Napa Valley Ragnar

Back in June a friend in my ward called me out of the blue and asked me if I was a runner.  After I laughed, she asked me if I ever wanted to be and I had, in fact, had a conversation with Tara about just that.  She told me that they were looking for another person for their Ragnar team and after assuring me no one would mind if I was really slow and I told her yes before I had a chance to think about it anymore.  I quickly bought my plane ticket so I couldn't back out.  This was an answer to my prayers in many ways and I was looking forward to having some motivation to get healthier.

We left on Thursday and Chase was so nice and took time off work to be home with the kids.  We did some sight seeing in San Francisco.

On the way to the airport.

 Having lunch.  It's amazing how good food can taste when you're starving!

 It was kind of a bummer how foggy it was but still really cool to see.

 Love Ghirardelli square!

We had some pasta for dinner with everyone that night.  Friday we slept in a little since we were Van 2 and then did some decorating.

Sporting our new shirts!

 I was the first runner in our van so I was a little nervous not knowing what to expect and I was worried about getting lost! Right before I ran I noticed that my leg had changed and I was running 3.7 miles instead of 5.  I'll take that!  It was a fun first leg in the city and I wasn't expecting all the stop lights.

After our van was done we went to dinner and then tried to get some sleep before our next legs.  It was 8:00 and way too noisy in the parking lot so no one got much sleep.  I tried to sleep on the floor of the van which was not comfortable and I don't think I slept at all.  Then we heard from the other van that they were close so I hurried and got suited up.  Between all of that I was really slow but it was a fun run in the city again, expect for the last mile that was straight uphill with a 400 foot elevation change.

It helped a lot having the girls cheer me on and give me water along the way.  6.8 miles.

Handing off the bracelet for the last time!  I finished the third leg with my best time ever.  It was 3.1 miles. 

We enjoyed the pretty scenery.

 Everyone was shocked that this was my first experience with a port-a-potty.  Good times!

Just waiting with Scott from the other van.

Our tie dye outfits.

 We made a tunnel for Lauren, our last runner, and then all ran across the finish line together.

Everyone.  We did it!!  There was a problem getting the metals so they will be sent to everyone in a few weeks.

It was so much fun to take a trip with these girls.  I didn't know how just how tired I would be but it was worth it.  It was a nice break even though I missed my kids and I cried when I got home and hugged them.  They thought I was weird!  These are such fun girls and my face was sore from all the laughing.  

We had a cool experience too.  When we parked to get to the finish line we were in a no parking zone and when we came back an officer was there giving us a ticket.  We went to the police station to pay the ticket before we headed back to San Francisco and it came up that we were Mormon and the officer that helped us was an investigator.   He told us about how he was driving around and felt like he needed to pull over and talk to two girls on bikes and then began the discussions with the missionaries.  He was about to be baptized when his wife decided she was not on board with him paying tithing.  We talked with him for a while and we were able to share our testimonies with him.   I know we were not given that ticket by accident.  As we were leaving we heard the officer turn to his co-worker and say, "what just happened?!"  I hope things work out for him and he ends up getting baptized.

This is an experience I'll never forget and I would do it again!