We Did It!!!

The Las Vegas Ragnar Relay was last weekend. We had trained for it for months. In fact, we probably could have trained a little more and a little harder. BUT... time was up. Ready or not, it happened. Thursday afternoon, we drove to Lehi to help pack up stuff with the Denneys, then we switched vehicles with Cory B, snagging the suburban version of Black Sabbath. Then we drove to pick up Todd (Birthday boy). His parents were fabulous and let us stay at their place in Cedar City the night before the race so we wouldn't have to drive the whole way all at once. Everyone but the Blomquists made it. We were able to spend some time together before splitting into 2 vans! Friday morning, we woke up super early to get to the Start of the Race. We got there with just enough time to check in, get our bibs and go through the safety training.

Yes! We were the special event ahead. Well, at least we participated in it. :) I can't get over how much fun we had. Our "van" consisted of Brett & Krist Denney, Todd Utterback, Emily Bussey and us! We cheered on each other and random people, like CRAZY! Honking. Yelling. Whistling. Making any noise we could. We were a rowdy bunch, but everyone loved it. We loved it and so did all the runners we passed. So great!

I was SO nervous! I had legs 1, 13 and 25... so that meant, being #1, I would start the race. So many emotions. Excited. Nervous. Terrified. You name it, I felt it. Here I am pre-race, standing behind the finish line. We started at 8:30am sharp. The guy with the microphone called out the team numbers with that start time and prepped us for the race. Quickly. There was a huge clock showing the time, and he had us off right at 8:30am. I was impressed, because I doubted we get going right on time.

Leg 1 was 5.6 miles and it was so scenic. Seriously so beautiful. I jogged along on this main road in the Valley of Fire Nat'l Park and just looked up at the Red Rock and incredible landscape that surrounded me. I loved it. One of the coolest parts about the race, too, is that everyone cheers for everyone. So, random vans would pass and honk and yell! It gave me, and every runner really, a huge burst of energy. I looked down at my Garmin Watch and my pace had changed from about 9:15min/mi to 7:00min/mi. I had to consciously slow down so I wouldn't kill myself. The cheering was awesome and so much fun.

OH!! One of my funny experiences: I turned down a road for my last straight-away to the finish line after my first leg and I sprinted my hardest, trying to run as fast as my little legs would go. I totally underestimated how far that straight-away actually was. I handed off the snap bracelet to Emily (Kristy's friend who ran with us) and came to a halting stop. Not a good idea. I think you're supposed to jog it out with a little cool down. Ya, I missed that. So I was all smiles after finishing my first leg, it was so much fun. Then all of the sudden, I started to dry heave. Haha! Sorry about the graphic details. Luckily I didn't throw up, but it was a close call, for sure. Here's Collin, being the sweet hubby he is, holding my hand as I dry heave, times three. So funny to me, I don't know why. And everyone had to get decked out for any legs run between 5pm and 7am. Head lamp. Tail lamp. Reflective Vest. I'm ready to go.

Emily was runner #2. Legs 2, 14, and 26. She was amazing. She's a trainer in Las Vegas and dominated this massive hill. I was so impressed and so was everyone else who saw her. Rockin' bod. I hope I can be as fit as her some day. Check her out! We had so much fun with her. It's funny to think that we just met her right before the race. But spending 30+ hours straight with her, it felt like we had known her forever. She's great.

After Emily, it was Collin's turn. He ran legs 3, 15 and 27. He did so well. He had a super gnarly hill for the first leg, but looked so calm and collected as he ran it. I am always so impressed with Collin and all of his talents. He does everything with ease. I was so proud of him and I'm so glad that we could train and run this race together.

After Collin, Brett ran legs 4, 16 and 28. Boy can run. We all knew he was athletic, being the BYU football player. He's always been fit, and now we know he's an awesome runner. With Kristy as his trainer, he dominated his legs. He did such a great job.

Fittingly, after Brett, Kristy was up. She had the next legs: 5, 17 and 29. Wow! A few years ago, I saw her run the Top of Utah Marathon. And now, after having Owen, she's right back at it. Look at her! She's amazing. Since we had the watches to track our pace, she had mentioned one of her legs was 7:43min/mil avg. Are you kidding me? She rocks. Seriously! Once we started the race, we came to understand one of the race "ism's." The concept of "The Kill." Whenever you pass someone, it's a kill. Whenever you get passed, it's a death or you get killed. Anyway, on one of Kristy's legs, we asked her how many kills she had. Her response: "15 or so." WHAT? She's a machine!

The last runner in our van/suburban was Todd Utterback. He was in the dorms with Brett their freshman year and then we got to be friends after they got back from their missions. So we've been good friends for a few years. Todd did a great job too. He had just finished the St. George Marathon at the beginning of October.

We had so much fun. I mean, check out these boys. As we went to give Todd some water, Collin and Brett gave him two options. No, that bottle Collin is holding did not come from our van... it was trash on the side of the road. But, luckily, as you can see, Todd made the right choice. Good job, buddy. :)

Most of us ran 2 of our 3 legs in the dark. Mine were at 8:30am, 7pm and 4am. The weather was amazing all day long. A bit toasty in the early afternoon. Sorry to Todd for getting the brunt of the heat. The rest of us relished in the perfect weather. It was upper 60s to lower 70s for the majority of the race. It only got to the mid 50s, and that wasn't even that bad. Here is our group sans Rothey's. Yes. It was super dark. And yes. At any given time through the night, someone from our team was running.

Operating off of 2 hours of sleep during the 30 hour race, I think we did pretty well. We didn't anticipate winning any awards. And we didn't win any. But I think we did well for being amateurs, and it being our 1st Ragnar. Such a fun experience, and we can't wait to do it again next year. Yes. I just said that. We want to do it again. The fun, the cheering, the smiles, the good times all outweighed the tightness and stiffness in the legs and the sore, the tired and the running. Come on! What team lays you down and rubs out your sore hammy? That's right! Ours does!

Here's our whole team at the finish line!! Our van: Collin, Traci, Brett, Kristy, Todd and Emily. Van #2: Cory & Bree Blomquist, Taylor Zmoos, Arrin Manning, Steve & Aubreigh Guynn.

Las Vegas Ragnar Relay 2010!

IT'S HERE!!!!

I hate seeing that old post every time I get onto the blog. Maybe that means I should add a new post? Clever! Well, it's finally here! Las Vegas Ragnar Relay. We will have 3 days of work (and school for Collin), and then head down to run for our lives. Ok, not really. But it's going to be a blast! We have such a rad group of people in our Relay Group. 4 people we don't know but 6 people that we Love! It's a good thing too, because not only will we spend 30 hours of the race together, but also the drive down to Vegas and back!

So many emotions right now. I'm nervous. Excited. Scared. Anxious. Terrified. And so many other random feelings. I can't wait to take pictures and experience this race. Oh and for those of you who still don't know what the Ragnar is (even though I've been ranting about it for 6 months)... it's a 12 person relay. There are a bunch of different locations, but the one we're doing is The Las Vegas Ragnar that will go from The Valley of Fire State Park and wind around and finish at the strip in LV. Our start time is 9:45am on Friday. At any point from then until about 4pm on Saturday, a member of our relay will be running. Each of the 12 people have 3 different legs, totaling anywhere between 13 and 19 miles. Crazy? Absolutely! A blast? Most definitely!

More to come on this! :)

Memorial Day at Island Park

With both of us off work for Memorial Day, we decided to drive up to Island Park and Yellowstone for the weekend. I got off work Saturday at 3 and Collin had everything packed up and ready to go when I got home so we could take off right away. The drive was great. I have always loved travelling with Collin, even since when we were dating. I think that was the kicker for me; being able to drive in the car for hours on end, or sit within close proximity for hours on a plane and STILL want to spend the vacation together says a lot! What can I say? I love this dude!!

So, we got up to The Red Roof Cabin later Saturday night and dropped off our stuff and got our food in the fridge and got back on the road to drive to West Yellowstone for dinner. We ended up eating at a cute burger joint that neither of us had been to before. I forget the name of it, but it was quaint and cute.

Sunday, we went to church in I.P. and then went to feed the fish at Big Springs. Turns out there was a hungry otter too! He was really cute. And then a bunch of kids came up and one of them was so funny talking/yelling at it! Made us laugh.

Then we went driving. We went a round about way through Lake Hebgen and Earthquake Lake. Such a crazy story as to how this lake and canyon was created by an Earthquake. You can even see the trees poking out of the new lake. The earthquake happened in the '50s and dramatically changed the area. There were huge boulders that went from one side of the canyon to the other. There were signs and landmark type things all over illustrating what happened including a rescue mission that I thought was noteworthy.

We continued our jaunt to/through Yellowstone. Right when we drove up to West, there was a HUGE buffalo right in the middle of the town by a sign. Just shows how massive the beast is. We drove all day throughout the park and even landed our own , very first Annual Park Pass so that we can have unlimited access for the year! Don't mind if we do!

We went to the lookouts where you can see the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. It's an incredible view. The pic of us in front is a little weird, cuz the guy taking it wanted the waterfall between us. Can you say awkward? I promise, we do still like each other.

(This last one was on the way out of the park, a quick snapshot of the buff by the road.)

Back at the cabin, we had a weenie roast and roasted s'mores too! It was quite the feat building the fire. It took a few tries, but we finally got it. Temawork!! :) Staying at the cabin was so much fun and although we have a blast with family when we go together, it was kinda nice to be there alone! We are so excited to go again for 4th of July again (our annual tradition... well, that started last year)! The best part may be the new addition to the family (our new CAMERA)...more on that later though! :)

Africa: Day 11

Friday May 21

Our last day in Africa. Our feelings were definitely bitter-sweet. We had an amazing time and enjoyed every minute of the experience. It was eye-opening, humbling, exciting, sad, fun, funny, hot, amazing, tiring. We felt just about every emotion possible. We saw so many things that we didn't even capture by picture. We are so grateful for having the opportunity to go, and that Lou and Jeri accepted a call to serve the Lord in such an amazing place and that we could visit them and experience it all with them.

I saw this military guy on the sidewalk, and I couldn't help but take a pic. I had to be super discrete because if they catch you taking a photo, they might get mad and who knows what else. I took the gamble, because come on, he was putting out the vibe way too well.

On that last day, we took 2 more trips to the local markets; the Buganda Market again, but we went to Friday Market for the first time. THis place was crowded and packed and huge. People everywhere set up tents to sell their goods. We came out with a few things, but it was so hot that it was getting hard to function after being there an hour. The best part of Friday Market was when one of the vendors asked what L&J were doing living in Uganda. Collin started talking about the gospel and it was an incredible missionary experience. The man was really excited to have the elder's come visit his house, and especially hear that there is a Prophet on the earth now! It was a blessing to be there for that wonderful experience too!

Here's a vid Collin took while driving through the streets of Uganda. I wish we would have thought of this before our last day in Africa, because it can capture so many things .

After the markets, we went to Banana Boat (a nice store L&J go to every once in a while - the only place I saw a cash register and receipts the whole time we were in Africa) and then back to the apartment to make sure we were all packed up and that the suitcases weighed less than 50lbs! It was a success so we showered (since we wouldn't be able to for another 30+ hours) and got everything ready to go.

We drove again with Godfrey, back to Entebbe! So I took a few pictures of the passengers in the ol mission van. Everything was smooth sailing from then on out. Customs. The Flights. Our Luggage. It was painless (except for the post-trip jet lag). What an amazing experience!

Africa: Day 10

Thursday May 20

In the morning, L & J went back to the mission office to catch up on work they'd missed earlier in the week while they were gallivanting with us throughout the country. Collin slept in a bit and I got up to get started on helping Jeri with something. She wanted the April General Conference downloaded to her computer and her iPod. I also got to email and even chat with my sister, Jen, online. It was hard not talking to my family at all while in Africa. The time difference made it difficult enough, since Kampala is 9 hours ahead of Colorado/Utah. Luckily Jen and Dustin are night owls, so at 11:30 pm Wednesday in Denver, it was 8:30 am on Thursday in Uganda. I let them go to bed, and we got ready so that Lou could pick us up and take us back to the mission office so we could me the Mission President (Christensen). He's such a great man and has been working so hard in Africa. After a lovely chat with him, we headed to Jinja, another city in Uganda. We went there because it is said that (one of) the Source of the Nile is there where Lake Victoria merges into the Nile.

It was interesting to hear why they believe it; Lake Victoria is a still water lake with standing water, but where the Victoria meets the Nile, there are natural springs that come up and create the current. There are other theories too, but it was awesome to be on the worlds largest tropical lake and also again on the Nile. There are also a bunch of fisherman throughout the river and the lake and its so fascinating to watch how they do it!

We headed back to Kampala after our boat ride on the river/lake. And enjoyed another nice evening in at L&J's apartment. We had dinner, played scrabble and watched Behind Enemy Lines.

(I don't know what the deal was, maybe just taking it all in or maybe just tired, but we totally didn't take any pictures of Lake Victoria. Had the camera and everything, and these are the only ones that we took. Of the ring around the Sun!)