Electric Mayhem!

It was one crazy ride being captain of a Ragnar team this year, but so, very, very awesome.   Here's a brief recap:
First leg: Our illustrious Van 1 was already running by the time we headed down to Plymouth where the first hand off took place.  We all got to know each other on the ride and I told a dreadfully inappropriate story to break the ice.  The ice was successfully broken and we subsequently had our inside joke for the rest of the race.  The first pass off occurred and we all witnessed the magic that was Jeff Ambos running.  The man is incredible.  Picking off runners one by one like they were standing still.  And I (deep and slightly saddened sigh) had to follow him.   My first leg was the hardest because it usually takes me the first three miles to warm up and my first run was, 2.9 miles.  But ah well.  It was awesome to cheer on the rest of our van and try and decorate our van during the breaks).  After we traded off to the next van we tried to get some shut eye.
First attempt at sleeping went like this
Brain: you are getting sleepy...
Car doors slam
Brain: You can do this, focus.  Slleeeeeeeep
A teammate starts to snore in the back
Brain: Slleeeeeep.  Haaaaaappppyyy Plaaaaaaaaaaaace
A teammate lets out a sleep-fart (I don't blame the guy, he was asleep after all, and I couldn't really smell anything.
Brain: Sleeeeeeep, daaaaaammmmmmiiiiiiiiiittttttt....
Bing!  My phone gets a text saying my fellow teammates in Van 1 just sent off their last runner.  Time to make the donuts.

Second Leg: After an awe inspiring stint as spectator for our van superstar (Jeff A.) I was up and ready to run at 2am.  My headlamp was too big for my head and I spent the first two miles with it traveling between my forehead and nose over and over again.  After some minor adjustments, the run in the pitch darkness was actually quite pretty, but man, was I tired.   The highlight of this leg was watching my husband take off running in nothing but his underwear.  I love that man.
After our second leg, our van stopped at a rest stop and all of us immediately passed out for the BEST 2 HOUR NAP OF OUR LIVES.  Seriously, I felt amazing after that nap.  It was like heaven.

Third Leg: Everyone says this one was the hardest.  But mine?  Seriously I felt like I was just high-fiving a million angels the whole time.  It rocked my socks off.  I felt light and fast and all those things that make runners come back for more.  I passed over 10 people.  I didn't want to stop.  I started my run from an amazing beach.  It was epic.  We all watched as our awesome final teammate pushed through injury and the heat of the day to finish off the race.  We finished in great time, 13th overall and 1st in our division.  We weren't going for a win, but it was a pleasant surprise!  Go ELECTRIC MAYHEM!

Conclusion: Much like my first Ragnar, it was hard to be sleep deprived, but all the camaraderie, inside jokes and silliness, combined with some fantastic runs made it all worth it.  I'm already craving my next Ragnar-high.