3:10:59: 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.