EPIC...2015!

I had signed up for this relay race again pretty much right after we got done with Epic last year, even though I had hurt my knee. I figured after a whole year I should be fine to do it again. I had had so much fun the first time even with hurting my knee. That knee injury however ended up taking a LONG time to get over and I ended up stressing about my upcoming races for months before they came around again and at times came really close to dropping out. I was more worried about my shins right before Ragnar and they ended up being fine, but my knee started acting up again during that race, so I really almost dropped out of Epic, but ended up just deciding to do what I knew how to do to try to get my knee feeling better again and then it got too late to drop out, so I just figured I would do it and walk if I needed to, but do all of my legs this time because I had been so frustrated about not doing my last leg of Ragnar.

Anyway...I was feeling pretty good up until the week before when I started to feel that familiar knee pain again while we were up camping and hiking (that post will be next). I was so mad! I even iced it up there and continued to do my stretches and take ibuprofen. It went away for a couple days when we got back from camping, but then when I ran two days in a row that week it came back again and I started to get really nervous about the race. So the night before EpicI borrowed some knee braces from a friend and packed my KT Tape and just hoped for the best. There was no turning back at the point and besides being nervous I was SO excited!!

 Race day was Friday, August 7th and our start time was at 6:00 am, but we had to be out to Smithfield by 5:15, so my alarm was set for 3:30 am!

We made it on time and our first runner started running at 6:00...

Whitney...

Oh and while Whitney was running we got pulled over first thing!

The guy was kind of a jerk at first, but then realized he knew Jon, so then he was nice and we took some pictures...haha :)

Then it was Jana's turn...

Then me...I did 4.5 miles I think with no knee pain so far!

Then Clarice...

Then Jon...

And finally Ben...

Then Van 2 started and we had our first break.

We went to a deli and got lunch, then went over to Ben's house and took showers and tried to take naps! It was so nice to have somewhere to go hang out for a little while before we had to be at our next exchange and start running again.

And when we did get there, just like last year it started raining. Whitney ran in rain about half the time while the rest of us sat in the van discussing whether we were going to skip our night runs. It was raining pretty hard at times and we had no towels so we knew if we got wet we would have to get back into the van and have no way to dry off! So Jana got out and started running in the rain, but got in after a mile or 2, but while she was running I decided that for me to feel like I really did Epic like I wanted to, I needed to run and I needed to try to run all of my 8 miles. So I got ready and put on my new rain jacket and started out.

 It was raining pretty hard, but so far I was dry. But I was Hot! My jacket is not very breathable. So I took it off after a couple miles and just kept on going. It gradually started to rain harder and harder and kept on my entire run! It was a downpour most of the time and I was sopping wet! But I just kept on going walking partly and I prayed so hard the entire time that I would finish it and that my knee wouldn't hurt. Oh and that I wouldn't get hit by a car! I prayed and prayed and prayed and finally finished and could not believe I did it and my knee was not hurting. I did have it taped and wore the brace, and thought for sure it would hurt when I got up in the morning.

I totally believe in the power of prayer and was so grateful. I felt so good and so proud of myself for pushing through it!

 But then I had to sit in the van really wet and cold until I could change!

Anyway it worked out and everyone else did most of their miles before we drove on to the night exchange where we could sleep. We lucked out and one of the girls from the other van had her husband pull his pop up trailer up to the exchange and they let Jana, Clarice and I sleep in there. If you could call it sleep. The husband was in there snoring loudly! Oh well...it was still nice to stretch out and much better than sleeping in the van!

I still thought when I woke up and started walking around that my knee would surely start hurting, but it never did!
So I got ready and did my last run...5 miles and just ran/walked it and still felt great!

So pretty there!

 At one point after all of the clouds and rain, the sun popped out and felt so good on my back and I looked over and saw a rainbow over the mountain. Another one of those clear times that God is speaking to me :)
It was awesome!

Then after I ran, the rest of everyone's runs were super rainy again!
But everyone got out and ran and just got wet.
So so rainy!!!

Had to take some pictures by one of the last One Mile Left signs! It is a good feeling when you see those signs :)

This whole weekend really lived up to it's name for me this year, for all of us really. It was EPIC. So much fun, I just love the dynamic of this group...we have such a fun time together...so many laughs!

 After we had all finished our last runs we went into Jackson and found somewhere to eat. That was fun too...

Jon and Whit were staying the night in Jackson, so the rest of us rented a car and drove home and were home by early evening, so that was nice! Lars

had taken the boys to Price, so I had the quiet house to myself. I was so tired!

 Such great memories and so so glad I decided to not drop out and so grateful for answered prayers :)