Run Like the Wind Blows

I guess I would call myself a "recreational" runner since I have been running for almost 9 years (with the exception of when I was prego) and have done only 2 races. But they have been a blast so maybe I should do more! A couple weekends ago..you know, during that HEAT WAVE... I ran a relay race with an awesome group of ladies. I am so so glad Mindy invited me to run with them..it was her and 2 sisters-in-law and a couple more ladies. I believe this is the first year Rivalry Relay has come to Utah and I think it's a pretty genious idea. I bet it will get more and more popular each year.

Basically, the Rivalry Relay for Utah is titled the "Holy War" because it is the U against BYU. It was a nice little kick-off to the football season for sure! Six team members run from the Legacy Bridge at the U and finish at a park near Lavell Edwards stadium. A total of 18 legs, the longest being about 6 or 7 miles (I think), and a total of about 66 miles. It was seriously so FUN and I hope to do it again next year!

The Rivalry Relay people took a team pic at the end but I have not seen it so this will have to do. This is my team, Mindy included!..taken at about 5:50am. I woke up at 3:50am to get dressed and meet everyone at our "spot" so we could carpool up to the U in our support vehicle. Just my luck, I came down with a little cold the Thursday before the race so I didn't fall asleep until midnight the night before due to not being able to breath and also just being super excited lol.
Good thing I am a morning person and woke up with tons of energy and ready to RUN!!

I look cooky in this picture and was a total mess haha (sweaty and wet from pouring cold water on myself). This was actually taken at about 4:15pm right after I finished my final leg. It really was about 98 degrees and absolutely miserable to be outside let alone RUNNING outside! Mindy devised this "cooling" device..simply a bandana soaked in cold water...tied around your head. It worked pretty well! But I was pouring water all over myself multiple times during this leg to keep my core temp down. I loved (almost) every second of my legs that I ran...it was hot but still soooooo fun. Running just feels so good!

It would be an understatement to say my mom is freaking amazing! Even though we had a support vehicle my mom was my personal support-water-lady the ENTIRE DAY! haha Seriously who does that?! Moms I guess. Before the race she mapped out each of my legs, so she was at each of my exchanges, and also followed me during each leg, standing on the side of the road handing me cups of water..that I poured on myself to keep from overheating. I COULD NOT have done this race without her. She is so dedicated and such an amazing example of what a mom should be. I felt so spoiled and so incredibly grateful she followed us for 9 hours just to watch me run and hand me water. Thank you mom!!

This was my first leg. Feelin great enough to smile and wave haha! My mom had her iPhone out along the way, which I am glad because the last thing I wanted to do was pull out my camera. This leg was along Wasatch Blvd. It began at the Quarry Temple Trailhead in the mouth of Little Cottonwood Canyon and stretched 4.2 miles along Wasatch, ending at Hidden Valley Park. This leg was beautiful and had lots of up and downhill so the downhill gave me momentum for the ups. I handed the slap-bracelet (our "baton") off to our good friend Mindy and she ran 6 miles into Draper. The best surprise ever was as I was running down the canyon, Jake and Austin drove by and yelled out to me! Then as I turned onto Wasatch, Jake got out with Austin and they ran with me for a minute and I got to give Austin a kiss. I love my little family!! I was so happy to see them :) At one point during the day, Jake sent me a text saying "run like the wind blows honey" which is funny if you know your movie quotes (Forest Gump).

My second leg was also 4.2 miles, beginning at the top of Suncrest Mountain and going down down down the mountain for about 3 miles then the last mile was a little uphill to an elementary school where I got to hand the baton off to Mindy once again. Again, absolutely beautiful, a little windy (thank goodness to cool me off) and so fun to get some speed from the downhill. The girl that ran the leg before me was one of Mindy's sisters-in-law and she ran UP Suncrest Mountain. Seriously that mountain is a beast! Even cyclists HATE it. She did AWESOME and I don't know how she kept herself going! It was so funny, all of us in the support vehicle just kept saying "oh crap" every time we turned a corner as we followed our runner up the mountain. It definitely has some daunting uphills.

My 3rd and final leg was 3.3 miles somewhere in Provo or somewhere down south haha. I had no idea what town I was in. But dang it was so hot. It didn't help that I started with a side-ache for some reason (probably not enough food...for some reason I didn't have an appetite all day). The good thing was it was flat most of the way. But seriously running on those roads, on the black asphault in that heat was hard. I was so glad I had to stop towards the end to wait for a traffic light. The 10 seconds of rest was a-m-a-z-i-n-g lol.

My little family at the finish line!! Yay! It was so fun to run across the finish line with our whole team. I had been done for a couple hrs (it just worked out that I was the first to finish my legs) so by the time we ran across the finish line I was ready to be done. I wasn't tired or hungry or anything, just ready to be done if that makes sense. It was so crazy to be away from Austin all day! That's the longest I have been away from him and the longest Jake has ever taken care of him. They had so much fun and I am so thankful to my awesome hubby for being a good daddy to our little guy :)

This was a very neat experience! I had so much fun getting to know my team, running, enjoying a day out, and then seeing my mom, Jake and Austin at the end. I'm so happy Mindy asked me to run with them!! Jake suggested we do it next year as couples. How fun would that be? I really hope we do it.