Wow! It's hard to believe that the Ragnar Relay is over! I still have a hard time believing that I was there and that I ran such an amazing race with such an amazing group of women. We started as strangers, friends, sisters, mothers, daughters and we ended as family...a family of 12 Tutus and 24 Tatas. We were on a mission to successfully complete this race and we did! We ran 197 miles from Madison, WI to Chicago, IL and we did it with an average 10 minute per mile pace! So, how did it all play out...
Day 1, Leg One, We have a lost runner...The race started on a cold, drizzly Friday morning (not at all the weather we had hoped for) in Madison. Rather than taking team photos outside in the sun and grass we resorted to the hotel lobby at 5:45am. Van 1 (Kelly, Erin, Amanda, Laura, Kerri and Ashley W.) headed to the starting line and we joined them at 7 to see them off. They then began chasing their runners over the next 6 exchanges. Van 2 (Jaime, Betsy, Amy, Ashley J., Melissa and Karie) checked into exchange #6 and waited for them. Ashley J. was running in the #7 spot and took the handoff from Kelly. We raced to our next exchange only to receive a phone call from a very frustrated Ashley that she was 2 miles off course along with 5 other runners. Early on, she had reached a sign that said, "turn left", however, the sign was located at an area with 2 lefts which was quite confusing. Ashley followed the other runners and they all ran the wrong way. Fortunately, Kelly and Van 1 drove past her, quickly turned around, and picked up Ashley and the other runners and took them back to the point at which they had made the wrong turn. They made a quick adjustment to the sign, steered other runners in the right direction and contacted Ragnar to fix the situation (which they did). Unfortunately for Ashley, she ended up running 6.7 miles instead of the anticipated 4.7. Great Job Ashley because you rocked it and got right back in the race!
We continued through our cycle with few problems and had a blast! The feeling of excitement as I waited for my first handoff from Jaime is one I will never forget. My iPod had the perfect running playlist thanks to Abby putting it together for me and I was ready to go. When I saw Jaime coming up the trail I couldn't help but jump up and down and dance as I watched her because I knew all that I had trained for had finally arrived. In many cases while our runners were on the course we could drive by and cheer them on but my runs were primarily on wooded trails so I was on my own with my music, thoughts and a few other runners along the way. I was so glad that I had prepared for this with positive thoughts because running this leg was really no big deal as I had told myself many times before. As I came upon the exchange and saw Betsy I felt a huge sense of accomplishment that all of my training had paid off. 5.6miles, done!
Day One/Two, Leg Two, "It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light." Aristotle OnassisAt Exchange 12, we again met with Van 1 and switched off. It was 7:30pm and darkness was quickly approaching. A dense fog was settling over the area and it had started to drizzle again. Great...we were already running in the dark, on trails with no light, and now we had to deal with fog and drizzle too. We decided to head to Milwaukee for a quick dinner at a cute little Italian restaurant only to get a phone call from Van 1 saying that their legs were going quicker than expected and to meet them at Exchange 18 by 11:30. Since it was already almost 9:00, we decided to get our food to go so we could eat it later. No time for eating pasta when we would all be running again soon! We headed to exchange 18 to get cleaned up and try to get a bit of rest before our next legs. Kelly came running into the exchange at about 11:45and off Ashley went in her tutu. We decided it was best to continue to wear the tutus during the night running because they made it easier to locate our runners in the dark.Fortunately, we were able to leap-frog the next few runners so that we could keep track of them. It was pretty scary to be running in the pitch black night with nothing but your own head lamp and the tail lamps of those in front of you to guide you.
I had a love/hate relationship with this leg. It was my shortest and easiest run, yet I was running without an iPod for safety reasons and I was running at 2am on no sleep. I had enough energy in my legs but the darkness was eerie, I was alone on a trail and all I could see was the bobbing tail lights far ahead of me. I knew I was safe as long as I saw them but it was still unsettling to have them so far away. I normally carry a water bottle with me in case I need it but on this leg I chose to carry a flashlight instead. My saving grace was the few wonderful volunteers who appeared out of nowhere along the trail as I would cross the road and head back into the night. I finished the leg alone on a country road and as I crossed the finish, Betsy and Melissa were there with their smiles and cheers. The negative thoughts just slipped away!
As I was walking to find our van, I happened to see the van I had been looking for all day, "The Sisterhood of the Travelling Vans"! I knocked on their window and they looked a little hesitant to roll it down but they did. I asked if any of them knew my friend from Kansas City and at first all I heard was "no". (Oops! Maybe I had the wrong van.) The person in the passenger seat leaned forward and said, "That's my sister-in-law! How do you know her and how did you find me?" So, there you have it, Social Networking at it's best...my friend in KC told me on facebook that her sister-in-law was also running the race and what her team's name was and I found her in the middle of the night in a field in Wisconsin! That was just one of the many things that made this race so great!
Day 2, Leg 3, "It's weird...you know the end of something great is coming, but you want to hold on just for one more second...just so it can hurt a little more." I somehow woke up in a church parking lot at about 7:30 in the morning on this day and wasn't really sure how I got there. I had been driving after our last major exchange at around 4 but when we pulled over for gas I just couldn't stay awake any longer. Betsy resumed driving and Melissa took over as the navigator. Thank you both so very much!!! I just remember that awful feeling of wanting to sleep so badly and it brought back many memories of when I worked nights and could barely make it home in the morning. Thanks to the 2 of you, we didn't end up in a ditch somewhere but I know it meant you didn't get much sleep either.
The energy on this morning was much more subdued compared to the previous day. Everyone was exhausted and dreading their final run. We pulled out the foam roller and attempted to stretch our sore muscles and tried to eat a bit before our turns came again. Kelly came running in for the exchange at about 8:30 and with that, Van 1 had completed their legs. They looked so completely relieved! They headed into the city for showers and sleep and our day was only beginning! I was so worried about Ashley for this last run, she wasn't feeling well and her knee was in so much pain. However, she was a trooper, she hit the trail and did a combination of walking and running and kept us on track! Next up was Melissa who had 10 grueling miles ahead of her and of course she rocked it! She passed off to Jaime who is truly inspiring to me because for one, she is my baby sister and I am so proud of her because she has such a passion for all that she does. She feared she would never see her boys again during her night run yet she braves the streets of downtown Indianapolis at 5:30am one day a week to run with Back on My Feet (BoMF), the organization which Ragnar was supporting. She runs with homeless men and is truly helping them to get their lives back on track. I only hope she is as inspiring to them as she is to me! (and of course, she too rocked every single leg! She ran the longest total distance of all of us and still managed to make it look easy!)
While waiting for my exchange from Jaime, Dick and Lynn Weier, stopped by to cheer us on. I was so absolutely grateful for their support and it was a joy to see them standing there with us. You see, I started running because of their son, my brother-in-law, Chris, who passed away suddenly 2 years ago. When I couldn't sleep knowing what my sister, Betsy, faced as a widow with 3 young children, I took off running. Throughout this entire race I carried a cross given to me the day of Chris' funeral in my fuel belt and I felt his presence along the way. I am so blessed to know them and I thank them for coming to cheer for the Zeller girls!
When I saw Jaime coming into exchange 34 I knew my race was coming to an end. I took off with such enthusiasm that I almost forgot I was running a race. Each song that came on my iPod had such special meaning and really kept me going. I felt such a sense of strength after training for and running such an incredible race. Maybe my blog should not be called
"Finding Order" because what I have found from all of this is
joy. I love running and I love how it makes me feel. As I neared the end of my leg, I came upon 2 darling old men sitting on a park bench. One reached out to stroke my tutu and wanted to know what I was doing. Of course I didn't really have the time to explain to them what I was doing but I hated to be rude so I quickly explained that my team was running from Madison to Chicago and that it was a relay race and that I really needed to go so I wouldn't let them down. On I ran, down the trail getting closer and closer to the end. My toe was hurting and I knew I was probably going to lose a toenail but it didn't matter because I was successfully completing what I came here to do. Four years ago I was a different person, I was overweight, sick and not really sure what my future would hold. The words of of the nurse calling after my MRI echoed in my head, "cancer cannot be excluded". I remember thinking, "Oh no, not this time, I was going to get my life back and I was going to make a difference; I had too much living left to do." I got a 2nd chance at my life and I've never looked back. I ran in my pink tutu for my cousin, Katie, who didn't get the good news I got following my surgery. I run because I can, she fights because she has to.
I ran into the final exchange to my sisters and my daughter waiting for me, our journey together was nearing an end but in so many ways it is a new beginning. I look forward to running many more races with them because I have so much living left to do. I looked at Betsy's smiling face which changed to sheer determination as I placed the slap bracelet on her wrist. She's living too; 2 years ago her world was turned upside down and today she is running toward her future ready to take on whatever comes her way. Her faith in God has gotten her through it and along the way she has inspired all of us as well. We are all a little closer to God because of her and we truly value the gift of every day.
So what's next for me...after missing running the last 2 days I have decided to keep it up and join my sisters on their next adventure, The Indianapolis Monumental Marathon. While they will both be running the full 26.2 miles, I'm going to run the 13.1 mile Half Marathon. Ashley is already training for her next event which will either be a 1/2 Marathon in Kansas City or in Indy, she hasn't decided but she definitely wants to do Ragnar again. It was the experience of a lifetime and I'm so blessed to have experienced it.
