The Legs of my Ragnar Relay, Love em’ or Hate em’

Ok friends, I have some serious business to discuss with you!!

I have the Ragnar Relaly, Wasatch Back Utah in less than a week. I am super excited, but equally scared. I looked at my legs a while ago, and they seem so daunting.

I ran up Mount Spokane to help train for the race, but that’s about all for intense workouts. It was a last minute decision, as I wasn’t asked to long before the race. And with my strained IT-Band, any type of intense running seems daunting. Luckily my knee is feeling better, but my mind is not.

Believe me, the legs are no cake walk for anyone.  I know it will be fun and I can’t wait to personally meet all the great gals on our High Nuun Hydration team, but I still can’t stop having nightmares about my running legs.

I am runner number five, so I have some time to prepare and see how everyone else fares. I don’t know if that’s a good or bad thing.

Take a look:

Running Leg One:

Leg 5 | 7.4 Miles | Very Hard

 So it’s completely uphill the entire way. At least I am getting the hard legs out of the way, so my legs will be somewhat fresh. The scariest part is the already high elevation. I have done races with high elevation, but I was living in Montana at the time, where elevation is higher than where I am at now. There’s no aid station!!

Running Leg Two:

Leg 11 | 7.3 Miles | Very Hard

Another 7 miles of uphill. More like up mountain!! I don’t call these hills, they are definitely mountains. I am not going to get down on myself if I have to walk. I think any sane person would have to walk a little bit.

Running Leg Three:

Leg 17 | 4.2 Miles | Moderate

I can handle this. This will feel like a cool down compared to the first two runs.

 Running Leg Four:

 Leg 23 | 5.5 Miles | Moderate

Running Leg Five:

 Leg 29 | 2.8 Miles | Easy

Love how these are easy runs, because the next one isn’t!!

Last Leg: 

Leg 35 | 7.9 Miles | Very Hard

Completely downhill or more down mountain!! They took the saying “it’s all downhill from here” to literally. That is insane. And check out the elevation start and than drop. Holy smokes.  This is the leg I am most worried about, because of the knee. Strained IT-Bands don’t like down hill, and for nearly 8 miles that’s all I am doing. Yikes!!

I will have my shorter and less painful runs in the dark thank goodness. I am glad I won’t be climbing mountains in the pitch dark night, on a unsupported road.

I had no idea about my legs until after I said yes. I don’t know if it would have changed my mind. To be honest, probably not.  I love a challenge and I can’t say no when it comes to running. I know many memories will be formed after this and I am sure as I am trudging along on my 7 mile up mountain run, I will be cursing the name of running and questioning why I chose this sport. But once the race is finished, I will be begging to do another. That’s how it always goes. It’s a love hate relationship. I have yet to regret any race I have done or any workout, and I know this won’t be any different.

Anyone done a Ragnar Before? And words of advice?