After resting my eyes for about an hour-and-a-half while lying on a picnic bench in East Canyon Reservoir (this was actually good for my sore back), I ran the 7.7-mile leg from Hoytsville to Wanship (starting out just before 6:00 am). I tried to push the pace at the start of the run, but I suffered a few side aches throughout the run so it was difficult to keep a fast pace. Fortunately, I had the husband of one my teammate’s pacing me on his bike which kept me from going too slow. This leg was much more difficult than I expected in that it consisted of rolling hills. I completed this leg in a time of 51:32 (i.e., at a 6:42-minutes-per-mile pace).
Following the completion of our second legs, my Van #2 teammates and I headed to Heber’s Southfield Park where we consumed some real food that was generously provide by my father and sister and had nice nap in a dugout of a baseball field. After resetting for approximately two hours, the wind picked up and it started to rain; therefore, forcing us back into the van to wait another hour for our Van #1 teammates to arrive. The rain was on and off during our third and final race legs. By the time I took the handoff and started heading up the infamous four-mile Ragnar leg, the rain started to fall again and just continued to pickup through my 1,631-foot ascent. The first two miles were particularly steep and my times absolutely reflected it; that is, 10:28 for the first mile and 10:08 for the second mile. However, I knew that approximately two-thirds of the climb came in the first half of the leg. Consequently, I kept my composure and tried to make up time on the second half in which I completed an 8:59 and 8:35 mile for miles three and four, respectively. During the final half mile or so the conditions were pretty nasty; that is, rain, a little head wind, some fog, and plenty of mud. In short, epic conditions--I love running!!! My Garmin time for this brutal leg was 38:12 (i.e., at a 9:33-minutes-per-mile pace).
For the overall race (finish time: 31:01:17), I really have never been more proud to be part of a team! It seemed like everyone had a good time and we fought as a team all the way through to the finish line. Our last runner really put forth a heroic effort in finishing the race in that he ran 5.1 miles through an extreme downpour and thunderstorm and kept his pace the entire time. Truly, an amazing effort by everyone!!!
In regards to my short non-running workout, I completed 200 sit-ups and 25 push-ups after I got home, but before I went for a long, long night of sleep. | 