Notes
This was my 4th and final section. The last leg of the course. I was definitely feeling tired and nervous. My exhaustion was already setting in, me legs were feeling shot and it was really hot outside. My watch's battery was low, so I ended up borrowing Jeff's, which is why this has no mile splits yet.
Andy came in right before 2 pm and I could see he had worked hard, and it was time for me to bring this thing home. Because of the conditions, I had no illusions that this wouldn't be absolutely awful and I knew I wasn't going to be able to go fast. I took off trying to go really easy. For the first few miles that meant just under 9 minutes. I was happy I was able to maintain that pace at what I felt was a low effort. But I could tell I'd be slowing down later. The first part of this leg on the trail was mostly exposed, and that was a challenge for sure. Also there were a ton of cyclists and pedestrians that I just didn't have the energy to deal with well.
At around mile 3 when I took my sip of water, I realized my stomach wasn't doing well. I realized I didn't want the water and this made me really nervous. I started thinking that I had some kind of hyponatremia. I was so focused on being hydrated that I wasn't thinking about my salt intake. In retrospect I should have brought some s tabs with me. But I hadn't thought of it.
Luckily once I got into the city and was running on streets it was actually quite shaded. I caught up to another runner who was going a bit slower than me, and I decided I would stick with him for a bit. This seemed to help my stomach. Additionally we were stopping at every other intersection and waiting anywhere between 5 and 30 seconds for the light to change. I think this may have happened like 20 times! Even though it was annoying and really slowed me down, it actually helped me feel much better and I was able to start drinking some water again. In the end I don't really think I had some major sodium issue. I was just freaking exhausted!
With just a couple miles to go, the end was near and I was really starting to get excited about finishing and new that I was going to be alright. The last mile felt really long, but I finally started seeing all the other Ragnar finishers.
I had already worked it out in my head how I was going to deploy the blade hands because I just thought that would be hilarious when I kicked it in. It was so great to see everyone at the finish cheering for me! Like an idiot I flew right past them and didn't realize they were there to finish with me. I finally caught on and slowed down so we could all run in together! Crossing that finish line was amazing. We did it! I still haven't processed this all.