Ragnar Relay Florida Keys

So....I will be posting a bunch of race recaps.  I had written the posts, but hadn't taken the time to upload the photos so I never posted them.  Prepare yourself for a bunch of posts about races!

Let's just start this out by saying that using a race to cleverly disguise a much needed vacation is a great idea.  Hubster has wanted to run a race with me for a long time, and I have wanted to go on vacation to a beach for a long time. 

How the discussion went:

"Hubster...I think it would be really fun to run this race with you.  Look at me--I'm being ACTIVE!  You don't want to discourage me from being active, do you?  DO YOU??"

Sneaky, sneaky wife...how can you argue with that?  In any case, we signed up, flew clear across the country and landed in sunny Florida.  Goodbye snow, hello sun!

Look at that--not a snowflake in sight!  So far so good!

We spent the first day trying to recover from our red eye flight.  We were crazy enough to think it was a good idea to take a midnight flight out of Utah and arrive at 10:30 am in Florida the day before the race.  Who said you need a good night's sleep before a big race?  Dirty liars...  Oh wait.  They were telling the truth.  It's actually good advice!

The day of the race came.  The anticipation was high.  We drove to the starting line only to find everything but the starting line...we were lost.  Really lost.  And we weren't the only ones.  We suddenly encountered many 12-passenger vans attempting the impossible:  U-turns.  For those of you who haven't braved a u-turn in a gigantic vehicle, let me just tell you--it ain't pretty.  Eventually (approximately 42-point turns later) we found our starting line and showed up to start running approximately 30 minutes late.  Oops.

So we didn't start out in a very good place.  However, our captain was our first runner and he decided to vent his frustrations by running 3 miles in 21 minutes.  He managed so skim off one minute per mile on his pace.  Basically he was running like a mad man.  Go him!

Eventually it became my turn to run.  After a couple of quick trips to the lovely port-a-potties (what is it with pre-race jitters??) I made my way to the exchange.  I was ready to go!  My first leg was a simple 4.3 miles and I was anxious to get started. 

Apparently this is how I psych myself up pre-race...yay dolphins!

Hello, my friend...

Anticipation is killing me!

Jason was racing the leg before me, so we got to meet at the exchange for the baton pass off (which was a slap bracelet...brings me back to the good old days!). 

Jason coming into the exchange...

...and I'm off!

The first leg was great.  The lower elevation made running a lot easier and my pace was great!  I'm normally at around 11:15 for my pace and I was down at 10:00 miles for the entire leg.  It felt wonderful!  I had great support from my teammates along the way.  They were cheering and yelling and making me feel like a rock star. 

The dramatic pass off...can't you hear the slap?

I finished my 4.3 miles in 43:33 with an average pace of 10:10.  That's a personal best right there!  Awwww yeah.  I did a happy dance afterwards.  Gotta love running at sea level!

My next leg was during the night around 9:00 pm.  I ran pretty much the entire length of Key Largo.  Those are words I never thought I would get to say in my lifetime!  I would like to say this run went just as well as my first leg, but somewhere along the day in Florida I made the mistake of eating some local treats.  I ate a number of tasty fruits from a magical farmer's market, but I am gonna go ahead and blame the boiled peanuts.  Something made my stomach mad.  Halfway through the run my stomach was all in knots and I wanted it to be over with.  Right. Now. 

Alas, I had to continue on.  I ran my first 3 miles of my 7.2 mile leg in just over 30 minutes, but then I hit the stomach problems and my pace got worse and worse.  I ended up with an average pace of 11:20 for the whole run.  I was SO happy to be done.  I don't even remember coming into the exchange at the end...I just remember the feeling of joy that it was over. 

7 Mile Bridge...just keeps going!

I finished my run and then we took off to find a place to sleep for the evening.  I made a few bathroom visits (curse those delicious boiled peanuts!!) and finally got situated and ready for bed.  If I had to pick the part of the race I liked the least, I would have to say climbing in my brand new down sleeping bag being all hot and sweaty and sticky and smelly.  I felt like I was marinating in my own sauces.  Yummy, right?  Just had to share that with you...It will serve as a nice reminder to me when I run the Wasatch Back relay in June.

After sleeping through the night in a mummy sleeping bag on a random baseball field in a random park, I woke up somewhat refreshed for the last run of the day.  I remember saying to myself, "Self, it is only a 3 mile run.  That's cake!  You could run that any day of the week!  It will go by so fast you won't even remember it!"

. . . .

Lies.  Dirty rotten lies.  

Those three measly miles were the hardest miles I've ever ran.  I started the run at 11:00 am and it was hot outside.  I've been running in 20 degree weather and it was 80 degrees outside.  My body was not adjusted.  I was sweating like crazy.  It felt like the whole thing was uphill.  A very gradual and painful uphill.  I remember thinking to myself that the hill was never going to end.  I am embarrassed to say this, but this was the only leg I actually walked on.  Yep...I stopped and walked on a 3 mile run when I am able to run 8+ miles without stopping usually.  I was definitely suffering.  Once I stopped to walk, I walked for about 5 seconds and it felt so good that I knew I had to start running RIGHT AWAY or I would never start again!  So I sucked it up and just plowed through it.  

At the exchange...I promise I am more excited about it than I look.  And it happened much faster than it looks.

Mid-run.  Dying.  Must have water.

My awesome support team running with me to the finish line

Fake smile for photos!

Fake smile wavering...

I think it's important that I come clean right now and let you know that when I got home and plugged my runs into Garmin Connect I discovered that my last leg had the smallest elevation gain of all my runs.  So yeah...there's that.  Apparently the boiled peanuts destroyed my ability to run.  My average pace ended up at 11:58 which is higher than my usual pace.  Yay for fatigue!

Overall, I loved the race.  It was a challenge, both mentally and physically.  I had a great team which made it fun.  Hearing their cheers during the long parts of my run made it easier to keep going and stay focused.  I got my first finishers medal and love it!  I am proud that I did this, and I can say I will do another one in the future.

Did someone say Wasatch Back aka The Original Ragnar Relay?

Awwww yeah, baby!  Here I come!

Races!

One of the (many) bridges we will be running

We haven't updated in a while so I figured it was time to drop a quick line to let everyone know what we've been up to!

Jason recently finished the Las Vegas Ragnar Relay race with some friends which marks the second Ragnar Race he's ran this year.  For those of you unfamiliar with the race, twelve runners run three legs each for a total distance of just under 200 miles!  It's quite the race and takes place over a two day period.  He had so much fun he convinced me to run with him for the Florida Keys race.  Sunshine--here we come!

The race starts out in Miami and finishes in Key West and takes place in January.  We've convinced a bunch of our friends to fly down there with us and run the race.  It is going to be a blast!  It also gives me something to keep me focused on training for my half marathon I'm running in May.

Yep, you read that right.  Becky, aka the anti-runner, is running the Ogden Half Marathon.  I'm way excited!  I will actually be trained up enough to run a half marathon by January (thanks to Ragnar training), so Jason and I might run one before the Ogden race.  I'll keep you updated!  I've been really excited to get into running--it's helped out with my asthma immensely and also has helped me lose almost 30 lbs.  Awwwww yeah!

Anyway, that's about it for us.  We've been really busy with work and training which hasn't left much time for anything else, but it has been good!  I'm excited to be able to run a race with my husband and am really looking forward to it!

Lake Powell Goodness...

This past weekend the whole Lloyd family went down to Lake Powell again for some fun in the sun.  It was abnormally warm for an October trip--it was 95 degrees most days!  Perfect weather!  We were there from Thursday to Sunday, which was just enough time to relax from the stressful work weeks that Jason and I have been having.  Thank goodness for well-timed vacations!

Even better is that Jason's brother, Brandon, was able to come down to Utah and spend some time with us.  We really miss having him around.  He's currently in Baltimore in a ridiculously hard Oral Surgery program.  Jason and I are really hoping that when he finishes it he ends up close by.  What can we say?  We love having family close!

Beautiful Sunrises!

Relaxation at its Finest...

I think these old trees look awesome.

Reflections on the Glassy Water

I tried the stand-ups!

Sharon did too!

Early Risers...

Big Pimpin....

In other family news--we have a new niece!  Katelyn Patrice England was born the day we left for Powell.  She was three weeks early and is TINY!  She weighed 3 lbs 9 oz at birth.  So small and so cute!  Shantel had to have an emergency C-section, but it looks like both mom and baby are fine.  Congrats to Greg and Shantel!  She's going to be beautiful. 

So small!

The next big adventure (for me at least) is going up to Spud Harvest.  It's my dad's last year digging--I can't believe it!  I have to go up there and spend some quality time with him.  Also, my Grandpa on my mom's side is moving clear across the country to Texas so we are having a farewell dinner for him.  I can't believe how quickly it all happened once he decided he wanted to move.  It's been less than two weeks and his house and car are sold and he's out the door on Friday.  Wow!

Mount Timpanogos!

Jason and I finally had a free weekend and some beautiful weather so we were able to go down to American Fork and hike Mount Timpanogos.  For those of you unfamiliar with the hike, here are some stats:

Length: 15 miles round-trip
Elevation Gain: 5300 feet
Elevation at the Summit: 11,730 ft.

What a great hike!  We woke up bright and early (3:15 for me!) and drove down.  We got to the trailhead at about 5:30 and it was still pitch black.  It was really cool to see people's headlamps shining way up on the mountain.  It gave you a really good idea of where the trail was, how high you would be climbing, and why people have to start so early to see the sunrise!  Jason and I didn't wake up early with the intent to see the sunrise--we just wanted to avoid the heat!

So, without further ado, here are the pictures!

So many beautiful fall colors!  It was perfect timing--we still had the gorgeous greens that offset the bright reds, orange, and yellows.

The tiny shack at the top is our final destination!

These pictures won't import in the right order, but here is the final stretch of Mount Timpanogos.  There is a survey shack at the top that provides (minimal) shelter.  I was happy to have it though as it was windy and COLD up top!

This is about the halfway point (not-quite).  The trailhead is at the bottom of the valley.  At this point we had already climbed a couple thousand feet!

This was our first time seeing mountain goats.  Yay!

This is called the "saddle".  This is where I nearly lost all my courage because of the sheer drop offs on both sides of this mountain.  I was way nervous!

You can see the trail has quite a bit of loose rock that makes for some unstable footing.

But nonetheless, we made it!  This is us hanging out in the shack. 

Fearless Jason at the top of the world...

Not so fearless Becky freezing at the top of the world...

Incredible views.  You can kind of see where the trail drops off over the edge of the mountain where you go down a ton of switchbacks to the valley floor.

Jason and me at Emerald Lake.  This is the lake you see two photos above.

Scout Falls at the end of the trail.  It was so nice to cool off in the spray from the falls!  No wonder I was so happy!

Lake Blanche

This weekend Jason was out of town backpacking with the boys, so I decided to have a girls weekend. I called up one of my best friends from college, and she came down on Friday to hang out. We ate at Bombay House and then came home and chit chatted into the evening. We finally had to call it a night so that we would have some energy for our early morning hike the next day.

We woke up at 6:30 in the morning so we could beat the heat as the Lake Blanche trail is heavily exposed to the sun for most of the day. I'm so glad we woke up as early as we did! We were cool on the way up, which is a mighty steep trail. It was well worth the effort. Look how gorgeous this place is:

I can't wait to do this hike again someday!  It was beautiful and a killer workout.  One day it would be fun to backpack in and stay the night.

Backpacking in the Uintas

Jason has been wanting to take me on a backpacking trip since last year after he spent a few days in the Wind Rivers Range up in Wyoming. We finally had a weekend available where it would work out for us, so we packed up our bags and headed up towards Kamas. We decided that the Twin Lakes region up by Wall Lake would be our best bet for a beginner trail. However, upon reaching Twin Lakes and running into dozens of noisy boy scouts we reevaluated our plan and hiked a couple more miles up to Ibantik Lake. It was well worth the extra miles and elevation gain! We found a small lake with no one near by and settled in for the evening. The next morning we hiked around some more exploring the area before we headed back up the trail to home. I definitely can't wait to go again!

Every Little Bit Helps...