Ragnar

Well, that was one of the hardest, hottest, most rewarding things I have ever done.
On Thursday night, Angela came and stayed at our house as well as Errol and Janet. Scott and I made a pre-race dinner of grilled chicken fettuccine alfredo with roasted poblano pepper alfredo sauce, salad, garlic bread and grilled bananas foster. I feel like I would race every weekend to get an awesome dinner like that!
Then, on to bed. I woke up about 7 times! I had set my alarm for 6:00 am realizing I had not packed a bag for the weekend at all...but at 5:30am, when I couldn't get back to sleep, I just woke up and started to pack a bag.
Angela and I left for Logan and Cassie's at 6:30 where we hitched a ride to the starting line at Utah State. Nick McKee and Amber McKee as well as Matt Merkley were in the car with us. I apparently amused everyone with my stories...I tend to talk a lot.
We got to the starting line and checked in, went through the safety talk, decorated the vans, and accompanied Nick to the starting line at 11:00am. He was our first runner. As he ran across the starting line, he did a cartwheel...what a goofball. And it starts for team 951! Ready...Set...NO!

We went back to our vans and those in van 1 (1: Nick McKee, 2: Amber McKee, 3: Matt Merkley, 4: Kari Patty, 5: Aaron Patty, 6: Angela Merkley) started to leapfrog with Nick through his run. Us in van 2  (7: Cassie Merkley,  8: ME! 9: Logan Merkley, 10: Lindy Merkley, 11: Nathan Gomez, 12: John Gillman) went to the first major exchange where we would start running at about 5:00 that night. We just kinda hung out there... we are all still clean, and un-sunburned and smiling.

When Angela came around the corner and into the first exchange it was finally our turn to run! Cassie was a beast at her run, and when I was walking to the first exchange for us...I started to get real nervous.
My first leg was awful! I started out too fast and ended up feeling really sick. It was realllllly hot outside. I ran as far as I could....then I felt like a wimp when I walked. It was only 3.4 miles for pete sake! When I saw the 1 mile to go marker...I got really excited. But it had to have been a long mile! When I started to get to the finish line, this like 100 year old man started to pass me! And I would not have that, so I started to sprint up the hill...not a good idea, I did pass him! (that means it counts as a "Kill" that we marked with the window chalk on our car.) Then I about passed out!
All the rest of the runs were great. We went to the next major exchange and I HAD to get this amazing coat.

We waited until John finished his first leg and we went to a school to sleep. By now it was 11:00 at night and we had about 1.5 hours of sleep on the ground at a high school. We woke up at 1:30am and got in the car to make it to the next major exchange. Van 1 had gone through their legs really fast. We took Cassie to the campground where she was to start her leg. At this time...I was feeling really sick. I hadn't really eaten anything since my last leg and was way under-hydrated. I had on my new jacket, my safety vest, my headlamp, and my taillight. As Cassie sprinted through the exchange and gave me the slap bracelet, I started off a lot slower than before. I had 7 miles to run through and it was dark! It was 2:30 in the morning. And beautiful. This leg was running down Morgan Canyon into Henefer. OMGosh I would run that leg over and over again. But, lets not get ahead of ourselves. In the first mile or so, Scott and the van stopped and asked if I needed water. I was in the zone! I told them in another mile and half to meet me for water. After they went on ahead, I noticed that the stars were beautiful. So, I looked up, and I saw the little dipper. And then I fell. I totally biffed it. The girl behind me just kept running. Bia.
So, a mile and half ahead, (still running!) I told Scott that I fell, and that my knee hurts and does he want to see it. He said no...just keep going. Well, when I finished the leg RAN THE WHOLE TIME ALL 7 MILES,  and I was in the light of the exchange I picked up my pant leg that had stuck to my knee....there was blood everywhere!!!!!!! This is my knee all cleaned up:

It is a huge knot. Anyway. After I had stopped running, Logan started his long leg. 10 miles! That is insane. Anyway, when John finished his 2 leg, we stayed at that exchange (which was a big park) We slept on a field like a soccer field/coach pitch baseball field. It was hot and then cold and then hot and then cold. I still had not eaten anything and everyone was nervous. Kari sent Cassie with a Naked smoothie...which I totally chugged! It was delicious and it made me want french fries. Which was some of the best news that people had heard in a while. We lounged in the shade until it was time to drive to Heber. 

As you can see, my feet are all wrapped because my dance shoes are not for running, which I learned the hard way. Anyway, we drove to Heber and Cassie had her last leg. It was about 87 degrees outside. I had 5.5 miles left and it was a steady uphill climb. Cassie was amazing at her last leg, she was running every time we saw her. There were people in their yards as we ran by with hoses that sprayed us. It was awesome. Then, it was my turn. It was hotter than I thought it was and I swear I trained for this. But I was not prepared for the heat and the steady uphill climb. I made a deal with myself that I would run for 3 songs and then walk for 1. That did not work very well. But the good news was that I was not the only one who was walking on that leg. That was hard...it was in the sun the whole time and then at the very end, there was an elevation gain of over 100 feet in less than half a mile. It was like stairs. When I had 1 mile to go, Cassie got out of the van and ran the last little bit with me. BECAUSE SHE IS A ROCKSTAR! We would say stuff like from the "end of the fence to that sign" it was like 15 paces. But when we saw the exchange, we ran the rest of the way. When I finally crossed over my last finish line I almost collapsed. Scott gave me a big hug and said he was proud of me. Then we helped Logan and Lindy climb Ragnar Hill. What they were doing made what I did seem inconsequential. But, I will get better at this running thing. Anyway, after riding the shuttle to Park City High School after Gomez finished his incredible downhill run before John's last leg. I got my blisters fixed and then when we saw John we all ran with him across the finish line! We ran all almost 200 miles as a team in 33 hours, 25 minutes and 11 seconds. It was awesome. We got our medals!

Then started the long drive home. When we got home, Scott took pictures of my pathetic feet, my knee and my awesome temporary tattoo.