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Ragnar Napa Valley (part 1)

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After the fun we had at Ragnar SoCal, Team Tough Chik decided we needed to do another Ragnar. At first I was hesitant to sign up. With the job I have now I wasn’t sure I was going to have the time to train and be able to take the time off work to go to San Francisco. For weeks our Mamma Chik kept posting that there were still spots left. After a few weeks I finally decided to commit to running in my second ever Ragnar.

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Signing up was the easy part. I wrote out a training plan, put on my running shoes, and started running laps around campus. Every run was like ripping my lungs out. I found out very quickly that running in altitude SUCKS!!! A few weeks into training I also broke my toe, jumping off a chair. I continued to tape my toe and put my shoes and run. Ragnar is all about overcoming obstacles and persevering through everything, after all.

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I was assigned the legs with the big hills. I don’t know if they purposely did this because they thought “she lives on a mountain, she can run hills.” Or if it was just my luck of the draw. My first leg was 5.5 miles with a massive hill. My second leg was 5.5 miles with a massive hill, and my third leg was thankfully 2.2 miles flat. I knew if I could just get through the first two legs I would be golden.

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As Ragnar approached, I started putting my outfits together and making a list to pack. I went back to my Ragnar SoCal blogs and looked at what I had wished I had brought. I was determined to make this Ragnar better than the last.

Finally Ragnar came and I drove down to San Francisco with Kiwi (my hedgehog) on my lap. I arrived at my Uncle’s house (where I was staying the night before the run) at around 1am. One of my teammates was planning to pick me up at 5:30am to get to the start line. I was so excited when she picked me up and so ready to begin this crazy 2 days.

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We all met at the start line to see off our first runner and cheer her on. It was so fun to be a team and to meet everyone. After the first runner was off our van (Van 2) headed to the Golden gate bridge to take in some of the SF sights and see our runner in. The atmosphere at the bridge was so exciting! One reason I love Ragnar is the people. Everyone is so friendly and CRAZY! It’s always fun taking with the other teams.

IMG_3086Our Van

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ragnar napa

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After pictures and hanging out we headed for some food and to get ready for our first legs. I was the Second runner in our van and knew I needed to be ready to go pretty quickly after Lauren started her leg. Part of me was excited for my leg and part dreading the HILL.

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leg 1Leg one Map

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My first leg was really hard. It was hot and the hill was crazy. It was like climbing a mountain. In total I climbed 569 FT in 2.7 miles. The hill was also completely stopped with construction. I was basically running on the white line of the shoulder with all these cars and construction. We even had to cross the road twice. I almost ran out of water going up. Thankfully right as I was drinking my last bit there was a water stop. After I finished my leg I was so hot and tired and so happy to be done with run 1.

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After all our legs we got food and went to the hotel for some sleep. At the hotel we were able to go in the Jacuzzi and take showers before sleeping for a couple hours. The time went way too fast and before we knew it, we had to get up and head to the next meeting point.

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Valerie and I after our first legs

Napa

The week of July 4 m parents and our good family friends (more like family) were staying in Santa Rosa. Santa Rosa is about a 4.5 hour drive from where I live so I decided I needed to spend my days off with them. I drove down on Sunday morning and met them at their time share. It was a beautiful drive.

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When I got there they informed me we were going to eat at the Russian River Brewery. I was very excited about this because while I don’t like wine, I really like beer. My cousin Cameron loves The Pliny Elder at Russian River so I was excited to try it. When we go there Jay ordered the sampler which has a glass of each beer so you can try all of them. After trying a bunch of different ones we ordered our beers and some Pizza bites. The beer was good and the Pizza was really good as well.

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The next few days were spent at Winery’s doing tastings.  The Napa Valley is a beautiful area and we enjoyed time outside. I really enjoyed relaxing and taking more time with family.

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I was even able to meet up with my friend Grace and her adorable kids. They live in Santa Rosa and it was awesome getting to spend some time with her and meeting her kids. I definitely want to go back down there another time to see them.

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I even found a cemetery to walk around

It was a great few days that were over too quickly.