Ragnar Relay 2012 Report:

"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."  Ferris Bueller 

How do I "stop and look around once in a while"?  I lace up my running shoes & move.  LOL!
This weekend was all about being on a team.

Steve K, me, David D, Danielle, Kelly D, Kristy H, Shawn B, Shawn S, Derek H, Travis, & Zack...and that means Matt was taking the picture.  Thank you, Matt F.

I was asked sometime over the summer by Danielle to join a Ragnar relay team that had formed with members of the Nolensville Run club.  Overall, I think there were 4 teams with various members from our club but we had two that were pretty much 100% NRC (Shawn S., we consider you ours even though you live in CA. LOL!). 

Shawn S is obviously warming up EARLY!

I said "yes" to taking Adrianne's spot, knowing full well I still had months to train for Chicago, then I had the Indianapolis race the weekend before the relay.  Had Chicago been a sweatfest & I had run the full marathon in Indy, I was still going to participate but I was going to ask for some short "legs".  I am really happy that Chicago had great running weather on the 10-7 & I could switch to the 1/2 marathon race in Indy.

I kept the "legs" I was given & ran quite well even when tired.  If there's anything I've learned living in TN, there is no such thing as a "FLAT" route.  Sure we have a few 5ks that are flat but even the notoriously flat "Tom King 1/2" has a "notsobad" hill at mile 9.  When I initally looked at my "legs" for this relay, I thought, "Oh, they don't look too bad, mostly flat, maybe..."  Nah!  I was wrong.  Zack (van 1) & David (van 2) had our worst "legs" but everyone had at least one "leg" that was pretty bad as far as hills.  If you didn't have hills then you had traffic & weird road hazards to deal with or both.  I'm glad I did it.  I got to experience the "leg" routes that Van 2 does since we were in Van 1 two years ago at the first RRTN.  Our van 2 drove down with van 1 to watch the start, which was great for the people new to Ragnar who were in van 2.  Since van 2 didn't get to sleep in, it made for a very long, sleep deprived night but you tend to get "2nd winds" & thank God, there's apparently a "3rd wind".  

Michelle H. & Me at Healthways Exchange

When we got to Jasper to take the first hand off from Van 1, I found Michelle H. & Traci B. I had no idea that Michelle was on Traci's team.  We had run quite a bit over the summer with Traci.  I used to run with Michelle all the time back in '05 & '06.  I've known Michelle since she was 15 & was 18.  I've not seen Michelle in at least 3-4 yrs!  Too funny!  At the Healthways exchange I was all too happy to let her roll herself out on my foam roller.

Michelle H. using foam roller

Our team took off at 11:00am. I think we finished sometime around 3:15, 3:30, or 4:00pm Saturday. (I was so tired I can't remember.) The order for our van was as follows:
Runner 7: David D., Runner 8: Shawn S., Runner 9: Matt F., Runner 10: me, Runner 11: Kristy, Runner 12: Shawn B.  (Van 1, obviously had the first 6 runners)

Per my garmin, first "leg" started at 5:46pm somewhere in Tracy City/Sewanee. 
(6:54 mi - 53:20 - 8:09 pace): It was rolling, my legs were fresh, & I think I passed at least 2 guys. (Two other guys caught me & passed me right at the end.)
Two of these miles were at a 7:57 pace. ;-)  I handed off to Kristy H. who ran through the "University of the South".  When she finished, she said something along the lines of "I smelled pot while running past the frat houses."  LOL! Kristy was hiliarious & I'm glad we got to know one another a lot better.

David's first "leg" was a beast!  This "leg" helped to tear up Michael C.'s knee two years ago.

After our first set of "legs" ended, we camped out inside the gym of South Middle School.  They had bean bags & wrestling mats out on the gym floor. I collapsed into a bean bag & rested my eyes. I never slept any at all. I think we got there around 8:30-9:00pm.  We left out of there at 11:30pm for our next "legs" which started in Lynchburg.  This is where I started noticing the changes they've made to the course. Van 1 doesn't hand off to Van 2 behind the Lynchburg square anymore. Ragnar uses the Lynchburg High School now.  Who knew?! I should've got myself up to date on the changes but dang, we've been so BUSY lately!  Thank you, Matt, for studying ALL our "legs".  I think he nearly had streets memorized!

Before it got dark we took inventory of the toilet paper

The middle of the night "legs" seem the scariest to me.  David's "leg" from the school went to the hwy my friend, Elaine lives off of then it goes off from there to some very narrow, dark, country roads. We overheard one runner say that he saw some glowing eyes staring at him off the side of the road.  One runner said he saw a skunk run across the street but thank goodness nobody frightened him.  Can you imagine if you got sprayed?! Ugh!  At the end of David's 2nd leg there was a crappy little store where I got to go in & use their bathroom. It was here we spotted a van with a Justin Bieber poster on it. Too funny!  I can't remember the name of the team but I do know they were an Ultra team from Memphis (only 6 runners) & one of their runners had got sick. They were dividing the remaining "legs" between 5 people! I really don't think I'll ever want to be on an Ultra team ever.  Some dude was overheard saying how he tried to catch David but couldn't.  Too funny!

Matt was afraid he'd need his toilet paper while on the run! LOL!

My 2nd "leg" was supposed to be 4.1, I think, but it turned into 4.27.  I got a little disoriented, missread a sign & stopped in the middle of it.  I waited on a runner to catch up to me to make sure I wasn't lost.  I was heading out of Shelbyville at 2:38am.  At the end, my garmin read (4.27 mi - 34:59 - 8:11 pace).  Mile 3 was a 7:58. That was the mile where I tried to hang with the fast girl that I had waited on when I was wondering if I was lost. The mile just before that was an 8:26.  Pretty good since I stood around for about 30-45 seconds wondering if I had taken a wrong turn.  LOL!  I need to stop 2nd guessing myself when running in the dark. ;-P

Some people really got into "tagging" vans.  We were pretty proud of tagging the East Nasty van.

My 3rd "leg" was in daylight. I had never really warmed up since we left Nolensville on Friday & I was really looking forward to being warm.  Yes, I know I LOVE cold but to actually be cold for that long was getting "old".  The wind had picked up so I still had goosebumps on my legs.  I had run in capri tights & a long sleeve the first two legs but now it was time to run in shorts & a sports bra.  I started my final "leg" at 12:30pm Saturday. (6.47 mi - 57:49 - 8:55 pace)  This was by far my hilliest "leg" & it was 66 degrees.  The first mile I was stuck behind several girls on a very narrow road with heavy traffic.  At one point the gal in front me leaped over a dead squirrel.  I did the same since it was either jump into traffic or the ditch. I chose to jump over the squirrel.  My body warmed up quite a bit & it felt like it was 86 degrees to me by mile 4. I was MISERABLE!

I was drenched when I finished but I was DONE! Whoo Hoo!  At one point on this "leg" I came to an area somewhere near Percy Warner.  They had the "turn sign" way off to the right.  I was running against traffic & I got a good little sip of water from David at this point.  I then headed towards the sign but couldn't read it unless I walked around & right up to it.  It was facing a weird direction to where I almost had to back track to see what it said so I screamed to everyone, "Which way do I go?!"  Ugh, I was annoyed.  They should have had better placement of that sign or put a volunteer over there with a flag.  So odd.  This "leg" went past a lot of HUGE homes.  It was a beautiful course & the first half of it was an area where I had plenty of shade.  I'm betting this is the area where a lot of country music stars live.  Lots of gated properties.  Joe had described this "leg" to me via text message since his van had already gone through there.  The last 3 miles were hilly as hell with little to no shade.  I had to stop for two redlights going UP HILL.  I suffered but at least I got a little rest at the redlights.  I was totally surprised at the 8:55 pace.  I had one mile that was 10:06.  That had to be the mile where I was waiting on lights & walking uphill.  I was so happy to hand off to Kristy near the Belmont area. 

Kristy handing off to Shawn B. (our last "legs")

It was so nice getting to know a few other runners in the club & getting to know Shawn S. I truly did enjoy the adventure.  I know it sounds crazy, especially to non-runners but you haven't lived until you've run a relay.  It doesn't have to be an overnighter to be fun.  This one was fun in 2010 when we ran it with my Manchester peeps but it was even more fun this year with so many familiar faces out on the course.  Will I ever do it again?  Maybe?  I try to never say never to too many things. 
Scott has already put out a post on the NRC facebook site asking this very question.  I think for now Joe & I will offer to volunteer.  We can always bring the kids with us if we do that & we have them that particular weekend.  (Looks like it might be the last weekend in Oct next year.)  If for some reason someone gets injured, I'm sure one of us can/will step up to take those "legs" in whatever van needs a replacement.  Again, it was a tiring but fun weekend.  I hope everyone had as much fun as I did & if you didn't participate, I hope you had a wonderful weekend run/race.

Since I'm too busy to organize/download the pics (all are on facebook) I'll just throw somemore random pics below that I took with my iPhone.  Again it was a tiring but super fun weekend.

At the start of the relay in Chattanooga. Beautiful sunshine!

Yep, we bought these!

Smoking hot Van 2 girls rocking the reflective gear. 

Steve K. rocking his Ragnar Tat.

Joe was not excited at all about being there. NOT!!  ha!

Kelly D about to finish her first "leg" in Jasper.

By far the funniest photo I took on my iPhone.  It looks like he hit her on the jaw for not running fast enough.  Too funny!

Coolest name I saw on a van other than "12 Shades of Gray that Run".

DD & Kristy rocking the reflective vests

Look at Scott's excited face!  ;-)

Erin Pryor stepped in at the last minute to take her injured husband's "legs".

The Brazil's before the start.  Cute couple.

Deep breath before the start.
 Little did he know he would cover the first two "legs" due to a missread of the 1st exchange directions. 
Joe said he did an awesome job!

Has it really been 2 yrs since we did this relay?!