The Ragnar Relay- Wasatch Back (188 miles of fun?)

So, I ran the Ragnar for the second time. What a blast! For those of you that are not familiar with this run, I will do my best to explain it. The race goes from Logan to Park City (188 miles). It is a relay race. There are 12 people on a team (We had 6 men and 6 women). Each person on the team runs 3 different legs of the race- for a total of 36 legs. The legs are anywhere from 2.5 miles to 9.6 miles in length. Each team has 2 vans, with 6 runners and a driver per van. The race is continuous, so there are people running all through the night until the finish line is reached. This year there were about 500 teams in the race. The starting times are staggered depending on how fast your teams' average 10K pace is. We must have had some pretty fast runners on our team because we had a late starting time... this start time was obviously NOT based on MY 10K pace time. If it had been, we would have had to start on THURSDAY!

Our team began around 3:00 pm on Friday, June 19th. Van 1 began the running in Logan. I really only knew 2 people in van 1- Linda- the driver and Diane- one of the 6 runners. I work with both of these ladies at the hospital. All of the other runners were from the hopital in Provo. I only met them briefly during the race, and can only remember a couple of their names. Anyway, our van began around 6:00 pm. We barely made it in time due to road unexpected road construction. We had a great group in our van! Sierra was runner 7. She ran the Lake to Lake relay with me earlier this year (See post "Kinda Swifty 50"- She's the shorty shorts winner with the butt cheeks hanging out). She is Jeremy's cousin. Who's Jeremy?-you ask. Jeremy was our AWESOME driver, water and shot blocks deliverer, and cheering section. He was our most valuable team member and we couldn't have done it without him. Jeremy is also Dayna's husband. Dayna being runner 8. Dayna also ran the Lake to Lake relay with me in the Spring. She was my co-worker for 3 years. Following Dayna was Jessica (or Jessie or "Barbie"). Jessie worked with Dayna at Curves a few years ago and ran the Ragnar with us 2 years ago. Curt was runner 10. He too ran the Ragnar with us 2 years ago. Curt also works at the hospital in the heart unit, so I see him tons at work. Duaine, runner 11, was a friend of Curt's. I think he was a little scared of the rest of us in the beginning. He seemed to relax a little toward the end of the race. I was runner 12. I had one of the easier legs in my van. My first leg was a little over 3 miles up a mountain to the Snow Basin ski resort. I think I gained almost 850 feet in elevation in 3 miles. It was tough... especially since I had spent the entire week at sea level in California. I walked only to drink some water. It was a slow pace- nothing to brag about. Our team ended sometime after 9 pm and then tried to find a place to sleep for 2-3 hours. We found a camping area that Ragnar had reserved for the teams. Nobody really slept that well. Our van took over running again around 1:00 in the morning. Everybody had long legs and we had to cover over 40 miles in the middle of the night. My 2nd leg didn't begin until 6:30 in the morning. Thank heavens I didn't have to run with the reflective vest, blinking butt light and head lamp AGAIN. The first 3 miles of my 2nd leg was all up hill again. However, the last 2.5 miles was either flat or downhill so I was able to make up some time. I passed off to van 1 again and they began their final legs. Our van went and finally found some good food. Then we went to Dayna's grandparents house in Heber and waited for Van 1 to finish up. We were on again around 12:30 pm. The last legs for our van were hard. Sierra began her last leg in the rain. It stopped raining for Dayna's run, but she had a gradual 6.5 mile climb after a brutal 7 mile downhill run in the middle of the night. Jessie had the first half of the Ragnar hill. She gained 1500 feet in elevation in 3.5 miles. Curt got the second half of the Ragnar which climbed 1800 feet in elevation in 4 miles- plus it began raining again just as Jessie handed the wristband off to him. Duaine took over one mile from the top of the hill. Then at the top of the hill, he then went into a CRAZY downhill adventure. Dropping almost all of the elevation gained by Jessie and Curt in his remaining 5 miles. I then took over the final leg of the race in Deer Valley. My last leg was about 7 miles mostly downhill and flat into the base of Park City. I ran well during my final leg, feeling like it was OK to push myself because I didn't have any more to run after that. I think it helped that Russ and the kids met me along the course of my final leg to cheer me on. Grant even ran 1/2 of a mile with me. That really spurred me on. I felt really pleased with my last leg... which was good because my first two were far from good. Just after I finished and we took a few pictures. It began to down pour like nothing I have ever seen before. We were so lucky because there were many teams that had not yet finished the race. I felt bad for those that were still running.

In the end... we finished in 27 hours, 56th place overall and 10th in our division, averaging 8:something minute miles. (I can't remember). Good Job team!

California Dreamin'

We have just returned from heaven on earth. We spent the past week at Newport Beach with my family and had a fabulous time. Our family drove to Las Vegas last Thursday. We stayed the night at the Cannery Casino near the Alsco plant. Russ was able to work Friday morning while the kids and I got ready for the day. He finished what he had to get done and then we were off to meet up with my family in Primm. We then carpooled into Corona, where we stopped at Miguel's for lunch. Mmmmmm!!! It just really is THAT GOOD. A chicken, rice and cheese burrito with guacamole... Life doesn't get better than that. WOW- it was better than I remembered. We then drove up to our old neighborhood- which was a little disappointing. Our old house has been destroyed. All of the trees had been torn down. The old ivy hill had been torn out and replaced by a huge retaining wall. The awnings were torn down, the grass was over-grown, and it just looked plain trashy. However, my dearest friend from high school, Jaylene, met us over there with her darling three kids- two boys and a girl, just like me. It was so fun to visit with her, meet her kids, and renew an old friendship. She is just as darling as she was in high school and I was so happy she made time to come and see us. I wish I had taken some pictures. We left Corona and traveled the remaining way to Newport.

Newport was incredible. We stayed 1/4 of a mile from the shore at Marriott. It was beautiful. Friday night the kids swam for a few hours. They were so happy to be out of the car. Saturday the men played golf for 5 1/2 hours. They are not horrible... there were just a ton of other golfers. They then met us at Angels' stadium for a baseball game Angels vs. Padres. The game was so much fun! There were more home runs hit that game than any other game I have been to. It was such a good time.

On Sunday we went to church right across the street from the Newport Temple. After church we were able to walk on the the temple grounds and enjoy the beautiful landscape. Here are a few pictures...

That night we went to Clearman's Galley, or "the Boat", for dinner to celebrate Nana's birthday. Let's just say that "the Boat" has a bar and tons of screen T.V.'s and it was the Lakers vs. Magic final game of the Championships and we were in Lakers territory! There were NO seats. People were so RUDE and PUSHY and NASTY. However, due to the LONG wait, the food tasted all that better when we finally did get to eat. It was a great day.

On Monday, the Lunds and my family went to the beach. Russ and the boys did some body surfing. Garrett got swept up into a HUGE wave and was driven into the ocean floor. This was the result...
Fortunately, it did not look too bad right away. By the next day all of the bruising and scabs and sand rash appeared. It looked pretty bad. Lucky for him he is so dang handsome. It just made him look tough.
When Garrett came out of the water he was pretty shaken, dizzy, and unstable. The lifeguard came and looked him over to make sure he hadn't broken his neck. I guess it could have been a lot worse, and we were lucky he was being watched over and protected.

While the boys were in the water, the Girls and Raleigh soaked up some rays. Actually, a lot of rays. We were fried. Reminded me of the good ol' days. We were a dermatologist's nightmare and I loved every sting of that burn.

When we were cooked and beaten from the ocean we returned to the condos to clean up. We got all ready and headed... BACK TO THE BEACH. We had Family Home Evening and dinner at Carlsbad. We made a huge campfire and had a Weenie Roast. And when I say Weenie Roast, I really mean it. The part about these pictures is that they are totally candid shots. We didn't realize how hilarious (or VULGAR) they were until later as we were browsing through some of the shots afterward...

After the dinner, we made smores and banana boats, hunted for crabs, watched the seals play in the ocean, had FHE, and just enjoyed one anothers company. Here are a few more pictures...

This is my HOT nephew, Brayden. He is 14 1/2 and cannot date yet, but can TEXT. So if you are interested, let me know! Love you Bray!

Gracie and her Uncle Brent, whom she absolutely adores. She just giggles whenever he is around.

The boys trying to catch crabs. I loved this picture. Again, it is not posed- these are my boys.

On Tuesday, we went to the Happiest Place on Earth. I still love Disneyland. However, I am getting old. I fizzled out about 10:00 and couldn't quite make it to closing at midnight. I think everyone had a great time.

Russ, the kids and I had to leave California early Wednesday morning. Russ had to get back to work because his boss was leaving on vacation and I had to get prepared to run the Ragnar - Wasatch Back- Relay the day after. The rest of my family stayed down in California until Saturday. We were very sad that we couldn't stay the entire time. However, we were SOOO grateful for the time that we were able to be there. Thanks mom and dad for the GREAT family reunion fun.

Can't Stop Smiling

WOW! How can I even come close to describing the events of tonight?!!! Let me just begin by saying that this is one PROUD MAMA typing this post.

Garrett's baseball team made it into the play-offs. Their season started off great. They were winning every game. Then they played the TIGERS. We had a terrible night and none of our boys could hit the ball. They beat us for our first loss. Later, the Tigers lost to the Angels for their first loss and we were once again tied for first. We then went on to win every other game until we played the TIGERS again. We were down by two runs, we had runners on 2nd and 3rd base with two outs. Garrett was up. The poor kid struck out! We lost our second game of the season and Garrett cried. He felt so bad. Then Garrett really stepped up his practicing. He would go to practices and games 30-45 minutes early and have Russ or I pitch to him. On the days that he didn't have games or practice Russ or I was out throwing to practice fielding or pitching to work on his batting. Russ and I threw so much this season that Russ has major inflammation in his elbow and I have major inflammation in my shoulder. We are a mess. Anyway- back to the story... The Tigers lost to the RED SOX and we were once again tied for first place. Anyway, we then lost to the Angels and then to the RED SOX. OK, so that was a really quick recap of a really long regular season. Then came the play-offs...tonight.

The TIGERS played the Mariners and we played the RED SOX for the first game. The TIGERS won 7-2. They were going to the championship game. We were playing the RED SOX on the other field. We were up first, one hit no runs. Then the RED SOX were up and scored 1 run. We were down. We eventually tied it up. Then in the top of the 6th we were able to score 4 runs which made the score 5-1. However, the Red Sox were up last. They suddenly started hitting the ball. They scored two runs and had players on the bases. We were able to hold them and won the game 5-3. Garrett hit the ball all three times he was up and got one single to right field, flew out at the fence in left field (his buddy, Teagan, caught that ball), and hit one to the short stop and got thrown out at first. But all in all they were great, solid hits and we were so proud of him. I said to my mom, "I don't really care about this next game. Garrett had a great game and hit the ball so well. I am really proud of him". My mom, knowing my competitive nature all too well, said "You do too care about this next game"! She was right, but I was still thrilled that Garrett had played such a great game. Anyway, we walked over to the other field for our second game of the night... The Championship!

The Championship Game: BLUE JAYS vs. TIGERS

We were up first. We got a couple of hits, but left runners stranded on the bases, no score. Then the Tigers got up. Their first 4 batters all got on base and three of them scored. We were down 3-0 after the first inning. We got up, had a few hits (Garrett was one of them), but no one scored. We held the Tigers in the second inning. In the third inning we scored 2 runs and the Tigers were unable to score. We were losing 3-2 at the end of the third. About this time my mom said she wasn't sure she could handle anymore of the stress. She kept threatening to leave and just have me call her when it was over. However, she stuck it out. We then scored one run in the 4th to tie the game 3-3 and were able to hold the Tigers. Then in the 5th one of our guys, Clint (who broke out the back window of a Dodge SUV with a home run last week), hit a home run to put us ahead 4-3. But, then the Tigers answered with a home run of their own to tie the game 4-4. Top of the 6th. Last inning. Kaleb gets a hit and is able to get on first. We have two outs. GARRETT is up. I think my mom and I were going to throw up at this point. Because- if you remember, he was in a similar situation the last time we had played the Tigers. First ball comes across the plate. Strike one. The second pitch is thrown. Garrett belts the ball TO THE FENCE right in the gap between left and center field. Kaleb scores. Garrett ends up with a TRIPLE. We are going absolutely nuts. I cannot stop screaming. I think my mom was glad she stuck around!!! The batter after Garrett strikes out and the top of the inning is over. The tigers have last ups. They get a guy on base, but are unable to score. WE WON 5-4. Garrett was up to bat 6 times tonight, hit the ball every time he was up, drove in the winning run, had good fielding, and was given the GAME BALL by his coach. It was an amazing night for him. He didn't stop smiling until he fell asleep... and neither did his DAD!

Russ and I complained a lot this season about our aching joints. Man- I will have shoulder surgery if necessary to help Garrett have another night like he did tonight. He is such a hard worker. He is so self-motivated. He hustles all the time. He has really had to earn a position on this team (you would not believe the politics behind these little league teams). We are so proud of him. His confidence level was soaring tonight and we couldn't be happier as parents.

I also want to thank my parents who supported our boys through their very LONG baseball season. It really meant so much to Garrett (and me too!) to have them there tonight. Thanks for all you do!

Blog It!

I am trying to get back into the swing of things. As you know, our camera was broken. It is hard to blog without pictures. For Mother's Day, Russ got me an awesome new camera so that I could begin blogging again. However, I am trying to get used to this new camera. It is fancy and I am not very good at figuring things like that out. I am starting to get the hang of the camera... now I have to figure out how to download the pictures/videos onto the computer. It may take a little time so bear with me.

In a nutshell- here is what has happened since April 26th:

Baseball- 6 days/week. AARRRRGGHHHH. Tomorrow is the last day. I never thought I'd see the end. Garrett's team is in the play-offs at 6 pm. If they win the first game, they will play again at 8 pm. We are excited. They have a great little team and have been fun to watch this year. Grant's team only lost one game all season. They are not holding play-offs for his age division, but they were clearly the champs! We are proud of them.

Fishing- Russ and the boys, along with "uncle" Chris, went on a fishing trip to Henry's Lake in Idaho. They had a great time, fished new waters, caught the salmon fly hatch, broke a rod, found a cool new camp site, and discovered Big Jud's.

Running- I am running again. A lot. I am preparing for the Ragnar - Wasatch Back- Relay. Two a days are a common event at this stage. The important part is that I am staying healthy- no injuries.

School- The kids and I are out of school for summer vacation. Yay! No homework. No projects. No testing. No papers. No blasted "Edwin" comments- sorry for you Dayna.

Painting- We are finally making some improvements in our home. Russ painted our guest bathroom a REALLY light green. Once we paint the trim it will look great. We also bought paint for the boys room. Now we just need a little extra time to get started on that project.

Celebrations- We celebrated Russ' 40th birthday, Mother's Day, and tonight- Russ and my 13th wedding anniversary.

Well that is the quick recap without all of the drama, excitement, stress, sorrow, thrills, etc. Hopefully, this will be the start of blogging again. Pictures/ video to come soon.