ragnar baby! (aka: i am a runner now!)

so, i'm very behind in updating this blog.  one of the reasons for this is my recently acquired fitness-hobby: running.  i have spent the last 6 months training for the So Cal Ragnar Relay.  what is Ragnar you ask?  oh, well, let me tell you.  it is a 12 person relay race from Huntington Beach to Coronado Island.  yes, that's right, 12 people running 3 legs each of the 203.5 mile race!!!!  if you are exhausted reading this, then you can imaging how exhausted I am, having completed 14.5 of those miles over 36 hours. 

my weekend started with a morning flight to my homeland, with Ali picking me up for a little pre-race shopping trip.  after picking Sawyer up from school, having lunch and Fashion Island, and shopping at South Coast Plaza, I was begging her not to drop me off with my team!!!!!  i could not wrap my head around the idea of trading a cushy girls' day out for waking up at 4am to spend 2 days in a van with 5 other sweaty woman, and running over 14 miles!  i was on team "so you think you can run?!" but i wanted to trade to team "i've made a huge mistake!"

but, hanging out with these ladies, and decorating our van gave me the team spirit i needed to pump me up and get me ready for race day.

so, between the 12 of us on team, "so you think you can run?!" we abandoned 38 kids to run 203.5 miles!  the husbands were acting like we were headed to a spa weekend, i'm not so sure this was a good trade off.  (ps: can you see the "kills" window?  that's how many people we passed.  wanna know how many that ended up being?  114!  oh yeah, that's right, triple digits!)

race day started about 4:30am!  but we look bright eyed and bushy tailed right?

starting line!  they pumped up the jams and got us excited about our grueling next two days!

were you wondering which of the 12 runners i was?  well, i was #6.  how did i get assigned to the most difficult hills in the whole race?  i was afraid of the higher mileage!  what a silly novice runner i was!  give me a flat 20 miles any day!  the hilly 14 was a beast!

ps: it was so fun to tackle the first half of the race in my hometown.  my first leg started right in my old backyard.  in fact, i took off right out of my parents' church parking lot!

we thought it was fun to have posed hand off pics.

here's me giving a big thumbs up as i ran down the road in high temps.

at the finish....of my first leg.  just two more to go, yikes!

people like to get all kinds of crazy at Ragnar.  these little beach bunnies actually ran in these get ups!  we opted for matching green tanks.   who looks better, us or them? you be the judge.

last leg.  i noticed there are no photos from my second leg at 2 am.  i wonder why?  here i am showing off my Ragnar tat.  i was really super tough and intimidating, no?  i bet the 14 people i passed on this leg thought so!

i was surprised how much fun we had in the van.  i mean, i was among friends, but the idea of hanging out in a sweaty van for 36 hours, throw some running in the mix, i didn't think "fun" was going to be a component.  but look at all that love!

the finish....the real one!  look how happy we are to be out of the vans!  our kids were all universally impressed with our medals, though they were all confused about who we were "versing". 

all i can say is my biggest opponent in getting this thing done, was me. so i kicked my own tush!

long live van 1!  we had so much fun!  and we got to shower and nap before the finish line!

can't forget our awesome nails.  thanks to Julie for blinging us out!

so, it's been a week since i boarded the plane for Ragnar.  i had my reservations, i exhausted my physical resources, and battled a little head cold, but i feel confident now saying it was fun and i plan on doing it again someday.  the biggest surprise to me is that i don't think i'll give up on running.  i will keep it up. i think i see a half marathon in my future.  me?  a half marathon?  sounds like fun.  wait...did i just say that? 

thanks Ragnar!

running = my sanity. literally

this is the story of how i came to love and appreciate running.  yes that's right, I, Britain Earl said, "i LOVE running."

running has been a part of my cardio routine on and off for the since  i started having a "cardio routine."  it started with Ali cajoling me into a run when the wait at the Rec Cen was too long.  these runs usually took the form of run/walks mostly due to my crying and begging to stop.  these were also the days of the "low fat/no fat diets" where as long as something was low in fat, it was totally healthy.  so, our "runs" were usually followed up with a non-fat frozen yogurt shake to drink whilst watching the latest episode of 90210, the Brenda and Dylan one!  

after college, i found myself running on the treadmill for 30 minutes if i had missed a class at the gym or all the elliptical machines were taken.  are you sensing a theme here?  in short, running was my cardio fall back position.  

fast forward to 2007, i'm living in Verrado, no 24 hour fitness within a reasonable distance, and just had my second baby.  i turned to running once more.  you may remember my first 5k.  i trained, i met my goals.  running helped me shed some of my unwanted baby weight.  during the summer, i mixed it up with my first triathlon.  this was primarily a way for me to temper the running with other exercises i didn't hate as much, namely swimming and biking.  

i spent 2008-2011 largely avoiding running.   but baby number 4 catapulted me into a whole new weight class.  i found myself 4 months postpartum and about 20 pounds heavier than with any of the girls.  i needed a goal, one that allowed me the flexibility of not going to the gym, since Colin was still too young.  

that's where Ragnar came in!  i set my sights on the race and started the training.  it was a slow, gentle, reintroduction to running.  just 15 minutes, 3 times a week.  i knew i could do that!  ever so slowly, the mileage increased and 7 months later I ran 3 legs totaling over 14 miles!  this was a major accomplishment, but i still had lingering feelings of hatred toward running.  

i didn't give up, i soldiered on, still cranking out 3-6 miles 3 or 4 times a week.  but i felt my running lacked purpose, so i committed to a training program and focused on improving my time.  goal setting helped a lot.  but the real kicker, the change of heart came by a very unexpected event.  

June 13, while at Girls' Camp, i had a seizure, the third in my lifetime.  this 15 second event changed the way i feel about running!  i had to leave camp, i had to go to the hospital, i had to see a Neurology team, i had to go through a battery of tests i've had twice before.  the good news is, i'm totally healthy!  there is no reason for my seizures.  if there was, it would most likely be a brain tumor and it's not, so that's good.  

the bad news is i am now being treated for seizures.  i'm on a medication that makes me feel lethargic, tongue tied, and a little crazy.  i can't drive for the next 3 months.  at least.  it's the first time i've ever left a hospital feeling worse than when i walked in. 

what does this have to do with running?  the doctor said i was healthy, he said exercise was great for my brain.  when Jason said, "yeah, but she'll go out and run 8 miles!"  the doctor said, "great, that will help you feel better."

at first i couldn't imagine it.  Jason was witness to the drug making me so sleepy i couldn't even finish a sentence.  but 2 days after i was released from the hospital, we went to the gym.  i tested the doctors theory, and started running on the treadmill.  i felt great.  the clouds began to clear.  i had focus i hadn't felt in days.  i ran 6 miles, and the mental clarity lasted several hours.  it was amazingly simple, and simply amazing!

i now LOVE running.  i need it.  i crave it.  it gives me the energy nothing else can.  (ps: no caffine for me anymore either).  and also is the only time i get out of the house on my own now.  but seriously, i can now genuinely appreciate the benefit running is to me.  and i am profoundly grateful that i welcomed it back into my life 9 months ago!  

thanks running!

and thanks baby number four, for making me gain so much weight i thought my only solution was running!