Ragnar Relay McDowell Mountain Trail Ultra Recap

A long time ago (for the blogging world) in October, I ran the Ragnar Relay McDowell Mountain Trail Race (Ultra Style, of course). I was hoping to run a ultra team, because a challenge is always fun! ;)
But I asked around and no one wanted to run it. They all said I was crazy. So, I bravely posted on the Facebook page for the event and got way more responses than I thought! Two guys were interested right away, Rick and Charles, and they seemed like pretty cool guys so I thought, "why not?". A few other people were interested, but they all seemed to come in two's and there was only one spot left. I then decided to post on my own page and see who would reply. Thankfully, my good Ragnar buddy Brett wanted to run it! We had a team!

When I told people that I was running on a team with two strangers, I always got the strangest looks. But people don't realize that the people that run Ragnar are always the coolest. :)  And these two were Ragnar fanatics.

I picked up Brett from the airport and then got Charles and Rick from a hotel in Phoenix. We drove to Target and picked up some much needed food supplies. Then, we drove to Fountain Hills for some breakfast before we headed over to Tent City to set up our space.

I must have caught a bug...a RAGNAR bug!

I'm a Ragnatic!!!
I've signed up for 2 more Ragnars!

While it may not sound crazy to you, it definitely does to me.
After my most recent Ragnar in February, I told myself I would never run a Ragnar ever again.
I was in a mood that race weekend and I was feeling extra stressed and homesick for some weird reason.

 It was also my worst Ragnar ever.

I felt slow, sluggish, hungry, and extremely tired. I was in a bad place and I should not have run a Ragnar that weekend. My mistake. :/ (Sorry teammates, I know I was a moody monster!)

So, when I found myself wanting to create an ultra team for the new Ragnar Trail Relay, I surprised myself.  I guess, as endurance athletes, we forgot about the pain and go back to things we told ourselves we would never do again.

I remember when I completed my first marathon, I was in so much pain and I thought it was way too long. I had second thoughts about training for a second one. But you know how things go, give it a few months and those memories of pain and suffering will disappear. :)
I'm hoping my next marathon will be in December.
But back to Ragnar -------> I signed up for TWO Ragnars!

In the span of one month...and they are both ultra teams! I am definitely challenging myself with this...considering my training my not be ready for an ultra. I am taking that problem on a day-to-day basis. You'll definitely hear about it later.

On Sept. 20th, I will be running across Northern California (Napa Valley) with an ultra team comprised of 6 runners/mostly strangers all crammed in a van.


And on Oct. 18th, I will be traversing the McDowell Mountain Region and it's trails in Northern Phoenix with an ultra team comprised of 4 runners.




I am definitely......SO FREAKING EXCITED!!!!

And a little nervous.
I may possibly be the slowest runner on my team.
My training may not yet be at ultra level but mentally, I am ready for this.

Training posts to come..........................

Oh! And I also applied to be an Ragnar Ambassador!
*Crossing my fingers!*

Going a little Ragnar crazy over here... ;)