Ragnar # 2, will I ever stop!?

So I decided life is more fun when you take last minute, spur of the moment, verging on crazy trips...and thats just what I did last weekend! My brother Dave and his wife were scheduled to do the Wasatch Back Ragnar Relay with Becky's cousins, the Armstrongs, and one of their teammates had to drop out, so they gave me a proposal 4 days before the race...they would fly me out for the race and a quick trip up to my parents cabin in Idaho if I could maneuver to get work off. I had SUCH a good time and am so glad I did it. Here's some pictures from the race:

I was kind of worried about the elevation and dry air, which turned out okay, but the biggest thing I was worried about was my first leg of the race. This beastly 800 ft., very hard difficulty climb had me worried, but thanks to an ipod and good music, I made it up (nevermind that right in the middle of it I vowed never to do one of these again). I'm glad I got it over first. I don't think this picture does it justice, but maybe the map does.


Yes, I know I'm a runner and I've played sports all my life, but I don't run straight up hills regularly, so it was dang hard. Ironically, I was runner 12 so the outlier (unrelated person) got to finish the race for the family! Notice I do not have the family t-shirt. The person I was covering for was a guy so it just didn't work.
Highlights of the trip:
1. Cafe Rio - this was my first order of business when Julie picked me up from the airport. I had it Thursday and Saturday...yummy!
2. Hanging out with Dave. My brother is SO funny, I laughed the entire race!

3. The sight of a good Honey Bucket. All you runners know exactly what I'm talking about.
4. Finishing the race right before the 3 hour downpour in Utah. I do not envy any of the teams behind us.
5. Seeing some cousins. I decided that I have the best family ever and I am so grateful for them.
6. Going up to the cabin in Idaho. We did some fishing, canoeing, and we saw a Grizzly bear and moose right by our cabin! I missed my mom and dad so much up there. It just isn't the same without the crack of dawn fishing wake up call from my dad.


So this makes the 2nd ragnar race in two months for me, the 3rd one of the year. I'm thinking about the DC one in September and the Vegas one in October. I am crazy!