Ragnar 2014 #1

 We got up at 2am on Friday morning to do this crazy thing.  Yes, you read that right, 2am.  By 3, we were on the road to pick up Kristen and Rich.  Gigi and Nick had arrived the night before and were staying at our place.  It made things super easy in the logistical sense.  We arrived shortly before 4am for our safety briefing and check in.  Ragnar was running behind, and we didn't actually start until 5:10, ten minutes after our assigned start time. 
Our starting rotation looked like this:
Nick - 5.7 miles (including the Rickenbacker Causeway)
Brad - 4.4 miles (through Grand Avenue)
Me - 2.4 miles
Rich - 4.0 miles
Gigi - 3.6 miles
Kristen - 2.7 miles, handing off to van 2 at Tamiami Park
Here is everyone at the start, getting ready to go.

I knew Nick was fast, but I really hadn't rectified in my mind exactly HOW fast. The man has a 1:28 half marathon under his belt.   When they started, he was off like he had been shot out of a slingshot.  He was in the lead leaving Key Biscayne.  He was IN THE LEAD.  I'm a 11-12 minute miler on an average day, so this whole in the lead thing was pretty foreign.  We watched him in awe.  Here he is, looking like a flash.

 

Nick handed off to Brad in Coconut Grove, and we stuck close.  It wasn't even six am, the sun wasn't up yet and Brad had to run through a pretty shady area.  So we would go a few blocks and wait for him, then go a few more.   Once he crossed US1 we headed to the next exchange, which was right behind the University of Miami.  I was up next.  My 2.4 was pretty uneventful--my legs felt heavy, and I think I was finally warmed up by about the time it was over.  I ran a 10:45, which was on pace for what I was expecting. 

Next up was Rich.   Rich is also a super speedy guy.

 

 Gigi was up next--love this girl, we had such a great time.  Here we are before her first exchange.

 And here are the guys while we were waiting for Gigi to come in.

Next to the shower pill magnet.  We really did love our shower pills.

 AAnd last, but not least was Kristen, who brought us in to Exchange 6, where we handed off to Van 2.

The really GREAT thing about doing this race, which literally runs through our back yard, is that once we were done, we went home.  We dropped Kristen and Rich at Kristen's house and then went to my house. We ate real food and slept in real beds (or at least tried to sleep).  That paid off later.  We were done and headed home by 10, looking forward to a solid four hours before we needed to meet back up.  Meanwhile, Van 2 ROCKED IT despite the heat.

To Be Continued!!

Ragnar 2.0 - In the Books

This year was so incredible, I'm having a crazy hard time recovering from it.

Because it was damn near perfect.

Sure, there were little snafus.  Like when we got to exchange 24 at midnight Friday night in an INCREDIBLY sleep deprived state, expecting a nice major exchange with OH, I dunno, a building.  Or at least a bathroom with running water.  And got a grass field.  An UNMOWED grass field.  With port-o-johns as the ONLY facilities.

But I digress.

This year's Ragnar Keys was AMAZING.  This was our second year doing the event, and our first as team captains.  Technically BRAD was the team captain.  Technically.  We had a great group of really strong runners.  Half of our crew had relay experience.  The weather didn't cooperate with us, but it didn't absolutely flatten us like it did last year--the heat was bad but the night runs, at least, were manageable. 

I can't say enough about how much fun this group of people was to hang out with in between runs.   Left to right, Gigi (Running on Candy), Brad, me, Nick (went to college with Brad), Kristen (friends with Allison), and Rich (Kristen's brother-in-law).

 Rich and his crew of "Tarts and Tartans" were awesome.  Steady and strong for every single leg.  All while wearing kilts.  Back row, left to right:  Allison (we know each other from the gym), Susan (friends with Allison), Dawn, Rich; front, Mike and Melissa.  Dawn, Rich, Mike and Melissa all know each other and had run together previously.   Steady and STRONG, I say!

 

We started at 5:10 am (10 minutes later than we were supposed to) and finished 34 hours later, while the sun was still out, which was a great treat :-)

 

Fantastic experience.  Shower Pill DEFINITELY made things more pleasant for us, keeping the stinkiness to a minimum.  We really appreciated those Shower Pill wipes when we were stuck at the exchange with no running water, let me tell you.

I'll write three separate posts over the next few days highlighting the three legs.  But suffice to say this was an AMAZING experience with a bunch of great people.  I couldn't help but think of our Ragnar team from last year often--another amazing experience with a bunch of strong, resilient runners.  I was glad that we had an injury/incident free year this year!

A Pre-Ragnar Tale . . . These Shoes.

 

So.  These shoes.  These shoes were new when we did Ragnar last year.  A impulsive sale rack purchase at Sports Authority.  (Not something I would recommend doing unless you know what you are looking for.)

They hurt my feet when I first got them.  I almost always have to "break in" my shoes, even though I know they say you aren't supposed to.  Whatever.  I have stupid feet. 

I hated them every time I ran, but I packed them for Ragnar because my tried and true shoes were starting to really show their age and I KNEW I was going to need these babies at some point.  So I put them on for my second leg (night leg) and was regretting it by mile 2 because I hurt. EVERYWHERE.  It was hot and humid,  I was so so so so not mentally prepared for that second leg, because I was expecting it to be cool and beautiful and instead, I got hot and humid instead.  By mile 6 I was just ready to be done.  Add some tummy troubles into the mix, and I was in tears when I finished my 9.9 miles.  Mostly because it was at a 12:45 pace, which I felt was a letdown.  I wanted to throw those shoes in the TRASH CAN.

Its really funny thinking about that now, because I'm willingly and happily packing those shoes again this year.  They are my "down and dirty" shoes these days.  I spent my ENTIRE triathlon season in these shoes, mostly because most of the tris this year involved trail running and these shoes have great support for hitting the trails.  These trails carried me through the 19 mile disaster that was the Super Hero Scramble with very little foot pain.   This year these shoes will keep me company on my second leg again, 8.2 miles on a canal trail.  Its probably going to be hot and crazy and I absolutely can't wait.

The differences between me as a runner this year and last year is HUGE.  I was still a fledgling last year.  I only had 1 half marathon under my belt.  I didn't have THAT much mileage. Ragnar was THE event that made me embrace endurance events.  Since then, I've done 2 more halfs, a ten miler, a 19 mile OCR and one international tri.  I've consistently logged 20-30 mile weeks since triathlon season ended.   I've learned how to recover quicker and fuel myself better.  I can NOT WAIT to see how all of this translates on the open road.

Emphasis on OPEN ROAD.  This is an open road race.  There are no lane closures.  There is little support, except that provided by your team mates.  I can not wait to get this crazy journey on the road again.  And I suspect to make some more good memories in these shoes.

 

PS.  Go check out team-mate Gigi's pre-Ragnar post!