Ragnarly - An Excessively Long Post in which I Document my Ragnar Adventure

Last year I was talking to Hilary about her Ragnar team and asked her if I could run it with her the next time around. She got me in touch with the right people, and I signed up. I was really excited to have a goal that would force me to run. Excited to run you ask? Yes, for some crazy reason I really was excited to get back in shape. After coming down with mono last year, my body was trashed. I knew I needed to set a goal that would force me to get out and exercise. A simple 10k wouldn't do the trick, so I signed up for a race that I considered to be pretty tough.

Unfortunately for me, but fortunately for Hil, she got pregnant, so she was out of the race. This meant I would be on a team of complete strangers. It turned out to be okay though, because everyone was really nice.

The race starts in Logan, so everyone in my van stayed at AJ and Hilary's the night before. I didn't sleep much, because I was pretty nervous/anxious. We got up at 4am, packed up everyone's bags, and headed to the starting line. We were scheduled to start at 5:45am. Our team captain, Sue, was our first runner. She's 58 but can outrun most people half her age. I was runner #2 and was pretty nervous about the 7.7 miles ahead of me. The longest I'd run on my own was 7 miles, but I had to walk quite a bit the last two miles. I came down with a terrible cold about a month and a half ago that stuck around for a couple of weeks, so that threw off my training. Basically, I was terrified my first leg would end up in a lot of walking. Surprisingly, I felt awesome. The weather was perfect, and I was running on a beautiful road. I had to consciously tell myself to slow down. I didn't want to burn myself out early on, so I made sure to just keep a steady pace. For most of my run, there wasn't van support. This means the vans were not allowed on the route, because it went through a quiet residential area. When you have van support, your team can drive along the route and give you water, cheer you on, or anything else you might need throughout your run. I was a little nervous about being on my own, but it turned out to be a good thing. It was nice to have a peaceful run through such a beautiful area.

The starting line.

About halfway through, I noticed a cute guy standing on the side of the road. It turned out to be Dave. He ran with me for a little bit cheering me on and encouraging me. It was really nice to have his support. I finished my run with a much better pace than I expected. Dave met me again at the end of my run, so it was nice to give him a quick hug before jumping in the van to follow our next runner.

Nice and sweaty! You know it's been a good workout when your face matches your hot pink shirt.

As we were driving down Avon Pass looking for our runner, we looked up on the mountain and noticed a small wildfire. We called 911, and just about every emergency vehicle in town showed up to take care of it. From what I heard, it caused a 2-3 hour delay for the runners still going down the pass. Oops! Thankfully our team had already made it through.

After everyone in our van ran their first legs, we ended up at Snow Basin to wait for our second van to finish their legs. My muscles had tightened up a lot from not being able to stretch after my run. Because of this, I was a little worried about how I would get through leg #2. I used my leg roller, but everything was still pretty tight and sore. I didn't feel very well on my second run due to my sore muscles, and it was in the middle of the day, so it was hot. But my pace was just as good as my first run, so that was encouraging.

When everyone in our van was done with their second legs (around 10:30pm), we went to a high school in Coalville to get a couple hours of sleep. All I can say is, thank heavens for ear plugs! When you're jammed into a sweaty, hot gym with a couple hundred other people, ear plugs will save your life. After a couple hours of not-so-restful sleep, we were off for leg #3.

My last leg was through Francis, UT. It was another beautiful early morning run through the country. However, my body was really feeling the sleep deprivation and soreness by then. Thankfully it was only 3 miles. My pace wasn't awesome, but I was just happy with myself for pushing through the pain. 

Doing the token Usain Bolt pose. 

After leg #3, our van headed to Sue's house in Midway. We were able to clean up (a real shower after 24 hours of sweating? Yes, please!) and relax. We headed back up to Park City when van #2 was getting close to the finish line. At Ragnar, as the last runner on your team is closing in on the finish line, the whole team meets up with them and runs through together. 

Pretending that every step doesn't hurt.

Girls Just Wanna Run 2013!

Overall, I had a really good experience. The hardest part was being tired the whole time. But I met some great people, had fun, and accomplished my goals.

Next up is a half marathon in Goblin Valley. It should be fun! 

I know you're all just dying to know what Tony did the whole time, so here you go. 

Our little niece LOVES Tony.

Dwight Schrute's Resume

I love the internets, because you can find genius/hilarious things, like what Dwight Schrute's resume would look like. Here's a little sample of it.
 

To see the full resume, go here. Trust me, it's worth every second.

The Baby Bachelor

Not everyone can appreciate trashy TV shows like The Bachelor, but I think everyone can appreciate this version of it.

Taking Fetch to a Whole New Level

Here's a funny video of a Pitbull trying to play his own version of fetch. Sorry for the poor video quality. It's pretty funny anyway. I can imagine Tony trying something like this.

It Must be Rough Being a Celebrity

Recently, Buzzfeed published some pretty funny pictures of Beyonce performing at the Superbowl halftime show. Apparently she didn't approve, and her publicist sent them an email asking them to take down the photos. You can read the article and see the pictures here. Readers took this as an opportunity to practice some mad Photoshopping skills. Here are a couple of my favorites.

You can see the rest of the submissions here. I love the internets.

Oh, Dove

A few days ago, I noticed a video made by Dove circulating around Facebook regarding how women view themselves. While it gives women warm-fuzzies to hear they're more beautiful than they think, it's also important to note that the company promoting this campaign is the same company that sells Axe body spray. You know, the commercials that show runway models tripping over themselves to get to a nerdy guy who is wearing a body spray that's way too overpowering and would give any normal human being a migraine. So, I never actually watched the Dove video. But then one of my friends posted the Dove Experiment parodied by men, and I instantly knew it would be awesome. And it was. So here it is.

After watching this, I finally watched the real video made by dove. I would like to point out that after listening to a podcast a few weeks ago about police sketch artists, I learned they are only 9% accurate. So there's that. 

*Disclaimer* While I think the Dove video is pretty pathetic, I should point out that I love Dove soap. In fact, it's in my shower right now. It's quite lovely.

Scary Mary

My parents came for a visit last week and left yesterday. It was a lot of fun having them here, but now I'm worn out and could probably sleep for a year (I love hyperbole). I don't think Dave would appreciate that though. I took my mom and dad to Old Town Albuquerque to check out the old buildings and shops.

I found this creepy thing carved into a dead tree behind a church. I like to call it Scary Mary. I don't know if the person who carved it was actually trying to portray Mary, but it was at a Catholic church, and it was definitely a woman, so that's my best guess. There were pigeons roosting all over the tree, and the little guy on the crown didn't seem too concerned about how close I was.

Speaking of Scary Mary. Please enjoy the following video. You'll never think of Mary Poppins the same way ever again. She'll haunt your dreams.