Ragnar Relay Recap - Leg 3 & Finish

(If you haven't caught Leg 1 go HERE & Leg 2 go HERE first.)

With Leg 1 & Leg 2 officially in the books we headed out to the last exchange point to get some rest. Little J was (wo)manning the wheel while Captain navigated and the rest slept, except me of course. I was wholly entertained by their convo to keep each other awake and when we finally arrived in Sanford they couldn't close their eyes fast enough. It had been a long trek thus far and we still had one more leg to go. The guys sprawled out on a tarp with sleeping bags outside of the van and us girls claimed a row of seats and got some shut eye. Well... they did anyway. This time it wasn't the nervous pees that was plaguing me it was tummy trouble. I've never, EVER had stomach issues before, during or after a race but for some reason I was a mess. Amidst endless trips to the bathroom I ran into Tall Guy Surfing & Jenny from Team Hot Legs and basically wasted almost every moment of our downtime. *Sigh*

LEG 3 RECAP

When I got the text that Spike was up and running I half-heartedly geared up one final time and made my way to the exchange chute only to sidetrack over to the bathrooms again. I ran in to Coach EK and told him how horrible I was feeling and we tried to figure out what could be wrong but weren't coming up with anything. Soon enough I was out of time to worry about it as I saw Spike round the corner and headed my way. What follows as he handed off to me was slightly awkward, completely hilarious and just a little schmoopy:

Now that's an exchange!

Real runner couples synchornize watches after kiss-offs.

Off I go to a round of applause! LOL!

See we had discussed ahead of time doing a big kiss off for our final exchange but Captain had specifically stated at the beginning of the race "No funny business between you two" so when Spike went for it, I wasn't quite prepared! LOL! In the end it was just what I needed to get my mind off how terrible I felt and start me off with a smile...

But the feeling didn't last long and almost immediately the nausea and cramping took over. It was just shy of 9 am, easily 78* already and rising fast. Thankfully it was pretty overcast so I wasn't cooking like my first leg but the heat and humidity definitely wasn't helping how I felt. I trudged along until the van met up with me for water and the Captain says to me "Don't lie to your Captain and say you're not feeling well when you're running like that" I looked down to find I was dropping an 8:30 pace just fine. This gave me hope and I continued to run on feeling better about that if nothing else. Just after Mile 4 the van was no longer able to support me as I would be running on a narrow shoulder on a very busy 55 mph highway in a conservation area. I kept at it and tackled a seemingly sizable bridge but shortly thereafter I fell apart. 5+ miles of solid sub 9's only to run/walk 10's for the remaining miles. The minute I stopped to walk I knew I wasn't going to be able to recover; I was exhausted, felt horrible and I couldn't get my legs to turn over again. I basically got about a half mile before I'd have to walk for a minute or two for the rest of my leg. I'm so disappointed in myself for stopping but at the time I let the way I was feeling get the best of me. Somewhere around mile 7 there was a Ragnar supported water stop and I drank two cups of water hoping it'd help but I was past the point of return so I just did my best to get to the exchange and hand off to C.Steve. (You can view this leg course and elevation by clicking HERE)

I made a gruesome discovery after my leg, my first ever bra chafe-age! Ouch!

LEG 3, VAN 2 RECAP
(Runner / Miles Ran / Pace / Notes from Run)

Red - 8.8± M / 9:26 P - Got passed by 4 / Chicked 3

Caribbean Steve - 8± M / 8:00 P - 6 Road Kills

P-Funk - 6.5± M / 9:18 P - 4 Road Kills

B.o.B - 6.6± M / 8:31 P - 5 Road Kills

Little J - 7± M / 7:36 P - 1 Road Kill

Captain - 7.8± M / 8:48 P - Captain jorts the team in to a victorious 2nd place Finish!!!

Notable Moments from the Van Log

"C.Steve busted his lip with his boob"

"I ran over 6 uteruses out there"

Red's "hurt is footed."

"Ramalamadingdong!!!"

"You're a tailgating S.O.B" - P-Funk to Captain

P-Funk looks excited to start her third leg!

B.o.B was very excited for water!

Is it just me or does it look like the Captain is tapping his watch telling LJ to speed it up?

Post Ragnar Ramblings/Thoughts

First and foremost I want to thank my team for once again inviting me on to Team HALF NUTS! Y'all are an awesome group of runners and I am thankful to have been a part of the fun team! Another Ragnar that will live down in infamy and a plethora of priceless moments to be remembered. I can not begin to properly recap how much fun I had or explain all the random hilarious things that happened out on the course. Ragnar is something you just have to experience to understand.

I also want to thank Ragnar Relay for putting together such a great event and an extra special shout out to all the volunteers out on the course. This is a HUGE operation that extends for 202 miles and after working a similar event back in July, I know first hand what it takes to put on a production of this size. Major props to all; volunteers, coordinators, SWAT crew and the race director.

The Bling

GO TEAM HALF NUTS!!!

Official Results: 12/90 Teams Overall & 2nd in the Mixed Coed Division
(Official Finish Time: 27:48:58)