First of all, I must mention that this was the first race where my goal was to not work hard - too hard anyways. I'm 22 weeks preggo, and just wanted to have a fun time with my girls. I'd been maintaining 10-12 mile runs on the weekends, and I knew my bod could most likely handle it it - I was definitely going to listen to my body and play it safe. I also knew they would pick up the slack for me if needed:) My all-girls st george running center team kicked butt! I did not find a shortage of people who thought that I was being reckless for doing this, but I know my body and I've ran through 2 other pregnancies with super healthy babies.
We got to the race way late cause of an accident on I - 15, so our first runner was pretty much hitting the pavement when we got there. The first thing we noticed - wow it was a little hot for November. Wait it was way hot! Our start time was 1:30 pm which didn't help either. So runners 1-5 had an interesting time running their legs. We found out shortly that it was wavering between 92-95 degrees! And of course Vegas desert has no mountains, wind, trees, or shade. It was a good thing we got to help our runners out!
At mile 3, we got heckled by a guys team that seem to be keeping pace with us, and we were trading off leads. In fact one guy came over, and bet us $100 that we couldn't catch his next runner (which was the only girl on the team). that had a good 2-3 min start on us, and our next runner was Aimee Langston. He really didn't know that he was betting the wrong girl. She is by far the most competitive person i know! So we sealed the bet (it's vegas right?) and Aimee took off. Of course she caught her, and gained a good min on her! ha ha it really made our day, and humbled theirs:)Aimee ran her fastest 6 miles ever, even in the heat!
I was somewhat worried about my coming leg - I was runner 6, but it was still 92 degrees at 5 pm. I only had 4.9 to run, but one of the things they warn u about when exercising pregnant is to avoid overheating (it's like getting in a hot tub). Ahhhh. so i was going to try out a mile, and switch out if i felt too hot. 1 mile in I turned a corner, and the road started heading into a canyon! It was shaded for the entirety of my run and I felt sooo grateful:) My body felt pretty good though the downhill pulled on my belly a bit and was a tad bit uncomfortable. I averaged low 7's and it went by smoothly.
My evening leg didn't go as well. I had eaten a bit more than i normally do between these legs, and it didn't sit right with me. They rated it a 4.6 easy, but it sure did not feel easy. The whole thing was inclined uphill. My legs were chaffing (dang short shorts) and i kept burping up acid (the joys of pregnancy). And then the stomach pain hit, and I struggled for 2 miles before finding a bathroom - well the nearest park tree. At least it was dark.
At the next transition, I was overjoyed to find that ragnar had provided sleeping bags that were all over a grassy hill for their runners. What a great feature!!!! I was extra exhausted and had no prob passing out for a couple of hours.
We had lots of fun passing hoards of runners the next day for our 3rd legs. I had decided to let one of the ladies run some of mine since my hips were feeling fatigued, and it was rated 6.1 very hard. It was a pretty decent hill on the dirt. and it was hot again! I jumped in for the last 2 miles. I had passed 18 people and really wanted to make it 20(most people were walking), but 1 guy and 1 girl had taken a look a my pregnant belly when i tried to pass - they were not going to let that happen lol. so they gave me a run for my money, and we really pushed out last mile in. It was great and it felt so good to push my body a little bit.
At the finish line, I found 2 other pregnant ladies that had ran, and was happy to know that i wasn't the only crazy one. It was such a fun day and was so happy to do it. Baby got its first ragnar experience. I'm always impressed with ragnar's organization and love relays sooo much!
My ladies rocked it, and we ended up averaging 7:30s for the whole thing:)
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