Will Run for Beer | RTO 2018

I signed up late in the game to run the annual Reno Tahoe Odyssey ( RTO) here in Northern Nevada. For those of you that don't know what the RTO is it's a 178 mile relay race that goes around the beautiful Northern Nevada for a group of up 12 runners. It sounds rough because it is rough. My LIFE OF YES has brought me to say "yes" to this race all because  I wanted to challenge myself this year.  My mother in law is runner and I remember thinking every year after watching her take off or even talk about this race how crazy she MUST be to run that much with no sleep. Well now , I'm crazy myself for running the damn thing and I'm not mad about it.  Let's be honest, we all know I'm a little crazy but crazy for running is a new type of crazy for me.

I'm still running off of a high from the run or it might be the amount of beer I can drink without guilt after a run. Right before leaving to head out for the race , I cried a bit thinking "what the hell did I get myself into". It was too late to turn back and back out on my team. I was nervous the entire time that I went numb with all feelings after my little cry.   I trained for a short time for this run and in the end it was just enough training to not drain myself of everything I had . I had a lot of fun running with my coworkers , cheering them all in their victories after each leg of their runs  and mentally challenging myself during my run. This isn't a run that I would've done prior to my training but I wanted a challenge. I don't typically believe that running 15 miles is fun but my ways are slowly changing. Each run was increasingly challenging on my body and it definitely showed the next day when I couldn't walk up my stairs .

Next year, if asked to run I'm pretty sure I'd be crazy enough to say yes again . Why not? I survived one race so why not run a little more? I will need to train A LOT more than I did. I survived my RTO 2018 but I want to ROCK my next one whenever I run it. My favorite part of this race is the camaraderie of this race among everyone racing. Every single person is cheering you on and  making sure that you're getting through  this race . It's definitely a sight to see when everyone is genuinely caring for your well being.

p.s. thanks to waymon for putting with me during my training and for always supporting me , without him i don't think i would've made it through it.