Some Races

I thought I should share some shots from a few of the races I ran inthe last few months. I ran a Ragnar in July and another just last week. Over the summer I ran the Northwest Passage with some friends. It was from the US/Canada border to Seattle. It was one of the prettiest relays that I have run.

Here was our team

And the girls in my van, #2

Our team name was Girls Just Wanna Have Run (thus the 80s style hair, colors and clothes in our photos)

This is where we slept. I think I got about two hours of sleep during this race. By the way, I think that Ragnar should declare these gyms a no snore zone. So not fair to want to sleep and find yourself with some heavy snorers.  I ended up drowning them out with a YouTube video of the sound of rain through my earbuds.

And here are some photos of the scenery and fun we had

The ferry ride from Whidbey Island back to Seattle. These two friends are from my ward in North Salt Lake. They both live in the Portland area now, so fun to see them when I go home. So glad they ran with us.

You gotta eat... a great restaurant in Mt Vernon with lots of yummy gluten free options

 You spend a lot of time in the car

 I saw this in a 7-11 or maybe a Baskin Robbins? It was a gas station with a few other businesses inside.  I don't know why they call it a Cappy Blast, but I believe I should be getting royalties from using my nickname... just saying.

I don't really like photos of me running, but I suppose I ought to provide proof from time to time that I really am running in these races...

And here are some photos of some places I ran

Having the longest, hardest (most elevation changes) legs is definitely bearable when this is what you see when you run. I'd totally do this race again.

Last week I ran the Vegas Ragnar.  Trust me, you don't want scenery photos.  It was 200 miles just sort of looping through the Vegas area. And it was HOT.  But, I was with some of my favorite running friends, which made it an awesome race. Only a few shots from that race.

Again, proof I ran. And I ran fast. When you don't have pretty surrounds, you tend to run as fast as sub 7 minute miles, and end up averaging around 7:48 miles. The photo below, my only let in the sunlight, was super hot - made worse by the fact that I got "glutened" the night before (thanks to a restaurant that usually has no issues) and was super sick in the morning, so totally dehydrated and basically as though I hadn't eaten in 12  hours. It was a really, really fun leg - let me tell you.

I don't usually count how many people I pass when I run, but our team wanted to keep track, so I did. I passed a total of 42 people during the race. Here's our vans checks for kills (passes)

All done

Why to photographers ask groups of runners to "flex" in a group shot...? Because, you know, when you are squished together in a group, you have lots of room to flex your muscles.

Non-flexing

Here's our van

Sometime you see a photo of yourself and you think - what was I saying in this shot?  It might have been, "What? I'm supposed to get two medals?"

I guess Ragnar gives you two medals when you do Vegas and another race, a Dueces Wild medal. The five of us ran two this year (including Vegas).

The race fell on my baby brother's (and my dad's) birthday.  Two friends in my van ran the SoCal Ragnar with my brother and I. Another friend from our van ran the race as well. We spent the whole race trying to find him, and at the end of the race, we finally did =)

Post race dinner celebration

Here is the exchange where my van, #2, started the race

And one more team shot

We're planning next year now.  For sure we are running a half marathon around the Grand Canyon. I'm doing a trail Ragnar in Washington, just north of Seattle, and looking at others as well. =)


Oh, and one shot of me with my friend (this was our 4th race together) who lets me stay at her amazing house when I travel south - my favorite appliance in her house is behind us.  My new gotta have one day in my own house wish.  She has a WALK IN REFRIGERATOR!!!!! How awesome is that?