1 hill, 2 hill, 3 hill, 4

I have been running for about 4 or so years.  I found, to my dismay, that I actually like running - outside of an organized sport. I like how I feel during the day after my run and I like talking with friends during my run.




My first race was a with a group of great ladies on a 6 man team to run a relay.

Rainier to Ruston...50 miles divided amongst the six team members.  Everyone running 3 legs of the race. It starts at the base of the BEAU-tiful Mount Rainier and continues on trail, road and sidewalk to the Puget Sound at Ruston. 

One of the ultimate relay running experiences in called the Ragnar.  {Not to be confused with the Viking hero Ragnar Lodbok...of course!} Each team has 12 runners. The total number miles ran is 200{ish}. There are many Ragnar races in different states in the U.S.  I am excited, and I must admit, a little nervous to run in my first ever Ragnar this summer. 

It is not a easy thing to run 6 miles, then stop and rest and recoup {legs stiffen, lactic acid sets in, sleep needed, but you don't get quite enough time to get a good nap in}, then run 6 more in the wee hours of the night, stop and rest {repeat of above}, and then run 4 more miles to finish your legs. {literally?!} {Everyone's total miles will differ.} The Ragnar in Washington State is called the Northwest Passage. The race starts in Blaine Washington, by the border of Canada, then continues onto Whidbey Island and finishes in Mukiteo.  Beautiful!

Why do I want to do this? you ask...  First and foremost:

I want the sticker to go in the window of my car!

 

Second...it is so fun to be in a van for a whole day with friends who like to torture their bodies, too!  My two oldest sons will be running on our team as well.  Kameron is 16 and runs a killer 6:45 mile! Kaleb is 14 and runs a steady 8 minute mile.  Me...we don't need to brag about how great we are as athletes so I'll just let you guess what my mile is. 

1 hill, 2 hill, 3 hill 4...Why is that the title of my post?  Because there are so many hills around where I live that I have to drive to find an area that is flat to get some distance runs is.  Did I mention that I am also running, here in Colorado, at a 6200 feet elevation?  I am used to "functioning" at this altitude.  However, I cannot run like I did at sea level.  I am a bit slower and to top it all off...

the hills KILL me EVERY TIME!  It doesn't matter how many times I run them. 

 

{Stupid things...}

I thought I would keep a running log with some pictures of the area, for my benefit in the future, and for those who read this, might like to see the area where we live. 

As much as they torture me, I guess I have to say...Bring on the hills!...