An Experience of a Lifetime!

I've been thinking of this post for many, many months now. Back in January a few of my sisters and I decided to run in the Ragnar Wasatch Back. This is a 12 person relay race from Logan, Utah to Park City, Utah. A total of 188.2 miles. We even got Aaron motivated to doing it, but he chose to participate on an all guys team that consisted of Ivory employees where he works. Both Aaron and I spent the last 6 months training. Neither of us enjoy running, or atleast not to begin with. I knew that I needed to choose a leg that was on the easier side. My legs were the following distances. First leg, 6.7 miles hard. Second leg, 3.0 miles easy, and my last leg was 3.3 miles easy. Aaron had much MUCH more difficult legs than I did. His were 3.6 miles easy, 7.7 miles hard, and his last was 4.0 miles very hard, straight up a mountain. It was a frighful sight to behold his last leg. And I mean frightful.

I can hardly describe this experience. First of all, we had four people out of the twelve on our team who could no longer participate for one reason or another. Two of those 4 were two of my sisters. Nikki and Carlee would have loved this experience and it would surely have been fun with them. Our team was not well aquainted before this race. There were 2 vans, with six people to a van. I was in van #1. Jewelee was runner #1. She is a "Farmers wife" from Malta, Idaho. Ever heard of Malta? Probably not. She is HILARIOUS! I could write a post completely about her and noone would get bored. She was sooo much fun! She ran a total of 21 miles and kicked bootie! She was awesome and the life of our party/van. I was number 2 and ran a total of 13 miles. Carol was next, and she is nothing short of a female rambo! She's 53 years old, marathon runner, and this was her 4th time running the Wasatch Back. Her total distances ran, was 18 miles. She was the mother hen of our car and we LOVED her! Susan was next. Oh, I could go on and on about how proud I am of Suz. I've trained for challenging races previously, but this was Susan's first "real" challenging race. She did AMAZING!!! It was an emotional experience for both of us, but especially her. She ran a total of 13.1 miles. Brooke was runner #5 and she was my first college roommate more than 12 years ago and we hadn't seen eachother since then. It was a fun fun fun reunion. She too is from Malta, Idaho. I loved how when Brooke was running, she got in the zone and was so. dang. serious! It was hilarious. She had some of our harder runs and ran a total of 12.3 miles. Her sister was our last runner in our van. She was just like Brooke. In the zone the whole time she ran. Her hardest and longest leg was into the night. It was grueling and she had blisters on her feet from her first run. When she was done, she really looked dilirious. Brooke was always concerned for SaBrenna and at one point said she wished she could just run the leg for her.

It may seem silly to be so passionant about this experience, but it was life changing. It was so much more than a race. There were incredible "life" lessons learned along the way. Friendships that run so deep now after only two days of being with eachother. Running along the country roads of towns I had no idea existed, and the beauty of this state that I had never seen before. The town people would come sit out on their lawns and spray us runners with water to cool us off, or offer cups of water to drink. People everywhere cheering and offering support in anyway they could. We got little to no sleep for almost two full days, but somehow the energy of the experience kept us going. It was the first time I have ever thrown a sleeping bag on the ground and slept out under the stars, in the mountains. It was amazing! and I didn't really sleep, but it didn't matter. I couldn't stop the tears at times. I felt so grateful to be having this experience; with my sister. And now we are home. The race is finished. The training paid off. My knees are shot, my legs ache, and I may really never be able to run in something like this again. I hope that isn't the case. I miss my Idaho friends. I miss our "mother hen". I miss the race. It was a wonderful experience. An Experience of a Lifetime!

We decorated our van with everyone's name on it and our team name "Team SheRuns"


I just finished my first of three legs. I was happy. It was my hardest and longest of the three.

Suz and I minutes before her first run.

Rambo Carol coming into pass the slap bracelet to Susan. She was amazing!

Way to go Suz!

Potty's next to the horse. Not sure which smelled worse.

SaBrenna's blister. She got the worst blisters of us all.

Catching some zzzz's

We were tired. To say the least.

The white specks are runners at night. SaBrenna was one of them. Their head lamps and reflector vests saved their lives. Literally!

Brooke, SaBrenna, and Jewelee. Our 3 a.m wake up call to head to our next destination. I'm so bummed I didn't get a shot of us sleeping out on the ground.

My last leg to run. My knees were really bad by now.

Brooke walking me back to the van. I was crippled. :o)

Susie on her "plumet" into Heber Valley.

Just after Susan finished her last leg.

Carol and Jewelee

The six of us in Van #1. Jewlee is in the garbage....so Jewelee.

Suz and I arm in arm to the finish line.

Our team of 12 running into the finish.

Our team sporting the medals we EARNED!


Aaron equally had an amazing experience. We haven't been able to stop talking about it since we finished. Here are a few pictures I got of him and his team.



Us at the finish line. YaHoo!!!

Lagoon

We had so much fun at Stake Lagoon Day. I haven't been to Lagoon in atleast 10 or more years. When we got the discounted tickets to go, we jumped on it! The weather was less than desirable, but that almost made it more fun. We didn't have to fight the crowds that are typically there, and not fighting sunburns was kind of a relief as well. We bundled the kids up, tried to keep ourselves dry and warm as well, and had an absolute blast!


The first of many rides. The personalities of our three kids really shows in these pictures.



Proof that they do like eachother.


All the kids seemed a little confused with the bumper cars. The funniest part about it was when Nathan would get hit he gave a look like he was going to punch ya! It was a good thing this ride didn't last long.


The boats were an absolute hit! Abby was beyond excited!


Me and my girls. Content to watch most rides from right here. She really was a champ! The planes were fun until Nathan realized he could pull Hannah's hair and she couldn't do anything about it. Little stinker! The swings for kids are not nearly as fun as the ones for the adults. The train ride was a family favorite. It took us through the zoo part of Lagoon. Although it is fun to see these magnificent animals so upclose, I always feel sorry for them in these cages. Nate didn't have much expression on most of the rides. We think he enjoyed them though. Abby on the other hand, was not a fan of most of the rides. No Hands for Hannah, on Puff the Magic Dragon. Nathan was sitting next to Aaron and he too put his hands up. I just couldn't get a picture of him since the ride was so fast. The RattleSnake Rapid ride was Awesome! And I think it was even more fun because it was raining. Hannah took it like a champ and loved every minute of the rapids. She didn't mind one little bit all the "extra" water all over her. Such a cute girl! Finished for the day. We had so much fun! The kids went back to the van to watch a movie and warm up with their Aunt Suzie. Aaron and I ran around the park like two giddy little school kids, taking advantage of the no lines on all the roller coasters. So fun!