I am happy to report that I survived the Ragnar Wasatch Back Relay Race.  The team consisted of friends and family, many of them more consistent runners that me. Nevertheless, I assumed role of Team Captain (in charge of nagging, mostly) and took the set of legs with the highest mileage.  What was I thinking? I was most concerned about the stress fracture on my ankle – which had been feeling great as of late, and my IT band which has been a consistent problem as of late.  With the high mileage and some very long stretches of steep downhill, both injuries had opportunity to act up.  Thankfully – neither did!!!  Every muscle and joint was sore and has been since, but those injuries have been ok.  In any case, here are the 3 legs.

1st Leg (Nr. 11)

7.5 miles in 1:24:40 @ 11:21 min/mile and 1,823 ft elevation

The leg was absolutely gorgeous. The leg climbed from the Pineview Reservoir up to Snow Basin ski resort. The climb was exhausting and I ended up power hiking portions of it.  There was a 1 mile downhill section in the middle that felt amazing. I just opened up and bombed down it, getting a 1 mile PR and a couple shorter PRs too.

2nd Leg (Nr. 23)

5.6 miles in 55:06 @ 9:53 min/mile and 301 ft. elevation

 This was my night leg. I ran it from about 2:30-3:30. I started out a bit cold, but by the end was as hot as ever. I’m glad that I didn’t over dress.  The leg went along Rockport Reservoir and would have probably been gorgeous in daylight. It was a slow steady climb for most of it.

3rd Leg (Nr. 35)

10.0 miles in 1:34:59 @ 9:28 min/mile and 498 ft. elevation (and 2,636 ft. elevation drop!)

Before this leg we were able to crash at a teammate’s cousin’s house on the floor and get a hot shower and breakfast. Wow – it made a huge difference.  By the time I started it was about 2:00 and although it was only 70, it felt hotter.  My last leg was 10 miles and dropped a total of 2,636 elevation over the course of about 7-8 miles of it. Had this been my first leg, I think I would have loved it – just bombing down. But, I had already run 13 miles the previous two legs and I was already beat sore. At a number of points on the descent, I had to stop and walk for a bit. There was about 500 ft. of climbing as well – almost all of which I power hiked. I was just spent. Towards the end, there was about a 1/2 mile of trail. I hit that and blew past a bunch of people who were carefully picking their way down the trail. I was in my element and made good time.

By the finish I had hit 9.9 miles, so I did the hand off and went an extra .1.  I hit PRs for 10 mile, 15 k, 10 k, 2 miles, 1 mile, 1 k, and 1/2 mile.  So, that made me happy.

I was also relieved that my dreaded IT band, which I was afraid would rear its ugly head on all of this downhill didn’t hurt AT ALL.  Wow.

In the end it was a very good experience.  I ran 23 miles, which is more that I usually do – way more. Will I do it next year? Honestly…probably not. I think I would rather train for a trail race. But who knows . . . maybe.