Ragnar TN, The Aftermath...

We finished.

End of post.

I am not sure what to write about it. It was tough. It was fun, it sucked, it was memorable, it was Ragnar. This year was different in that we ran 2 teams, Memphis Grit and Memphis Grind. This ensured that everyone had a running partner, which was good and bad. It was only bad because I held my partner back a lot and I felt guilty about it. It was good to have someone to run with and to be accountable with.

Other memorable happenings include a teammate getting stuck in a porta potty without TP, apparently one team got their hair did mid race, Olive Garden and Ruby Tuesday's, and lots of good conversation along with new friendships.

Leg 7 was the beast I remembered it being. An uphill battle against will. I did a lot of walking on this first leg and it really effected legs 19 and 31. Leg 7 is a never ending climbing that goes to the left and then to the right, each turn teases you that the end is near, only to turn back up the hill again. I was so glad to finish that hill. I was only slower by about 3 minutes from last time. My partner killed it and would have ran right up that sucker if he had not been waiting on me.

Leg 19 was a makeup leg for me in a way. While it was still slow, there was no walking! it was actually longer than I thought by .2 miles, but it was good. perfect nighttime weather for a run. We started at about 9:45 PM. I was happy to "run" the entire leg.

Leg 31 was the last leg, and I think everyone is just wanting to be finished by the time they hit the last leg. A 5.9 miler that had some walking in it, but overall was pretty good.

Our team finished in 34 hours and 9 minutes. Almost 200 miles covered with 12 friends, 2 vans, 2 days and 1 night of running. I am officially retiring form the Ragnar TN relay, but I had a great time and I am glad I did it a second time.

A couple of our teammates had Go Pro cameras and made a video, check it out:

I'm Retiring...

I kind of expected this day to come sooner or later, but I really had hoped it would be much later. Regardless of the timing of this post, I can say that the accomplishments have been many. I remember when I first got into this sport many years ago. I really just got into it for the challenge of it, you know, I thought it would be fun, but nothing to stick with, I just wanted to see if I could do it. Well, I did.

And I was hooked.

Yeah, it looked good on me!

I at no time had any dreams of going past a sprint triathlon, but who knew Ironman was in the future? Or half marathons, marathon or even that 50K! It was a good ride and I far exceeded any expectations, but the time has come to retire...my favorite visor. (you didn't think I meant me did you?)

My white ADIDAS visor was with me from the beginning. I have no idea where I got this visor, it has just always kind of been there. I have worn it through the hot Memphis heat and in the cool rains. I have worn it under a skull cap. It was my visor, there are many like it, but that one was mine.



Like all good things, it was beginning to wear out. The Velcro in the back is giving away, and it flops around hitting me in the back of the head with every step, and although I desperately wanted to hang on to it, it kind of buggs the crap out of me while I was running. So I just can't handle it anymore!!!!

It looked real good....

So I bid you farewell my friend!  Don't cry and don't be sad, I probably will not forget you, but I might, cause after all, you are just a visor! So I am retiring you white, sweat stained, non velcroing velcro ADIDAS visor.