run megan run. : Ragnar So Cal: Part 1

Ragnar So Cal

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

It's a little unreal to think that exactly one week ago, we were already four hours into our Ragnar So Cal adventure. We had an ungodly 5:15 am (which really turned into 5:30 am) start time, and a 3 am alarm clock to go with that. One week has gone by way too fast -- it may or may not help that I just unpacked the rest of my stuff last night (have no fear, laundry went in on Monday night). But I digress.

Last Wednesday/Thursday were a blur. Wednesday night, HP flew into LAX, so I got to pick her up and then I went back to work for a meeting with student government. On Thursday, inbetween her needing to get some work done, we grocery shopped, cut tulle, made our tutus, I ran some last errands to make sure things were set for the weekend, made another tutu, went to Girls on the Run practice, got dinner supplies, picked up Trista, picked up the vans, picked up Bryana, and then headed home.

Ragnarians assemble! HP, Trista, and me.

I was so excited to meet all my teammates - for the most part, women who I've only communicated with via Facebook, sometimes text, but didn't actually know who they were. Here's our rundown:

So needless to say, the anticipation of bringing everyone together (and fitting all 12 of us in my apartment) was both nerve-wracking and so freaking exciting! I couldn't wait to see how everyone came together, and all willing, we'd click and Van 1 would be a happy unit and Van 2 would be a happy unit and we'd all be in a happy place for the weekend. Let's be real, it can really try your patience with people (whether you know them or not) by being stuffed into a van with them for 36+ hours, amiright?

Thursday night was a huge shuffle of last tutu making, dinner for those of us that hadn't eaten, chatting, gabbing, and of course... van decorating! The fun stuff has begun - Adventures in Runderland is upon us and we are ready to rollllll...

And then... cue bed. We all pretty much passed out shortly thereafter, after getting the vans beautified and food supplies loaded, we all crashed hard for a few (re: four?) hours' sleep.Van 1 was departing at 3:30 am to get to the start line by 4:15 am for our scheduled 5:15 am start. We got there at 4:15, and thankfully got there as early as we did, as the start was a sort of cluster. SO many teams were starting that early, so Ragnar seemed a little behind in getting everything sorted, organized, and ready for team pick up.

I was runner #1 - nerves and excitement abound, as I got to kick off this whole thing! And in the dark, no less. Per our pace calculator, all three of my runs were scheduled during nighttime hours, so I'd never run without a vest. Lame. (Foreshadowing: I got one run without one). Also luckily, I knew everything about where my first leg was, as it was on the beach path of the last 5-6 miles of Surf City. Win.

And just like that... 5:15 passed us. They didn't start the 5 am teams until 5:15, so luckily we were ready to go, team photo and all, for the 5:30 am start.