M2M Nebraska

M2M Nebraska was great! Friday night we pulled in to Lincoln and got all settled in at Megan's house for a weekend of fun. We headed to Jill and Jess's house for a little carb loading and route mapping before an early bedtime since the alarm was set for 3AM. By 4AM Saturday morning we were in a 12 passenger van driving to Omaha ready for the 80 mile open road that awaited us. Steph started us out and I was thankful that I wasn't the first runner as it was dark, cold, and I had no idea what to expect. My first leg was 5.1 miles and was marked as an "easy" run as it was all trail. It was still really dark, and it was required to wear reflective gear and a headlamp until the sun was up, so I really had to adjust to chasing the spotlight on the ground in front of me. It was extremely foggy/frosty and I had no idea where I was headed. My toes were numb within minutes, plus, with it being the third leg, the runners were already pretty spaced out. About a mile in though, I made a friend and she and I ran the next 4 together. She was a bit fast for me so my only goal was to keep her pace...(I'm sure her only goal was to get rid of me). We ended up finishing our leg together and I clocked one of my fastest times so the race started off great. It was a little rough jumping into the van and not stretching or walking it out after the run, but we already had to get to the next exchange.

We stopped for a quick picture between exchanges so we're missing a runner, but the sun had finally popped up and it was shaping up to be a beautiful day! I could have done without the pointy crayon tip, but the Crayola idea was fun. The group costumes on this run were outrageous (how the Star Wars team...especially Chubaca...managed to cross the finish line without heat exhaustion still amazes me). 

My next leg was classified as "hard" and they weren't lying. It was on a gravel road with some steep hills that never seemed to end. It was hard to get good traction, the rocks made each step feel unsteady, and the elevation map had me a bit psyched out before I even started. I passed multiple runners who I would have deemed as "athletes" that were walking the hills, so it was a great morale boost on this leg. I wore only a watch to run which made pacing myself on this one tricky, so I was really surprised when I clocked a 9:42 average for this leg. (I know, not fast, but I was happy...this leg was torture for me!) After sitting in the van and not stretching after the first run, my legs felt like lead. It was great knowing that I had a team that was waiting on me at the exchange point because mentally I had to be on top of my game as my body was letting me know it didn't like me much.

Our hardest legs completed! By the afternoon everyone was feeling exhausted, but it was fun to see all of the teams with the later start times catching up to us. By the time I started my last leg the serious athletes had caught up to us *cough, cough - the Nebraska Marathon Team with their 5:32 pace* It was a great reminder of why I love races...runners are just nice people! Even at a sprint these runners offered encouraging words as they passed. My last leg ended up as my fastest which shocked me considering how completely exhausted my legs felt. The adrenaline rush of knowing I was almost done felt great and knowing that we would be crossing the finish line before dusk was an incredible feeling. 

The post race party was cold, but fun. We were so thankful to finish in the daylight and our team ended up 66th in the womens division.  After our celebratory beverages we headed to Tanners for a feast. Best food of the evening...chicken nachos. Though I still think I prefer running a half marathon to a relay, it was really fun and something I am sure I would enjoy doing again. Market2Market Iowa anyone?!