Mini-relay…and then I got sick.
Okay, I can’t decide if it’s sick or allergies, but whatever it is, it’s kept me from running since Monday. My throat is on fire!
Saturday I had a 45-mile relay race. It was meant for 5 people, but they were lenient with #s if you had kids since the race benefited the education foundation. I ran with a couple of friends and their 3 kids. The two youngest kids each did one leg (actually, one filled in for her mother for a couple of miles, too), and the older did two legs. My friends have been running and preparing, but as we all know, it’s hard to train for your first relay race. You’re never prepared for how hard that second run of the day is going to be.
Since I’m ‘the runner’, I did the two longest legs – 6.2 miles and 5.8 miles. Which would have been fun and doable in the best weather conditions…
We woke up to snow Saturday morning. It was snowing at our start time, snowing at our second stop…then the weather turned cloudy, then the sun peeked through, and by the time my first leg started, I was cursing myself for not changing into shorts and thinking about ditching my shirt for just a sports bra! But no fail, this is Utah…it got windy, then cloudy, and then I fought snow flurries and wind for my second leg. It was almost entirely on trails, and I followed a sheriff (isn’t it great the sheriff’s department had a team?) for the entire leg. I caught him on the trails, but he pulled away from me…fast…when we hit the pavement for the last mile. I barely made the cut-off time! I didn’t even know we were in danger of missing it, but I was the last runner to make it. By the time we finished, it was snowing again.
It was fun – no doubt about that, but I have to say the weather was the most aggravating thing I’ve had to deal with in a long time. There was no way to be prepared from the start to the end of any given leg, and I spent a good deal of energy worrying about what I should be wearing. But, it all worked out! Unfortunately the ‘party’ at the end wasn’t as well attended as it would have been had it been nice…
My calves were pretty tight that evening, but I’m fairly impressed with the fact that I wasn’t sore Sunday – not a bit! (This really bodes well for the Ragnar coming up in 3 weeks). I really wanted to head out for a run Sunday, but was determined to let my legs rest. Of course, Monday I woke up with my throat on fire, and haven’t been out since.