburg to Tempe... but it was a great adventure!

So happy to be done!

No Regrets

I wrote this post in my head just before I fell asleep last night.  I doubt I'll be able to do as good of a job right now... but I'll give it a whirl.

Yesterday I was reminded how important our family relationships are.  And not just my relationship with my hubby and kids, but with my extended family, too.  My brother and his family and all Eric's siblings' families as well.  Not to mention all the parents and grandparents.

I went to a funeral yesterday for a woman who was my age, and the oldest of 8 girls.  She passed away from Breast Cancer which was only diagnosed 4 months ago.  Such a tragedy for someone so young.  At the funeral all of her younger sisters got up and spoke, sharing memories of her and spiritual thoughts about our belief in the afterlife.  Mormon funerals are cool that way... no matter how sorrowful you feel about the loss of a loved one, there is always a sense of peace and hope that comes from knowing that we will be reunited with them again after we die.

I attended the funeral in support of the 2nd daughter in that family.  She is a friend, and I knew her older sister a little bit, too.  After the funeral, I found my friend to give her a hug, and I was really impressed with something she told me.  "At least I have no regrets..." she said... "I know I spent our time together well."

I spent all day thinking about that one idea.  Do we spend our time together well with our families?  Do they know how much we love them?  Do we take the time to show them?  Tell them?  Serve them?

It made me so thankful for my family.  I am very thankful that my children are not only siblings, but friends.  I hope it stays that way for them as adults.  Do I have some relationships that I need to work on?  Yes... because even though my only brother lives over 1000 miles away, that's no excuse for me not to check in with him more often.  The next time I'm at a funeral for a family member, I don't want to be the one that has regrets, because I believe "regrets" can be 100% preventable.