Catchup Part 3: Ragnar Relay Recap

Shalane to run fall marathon, Rupp rules, a fast pregnant girl, Mo Trafeh is a disgrace to running, race Usain Bolt, this is just so cool, and Daniel Komen (one of the fastest of all time).

Tuesday, June 3^rd – 8 miles. 

Wednesday, June 4^th – 6 miles

Thursday, June 5^th – 5 miles.  Early run with Crystal before work.  I don’t remember the pace – maybe high 7’s/low 8’s?  I was sleepwalking through most of it, but I do remember how nice and cool things were.  Off to Chicago for Ragnar Relay!

Friday, June 6^th - ~12 miles.  Ragnar Relay!  I got the privilege of leading off for Team “We Run This Beach” on a hot, sunny afternoon in Madison.  If you don’t know what the Ragnar is, it’s basically a 200 mile run from Madison, WI to Chicago, IL with 12 runners in 2 vans.  Van 1 (us) runs our 6 legs, then we take a break while Van 2 does their 6 legs, and we do this 3 times.  So basically, each person has about roughly 10 hours to recover between legs.  My leg started off a little south of Madison, then headed up on the trails towards Lake Monona and run around the lake for about 6 miles.  Well, I went out pretty hard and found myself leading my group, which wasn’t exactly desirable since I wasn’t 100% clear with the exact directions.  Eventually, got passed by a faster runner, and sat behind him as I clicked off a couple 6:45 miles.  We followed a couple signs, but things started to get weird as we were running in downtown up this enormous hill (elevation map for my leg was small hills, but this hill was a monster) and I was getting stopped at multiple stoplights.  The leader lost me after a couple stop lights, and I stopped by the Capital Building since I was clearly lost and called Kyle to find out where the f*** I was at.  I was directed to get back onto the trail (about a half mile away), so ran into a building parking lot and could see Ragnar runners on the trail.  There were no stairs, so had to backtrack and make my way around the side streets before I could make my way back to the correct path.  Fortunately, I was pretty familiar with the area, having spent a good week up here a couple years ago, and knew where to go.  A couple stop lights later, and I was back in the race!  Made my way through some neighborhoods and some hills, then picked off a few people before handing off the baton to Courtney.  Very irritated, but pleased with a solid leg right at marathon pace.  Not happy to have tacked on an estimated additional 2 miles, but what can you do? 

Team "We Run This Beach"

 

Here I go!

Start of the 2014 Ragnar Relay: Madison WI to Chicago, IL

Getting ready to begin

My first leg

Towards the end - weaving through neighborhoods

One mile to go before baton exchange!

Drove around for a while to finish our team’s legs before meeting Van 2 at the major exchange point, where we hung out and threw the football around before grabbing some food and heading to our next leg which would start roughly 5 hours later at night.  We eventually made our way to the exchange point, which was in a huge park where little league games were going on.  The temps dropped dramatically, as it was borderline chilly as it got darker, and I attempted to take a power nap which didn’t get too far, so got changed and ran a couple miles for a warm up.  My next leg, on paper, was set up perfectly.  Net downhill on a trail, and would have the adrenaline pumping for running in the dark (with a headlamp though).  Not to mention, the weather dropped to high 50’s/low 60’s, so was setting up for a fast one.  The actual exchange point was pretty awesome – you could see the runners’ headlamps shining from about a quarter mile out, then the race monitors would call out bibs so you knew to get ready.  Not to mention, there was about a small mob of people waiting at the exchange point, so the tension and buzz was palpable.  Eventually, our number was called, and Zach handed me the baton and I took off like a bat from hell.  Was a little concerned since my stomach was starting to act up, but immediately started picking off runners and started to get excited.  We ran up a pretty long hill, before turning on a few roads and settling on the trail.  All runners were required to wear headlamps and back blinkie lights, so I could see a trail of red blinking lights headed down the path.  Felt AMAZING and was pretty psyched, so settled into a fast/hard effort and just picked off runner after runner as I made my way down the trail.  Because it was so dark, I went completely by feel, and would find out later I ran very even splits – absolutely perfect run.  Almost wiped out on the turn heading towards the exchange point – the volunteer was there to point me in the path coming off the trail but the turn was a tight hairpin turn, and I was going pretty fast and ended up slipping and putting my hand down before regaining control and sprinting towards the finish.  ~6:18 average pace.  Very pleased, considering no sleep and somewhat tired legs.  Cooled down at the next exchange, and worked with the rest of the team to finish our exchanges before our break.

Trying to catch a few z's before my next leg

 

Queuing area before I started my second leg

Saturday, June 7^th - ~8 miles.  Last leg starts out bright and early for me!  I probably got about 1.5 hours of terrible sleep, then attempted a crappy warmup before moving on.  Zach handed off the baton at roughly 5:30 a.m., and I pretty much picked off every moving target in sight.  Locked in to marathon pace, and kept working my way towards through my leg which was relatively scenic with Lake Michigan, running through a small town, then the trails.  I was definitely dragging a bit at this point, and was playing some mind games to keep myself motivated.  Amazingly, my legs and back held up ok, and dropped the last mile in 6:30 to finish all  my running!  ~6:59 average pace on my last leg.  Very happy to finally be done, and worked to help cheer for the group in a complete stupor.  Ran a few miles cooldown, and ran Courtney in on her leg to finish it out.  We met Van 2 in downtown Chicago, and had the great opportunity to cross the finish line as a team.  Very cool experience, and glad I could be part of it!  We finished 15^th within the coed division, and 40^th overall  out of 500+ teams – not bad for not being competitive!  6:59 min/pace for my leg.

 

Running with Courtney on her leg

Posing before Kyle's leg began

Waiting for Kyle

Waiting for Van 2 to finish

Ragnar done!

Bling bling!

Last major exchange point - Van 1

Van 2 bright and early

Sunday, June 8^th – 4 miles.  Nice and easy.  50 miles this week, 50 miles in June, 964 miles in 2014.

Catchup Part 2: Bonifest 5K Recap

Kara is targeting a fall marathon - come to Chicago!

Friday, May 16^th – 0!  Completely crapped out on my attempt to get up at 3:30 a.m. for a quick run, and literally woke up at the last possible second to leave for our early flight.  Had thoughts of running outside during our layover in Miami, but opted to hang out at the Corona restaurant and relax a bit.  Eventually made it in to rainy Jamaica, and got settled into our room and explored the island and grabbed some food and drinks before turning in early.  Long day of travel suck, but was definitely psyched to be in paradise for a long weekend J

 

Red Stripe!

Jamaica, mon

Saturday, May 17^th – 8 miles.  Dreadmill bright and early.  For some reason, I woke up pretty early, and decided to knock out my workout so headed down to the gym, which was about a 5 minute walk away from our room.  Pretty hot and sunny outside, and couldn’t really find a good/long running trail (and was told that running on the roads outside our resort was a big no/no) so the dreadmill was my last option.  Small gym, with 4-5 dreadmills, a couple ellipticals, and a couple bikes.  No t.v., no a/c., and a window that faced the sun – pretty much the worst case scenario.  8 miles was all I could manage, and it was absolutely brutal.  Walked back to change, then had breakfast before settling on a nice palm tree umbrella right next to the ocean to read and take a well-deserved nap!  Can definitely get used to this…

Tough morning

Homage to the greatest - Usain Bolt!

Late morning nap

Sunday, May 18^th – 7 miles.  Dreadmill bright and early.  Snagged the last available machine, which happened to be in direct sun light with the sun.  Literally had to take a 2 minute break after 4 miles for mental and physical reasons – legs felt like crap, and I was getting exhausted just running in place in the hot gym.  41 miles this week, 118 miles in May, 847.5 miles in 2014.

Late night entertainment

My new friend, who greeted me every morning from the gym

Monday, May 19^th – 5 miles.  Dreadmill bright and early.  Game of Thrones podcasts save the day, as I was first in the gym, and getting bored every step of the way.  Ridiculously hot, but made it through.  Had a long day on the beach and pool, before continuing the party late into the night on our last full day in paradise.  Glad to have met some nice friends on this trip, and thanks to the amazing staff at the Royalton White Sands!

 

One last time...

Back to reality :(

Tuesday, May 20^th – 0!  Travel day home.  Was a bit of a mess from our last night in Jamaica, and ended up sleeping in a bit.  Loooong travel day back, as we sadly left our resort around 1 p.m. (after one final delicious meal at the ocean-side BBQ), and got home after midnight.

Wednesday, May 21^st – ~7 miles (2.5 up, 1x800, 2x300, 2 down).  Splits were: 2:38, 57, 57, 56, 58, 57, 56, 56, 56, 57, 56.  Ran with Yoch for the 800, which felt good initially but definitely felt the leg burn on the last 300 meters or so.  The rest of the 300’s went by fine – legs were a little fried, but felt in control. 

 

Back to "paradise"

Thursday, May 22^nd – 6 miles.  Bonifest course preview with Colby and Crystal.  Pretty warm and humid, and I had some terrible stomach issues which caused me to stop not 1, not 2, but 3 times during the run!  Looped once with them, then had to hit a bathroom stop before reversing and meeting them coming back in.  Course had reversed from the last time I had run it (2006), and definitely set up for a fast environment.  Small rolling hills early, but the last mile is pretty flat and the last third of a mile is a long straightaway with a slight decline.  Thinking sub 19 this weekend should be attainable as long as I don’t run stupid.  47:06 total

Friday, May 23^rd – 0!  Rest day – ready to rumble tomorrow.

Saturday, May 24^th – 6.5 miles (1.5 up, BONIFEST 5K 18:59, 8^th overall, 2 down).  Warm morning, but pretty tolerable since the race was pretty shaded and relatively early.  Drove down and parked by Global, and warmed up with the group for a couple miles.  Lined up out front, and away we went!  Ran out with Kyle and tried to get locked in, but went out too hard and hit sub 6 for the first mile (5:54).  Was leading a small group, and my worst fears were confirmed as the hard first mile pretty much zapped my legs, and my pace definitely slowed down.  Made the turn around the hills, and hit the second mile split which was crap and demoralizing (6:27), and made the decision to put my head down and just finish with a hard effort without worrying about time.  Picked off a couple people, and hit the last straightaway hard since I knew it was only a couple more minutes of pain.  Saw the clock from far away, and figured I needed a good kick to break 19, and was able to do so!  Met up with the group, and was a very successful day for our group as Jon, Colby, Crystal, and Kyle finished 1-2-3-4, I finished 8^th overall and 2^nd in my age group, and all of us were very pleased.  Jon tied Colby’s course record (17:11), and Crystal smashed the old course record en route to a great victory (17:48)!

 

Bling, bling!

Champion, and course record

Champion, and course record

Post race fun

Franklin's new toy

Bonifest and winning Megan a stuffed animal!

Sunday, May 25^th – 11 miles.  Long run on a rainy morning.  The plan was to meet up and do some easy mileage on the soft trails, but I opted to run to meet the group and knock out my long run.  Steady rain all morning, and jumped out on the trail towards Home Depot, and weaved my way through town towards Market Basket, and ended up about 5.1 miles out at a parking lot out by Route 143, right where the soft trails begin.  The rain was a little bit of a nuisance at first, and was completely soaked pretty much within 10 minutes but got locked in and slowly picked it up and did out and back on the soft trails for a couple more miles before meeting up with Crystal, Colby, and Kyle.  We did an out and back in some pretty wet conditions, but quite honestly had a blast doing so.  7:42 pace average.  35.5 miles this week, 153.5 miles in May, 883 miles in 2014.

Monday, May 26^th – 4 miles.  Easy run with Crystal and Kyle.  We ventured out to Old Faithful, since it was pretty hot and humid and wanted some shade.  From the last few weeks of passing, it appeared the trail was more or less completely paved, and our assertions were proven correct as we saw various bikers and runners on our quick run.  The bridges were still being re-done, but the trail looked great.  It was like seeing a long-lost friend, and happy to get back on there.  Legs felt tired, and the humidity is definitely something to reckon with as summer is now more or less underway.  33 minutes and some change, total.

Tuesday, May 27^th – 4 miles.  Late, late at night, since I procrastinated like crazy.  270 loop and some change.  No idea of time, but it was still pretty warm and humid outside after 10 p.m.

Wednesday, May 28^th - ~6 miles (5x1K, 2-2.5 minutes rest).  Track work with Yoch, Megan, and Alisha.  Crystal was kind enough to come out and time our splits and get in a few warmup/cooldown miles with Jon and I.  Warm and humid evening, but it did cool down a bit as the time went on.  Felt very sluggish and tired from the humidity, and had to work harder to maintain my goal times.  Wanted to hit 5K pace (3:45 goal split), and made it through pretty comfortably.  Definitely seeing some results from the hard work we have put in over the last couple months.  Splits were: 3:36, 3:40, 3:41, 3:40, 3:37

Thursday, May 29^th – 5 miles.  Death March at Forest Park with Tim after work.  Holy hot and humid, and we ended up shortening this run substantially.  Add in a few walk breaks, a ton of cursing, and you had ~45 minutes of pain and suffering.

Friday, May 30^th – 6 miles.

Saturday, May 31^st – ~6 miles.  Paced Megan through a solid 5K effort in Collinsville at the Hornet Hustle 5K on a hot and humid morning.  Warmed up with Colby and Yoch, then jumped in a little later into the course and kept Megan through a consistent, hard pace.  Mission accomplished, as she ran a very good race under some terrible conditions, but even splits and a great effort.  Best race of the year, so far.  Yoch and Colby went 1-2, and Megan finished 2^nd in her age group!  184.5 miles in May, 914 miles in 2014.

 

Champion

To the victor go the spoils

Bling, bling!

Postrace

Sunday, June 1^st – 0!  I’m sad to report this, and I want to kick myself for laziness.  Blah.  31 miles this week, 0 in June, 914 miles in 2014.

Monday, June 2^nd – 7 miles + strides.  Group run with Crystal and Huelsmann on a hot and humid day in South City.  It was straight up gross outside, and felt like complete garbage motoring in reverse through the 7 mile South City Loop.  I whined and b*tched and moaned every step of the way, and I’m sure everyone wanted to kill me but we got done.  And now that I think about it, I didn’t do a single stride and instead sat in the shade while those guys finished up.  Yes, I am weak.  I think it was ~7:45 pace, overall.  

Catchup Part 1: Discovery Pirates 5K Recap

Catch up time - bear with me.  A month and a half is about to be poured into multiple blog posts.  Without further adieu...

Wednesday, May 7^th – 6 miles.  Forest Park run with Craig, Crystal, and Colby.  Nasty hot/humid day, and the pollen was completely out of control!  Colby and Crystal broke away after a little over a mile, and Craig and I suffered the rest of the way in.  I don’t know the total time, but it was pretty slow!

Thursday, May 8^th – 6 miles.  45:48.  I either ran this with Crystal, or with Yoch.  I think I ran with Jon over on the trails by his place – out and back, and we negative split every mile.  My notes say I had 0 energy, allergies were beyond bad, and nasty outside, so it must have been all that.  Decent time, all things considering.  The shade on that point of the trail made everything so much easier…

Friday, May 9^th – 4 miles.  Short, easy run – out and back towards trail.  Decided at the last moment to do a local 5K in O’Fallon, IL with Colby and Megan.  Definitely feeling better and ready to rumble!  

Saturday, May 10^th – 7 miles (DISCOVERY PIRATES 5K – 19:20, 2^nd place overall).  Out and back course over in O’Fallon, IL, not too far from Far Oaks Golf Course.  This small school that hosted the race was actually Yoch’s elementary school, so didn’t want to disappoint the proud alumni.  Course was an out and back – local roads, through a neighborhood, to a trail (very similar to the ones I run on at home) which ends into another neighborhood to a turnaround, then back.  Colby and I warmed up on the bike paths nearby (beautiful park right across the street), and got ready to rumble on a pretty nice, warmish/sunny morning.  No competition there, and basically was running for a good time.  Got a little nervous, as my watch GPS was acting really weird and thought I had lost the distance function (thus, eliminating myself from pacing feedback whatsoever), but got it back shortly into the race and tried to get locked in.  The race plan was to hit 6:10, 6:10, then whatever I had the last mile.  Anyways, went out a little quick, but leveled out and felt like I was in cruise control.  Getting on the trail was nice, as it was heavily shaded and could relax as we went down a small hill coming off the trail into the neighborhood.  Could see Colby not too far ahead, and maintained effort as I worked myself towards the finish.  Hit the 2 mile split right at 12:08, and was feeling good and hopped back on the trail and readied myself for a last mile onslaught.  We had to make a 90 degree turn to get off the trail to finish out the race, and there was a gravel path which we were turning onto which led to the neighborhood roads.  Well, I tried to cut the turn tight since I didn’t want to slow down any, and planted my right foot into the dewey grass.  Next thing I knew, I was skidding across the gravel path, and laying on the ground stunned as I took the mother of all falls.  After a few seconds, I snapped out of it, and got up and starting running again much to the dismay of the volunteers close by who told me to stay down.  Adrenaline carried me for a couple minutes but I was pretty much toast after that burst, and couldn’t keep the intensity up to finish out the race.  Finished 2^nd overall, comfortably, and cooled down with Colby while waiting for Megan to finish her race.  Disappointed that this race could have been a really fast one for me, but had great effort, some ridiculous battle wounds, and a great story to tell.  19:20 was my 5K, time, warmup/cooldown were high 7’s/low 8’s.

Prerace

Talking race strategy, or probably making fun of someone

Action shot

Here we go! (why won't my watch work???)

Ouch!

Post race with Colby and Megan

Champion

1-2

Franklin's new toy

Sunday, May 11^th – 8 miles.  40 miles this week, 77 miles in May, 806.5 miles in 2014.

Monday, May 12^th - ~6 miles.  Big River group run at Queeny Park with Craig.  Another death march in evil Queeny, as it was a hot day but we were saved by the heavy winds which cooled the air considerably.  The hills destroyed me almost immediately, and we kept a pretty slow pace the entire way.  The first 4 miles of the loop are pretty much climb after climb, but it gets a lot better towards the end.  Big River did a poker run, where there were stations every mile where you would pick a card – best hand at the end won a free pair of shoes!  Unfortunately, my busted straight Ace high hand didn’t win jack.

Tuesday, May 13^th – 8 miles - 2 up, (5 x (2x400, 1x200)), 200m and 400 m jog, 1 down.  Rainy, windy, but cool evening at the track with Megan, Alisha, Jon, and special guest Stephen Pifer who got hired for pacing duties.  We warmed up on the roads, and nailed the workout.  A huge thanks to Stephen for pacing me through after his time trial earlier in the day!  This workout was so much easier having me just sitting, and conserving energy.  Splits were: (1:23, 1:28, 40), (1:27, 1:28, 40), (1:26, 1:27, 39), (1:28, 1:27, 41), (1:25, 1:22, 37).

Wednesday, May 14^th – ~6 miles.  Route 66 10K course preview run with Crystal.  7:40ish average pace.  Wet day, but had fun out on the trails and had to slow down at many points to keep it under control.  Forgot how tricky Route 66 course could be, at least the first half with a couple tricky hills and a ton of turns.

Thursday, May 15^th - 6 miles.  Morning run with Crystal.  Out and back on Home Depot – 8:08 average pace, overall.  As you can tell, lack of descriptions on these morning runs as I’m usually sleepwalking.  Off to Jamaica for a quick vacation with Megan on Friday!