ragnar relay florida keys 2011: leg 3

i'm so distraught. i had more hott stylish pictures of myself from ragnar that were erased forever when my phone wouldn't reboot after replacing the glass.

here's a replica of one i will miss the most:

getting my fair share out of the $12 boston sweats
i was posing with some christmas lights

anyway.

after my long, croc-filled leg, we piled in and out of the van for a few more exchanges before reuniting with van 2 at coral shores high school.

i went inside with daphne and hunter to find showers/a place to change while the others went to find van 2. i was hungry (again) so i went back to the van to munch on some crackers (ever so social of me). raffi came back and we discussed some random details of our lives.

eventually jim (our van's last runner) handed-off to van 2 and we were off duty again. we actually did not stop to get more food for once and went on to the next major exchange point (marathon community park) to catch some zzz's. we arrived at the park just after midnight and quickly separated into sleep camps. luckily i scored a spot in the van, i definitely did not have room in my suitcase for a sleeping bag to brave the outdoors. a quick trip to the restroom (and a pose with the flamingo lights, above) and danna, jim and i spread out on the van seats.

jim claims he didn't sleep too well because of danna's and my snoring. lies.

after about 4 hours of sleep, we rose with the roosters and began getting ready for our last rotation. my eyes were nice and dry after sleeping in my contacts. we found our teammates again as we waited for the exchange and i realized just how lucky i was in my first relay experience: normal running hours, a few decent hours of sleep, and extra time to clean up/eat before heading over to the finish line. (note to all: if you ever do a relay, insist on being in van 1).

taryn tagged brian and we shuffled back to the van, thinking we could get coffee during brian's 9-mile leg which included the seven-mile bridge.

um yeah there's nowhere to stop when you are driving on bridge, 10 feet of land, bridge, 14 feet of land, bridge... needless to say, we went coffeeless.

this made every single muscle-ache / motion-sickness / penny-spent worth it.

we soaked up the sunrise as we waited for brian; it was awesome. one lady finished a little ahead of brian and her teammate was asking her how the leg was, she simply replied "this is paradise" and pointed toward the sunrise.

we saw a team with t-shirts that said "the third leg is the hardest" that we'd seen a few times throughout the relay and some of us (finally) caught the "joke" (myself included).

brian came charging through, daphne took off with a sore hip and i ate some m&m's. we stopped to check on her during her leg and she was hurting, but she wanted to finish what she started. as we waited at the next exchange, i bummed some biofreeze from danna and took an advil (or something) from jim. i had a little headache going on and my legs were stiff. i popped a few more m&m's for good measure.

daphne handed off to danna and i was on deck for my third and final leg. i offered my tennis ball to daphne to massage/roll her hip and brian warned her that it would hurt, but it should help.

it felt warm (62*) and i almost considered carrying my water bottle again, but ultimately decided i could survive 4.8 miles without it. danna cruised in from her 2.6 mile run and i willed my stiff legs into motion.

this leg was not easy. my legs were tired, sore and stiff, but i continued to push myself knowing it would be over soon. near the end, i thought of how daphne ran through her aching hip and that motivated me to run a little harder. there weren't as many people to pass on this leg, but i did catch a few in the last mile (but have since forgotten how many).

oh yeah and that "4.8" clocked in at 5.2 miles per garmin. i'm not normally one to argue over garmin vs. race directors, but it had matched up to my first two legs so i'm giving it the benefit of the doubt that this one was a little longer.

leg 3 (1/8) - 5.2 miles, 42:44 (avg pace 8:13), 62*
forgot how many roadkills. oh well.

one more van photo at sugarloaf high

we finished up our 'shift' and headed to key west in search of the condo that most of the van was staying in. they were super nice and the owner let us in early to shower off and relax. be sure to check out townhomes on windsor for your next trip to the keys!

once we were clean for the first time in two days, we ventured over to the finish line party to wait for the rest of the team (and grab some more food of course).

after more eating, our teammates showed up and we awaited taryn's arrival. we victoriously crossed the finish line as a team in 30:47:15 (164th/292).

"why don't we get drunk ... and run"