Running With Lori: Red Rock Relay

May 13, 2012....Moab, Utah....My first relay event. This was a 70-ish mile course that you split up between 6 people. Each person running 2 legs of the event. Our team, Girly Whirlies, consisted of me, JoAnna, Roz, Mindy, Lisa, and Rose. Jacque and Ella were our support crew.

Ella & Jacque
Best RACE CREW EVER!

We arrived in Moab Friday night, checked in with the race officials, then headed to Pasta Jay's for our "carb" dinner. We decorated our van Friday night. We were one of the first teams to start (8:15 am), and we had to check in by 7:15 am. We all wanted to get a good nights rest. That night, Rose started getting feverish and had the chills. Not a good sign.

Ready Red Rockers? 3, 2, 1... Go ROZ!

Saturday morning Roz woke up quite early. She would be our first runner. She wanted to get up early to settle her nerves, have a relaxing cup of coffee, and just ponder of the events to come. We ate our breakfast at the condo, then headed to the start line. After Roz started her leg, Mindy realized that she had forgotten her med's at the condo, so we headed back to pick them up. Roz's leg was supposed to be flat. Well, the map lied. She ran out of Moab (which was flat) then started UP the canyon. Did you see the word UP. She did awesome.

Rose

Rose was up next. Leg 2. As I said Rose was not feeling very good, but being the trooper that she is, somehow she smashed this leg! Came into the exchange looking strong and determined!

Lisa

Lisa was leg 3. She was so excited and pumped up to run this. I could have used some of her energy!

JoAnna & Ella

JoAnna was leg 4. Hers was an uphill.....not a pretty uphill either. Her daughter,Ella, ran the last few hundred yards with her. I heard Ella say, "I don't want to wun the west of the wace with you." Such a cutie.

Jacque running Leg 5 with me.

I was next, leg 5. My mileage was 2.94. Uphill. It is really hard to warm up your legs when you start off going up. My calves were tight and did not want to move. I had 2 kills on this leg, but then they killed me at the end.

Mindy was next. Leg 6 was also an uphill. Somehow she just ran, ran, ran. Mindy is amazing. She BEAT us to the EXCHANGE!

Roz, after she just conquered
her switchbacks!

Leg 7...Roz....this was an uphill switchback section from Hell. Power Walk was the key here. I could not believe what an incline Roz had. When I was standing out of our vehicle taking pictures of her coming up the mountain, it was incredible.

Also at this exchange point, I learned that exchange 7 was, and I quote, "Not a parking lot! Do you understand?" This was told to me and about 100 other vans by our friendly Moab County Sheriff. He was being kind of a jerk. We were all pulled off the side of the road, and most of us were in our vehicles getting ready to pull out, when I guess he needed to show his authority. A little farther down the road, he actually had his lights on and asked someone for their drivers license.

Leg 8 was Rose again. It was hot. Rose was cold. We tried to take some of her mileage away from her, but she kept saying, "No I am ok." We just kept a close eye on her.

Leg 9 ...Lisa....This was a really pretty part of the canyon. I would have liked this leg.

Leg 10...JoAnna.....This was an up then downhill for JoAnna. She is so strong. Even when she is hurting, she just toughs it out!

Jacque & Lori
After Leg 11

Leg 11....ME....I was really excited about this leg. Was going to be 8 miles of a gradual downhill. Just what I LOVE. I was prepared for this. My legs like downhill. My first 3 miles were FANTASTIC. Mile 1 -9:12; Mile 2- 9:30; Mile 3- 10:17....Then it got HOT, FLAT, and WINDY. Thank You to those other teams who sprayed me with their squirt guns and water. My team met me every mile for the next 3 miles. Mile 4- 11:14; Mile 5- 11:29; Mile 6- 12:08. I knew that I had only 2 miles to go, so I told my team I would be OK, and to meet me at the exchange point. I wanted to give Mindy some extra time to get ready.

I was getting killed right and left. It was pretty windy at some points. I had NO shade. I actually ran past a squished animal in the road, that had the words "Road Kill" with an arrow pointing to it. "This is me." I was thinking. I never felt like I hit a "wall." Just felt slow, dried out, and my feet were super hot. I did have my one and only true kill. I passed thong distance runner. She never passed me again. Mile 7- 12:05; Mile 8- 11:53.

Mindy

Jacque met me just before my exchange point. Boy was I glad to see her smiling face and was glad that she was there to run me in to my exchange point. As we were running, I could hear footsteps coming up from behind me. "Really, you are going to kill me again?" was going through my mind. Jacque sped up and so did I. I said, "Is he going to catch me?" NO NO NO was my answer!

Leg 12...Mindy.....This was our last section of the course. A little over 5 miles. I told my team that we had to make sure that we kept her cool, as the temps were rising. Luckily Mindy's route had alot of shade on it. Every time we asked her if she needed water her only concern was "Where are the MILF's?" This was another team, Mother's in love with fitness, that Mindy and her sister decided to gang up on. She wanted to beat the MILF's.