Last year while having drinks with some new runner friends I was asked to join a Ragnar team with Digital Running. They are amazing, by the way. It was easy to join, they allowed for monthly payments and they took care of everything. I didn't worry about vans, gas, water, support crews, safety gear, nada. It was all taken care of. It cost a bit more initially to run with them then it would have if I was just paying the registration fee, but it was well worth it. They took care of all of the details. All I had to do was train and run. If you're going to do a Ragnar - do it with Digital Running. And thus was born the amazing team: On a Mission from Cod.
Some of my non-running friends (there are one or two who have read this blog, or so they say) are probably like "um, wtf are you talking about?" A Ragnar is a ~200 mile, 12 person relay that takes place in 24-36 hours. Everyone runs 3 legs that total 11-20+ miles, some at night, some on trail, some on the road. It's a pretty epic undertaking. But considering I'd run 3 half marathons to date, and my mileage total was pretty low (12.8 miles) I was sure I was fine.
We met near the start in Raynham for a team dinner. Some of our group were new recruits so it was a good time to get to know each other and make new friends. We pretty much had a blast, eating a wonderful meal, enjoying good company, and getting ready for our very early start.
At Oh.My.God O'Clock we all got up and headed to the start in Hull. For those that are wondering, Oh.My.God O'Clock is so early that the Marriott doesn't have coffee yet, so you are sort of wondering how on earth you are going to keep moving, let alone how you are going to run. (To the Marriott's credit, they managed to get coffee up and going before we left. I took the largest cup they would give me. This is why I love Marriotts.) We loaded a day and a half's worth of gear into two 12 passenger vans and started on our way to the start.
The start was beautiful. Right by the sea...and a Dunkin Donuts. I got more coffee. We cheered for our first runner. I have a lack of pictures here - which is really too bad as it was gorgeous. The whole time was 50-60 degrees, cloud cover, a light mist at times, but really, perfect running weather. You'll see later. I was getting kind of nervous here though. You see, I was runner 2, and even though I only had about 2.5 miles I was a little nervous about keeping my pace and not letting my team down.
What follows is the worst picture of me I've ever posted on this blog, but it's worth it, because it's also my first exchange at a Ragnar ever. So we'll deal with the fact that it's a terrible pic.
This leg felt fantastic. No one passed me. I passed 5 people. The weather was great. I was actually speedy enough that when I got to the exchange, my runner wasn't there yet because of traffic. I saw her running like crazy towards me across the parking lot. All was good, this was great. 2.5 hilly miles. Check.
Leg number 14 (or 2, for me) was the one I was fearing the most. The elevation profile for this leg was not pretty. In fact it was about 2 miles of a steady hill. To top it off, I'm a really music dependent runner and there were no headphones allowed on this leg because it ran straight through a really busy road on the Cape. So. To recap. 5.2 miles. Wicked hill. No headphones. Yikes.
I managed to act cool about it before the exchange though.
I took off. And I ran. Easy at first knowing the hill was coming. I kept hoping that all of the hills I've done lately in training for the Heartbreak Hill Half and Mt. Washington would pay off. This hill was not Mt. Wasthington, btw. But it was sustained and lots of people were struggling. I passed 4 of them with my steady 9:45 miles. I also got passed by a few people, mostly guys, all of whom were very good cheerleaders for my slow self powering up the hill. Honestly the hill wasn't the worst, the worst was the cramps that came the second I started running downhill/flat again. My calves seized up. I was ready to walk. I had no music, no distraction. Just me and wicked crampy legs, and almost 3 miles to go. And I decided, I would not walk. Under no circumstances would I walk. I sang power songs in my head. I thought about family and friends who have passed and wondered what they thought watching me at that moment, or if they were. I had mantras. I kept running. I was so incredibly happy to finish that leg.
I finished in the dark. I knew I'd be running the last 4.7 in the dark. I was sure I could crush that though. It was the least hilly of the legs. I was almost done. I just had to find a way to rehydrate, uncramp and sleep for a little bit before my 3:50 am start.
This leg did not go like I planned.
For starters, waking up from 2.5 hours of sleep to run 4.7 miles is maybe the hardest thing I've ever tried to do. I was tired and sore and wanted to sleep. I was also WICKED cranky (<3 to my van mates for not killing me as I got ready - I know I was no Pollyanna.) I got ready. I got to the exchange. I was *terrified* I was going to miss one of the turns on the route. In retrospect, I should not have been concerned about this. They are all really well marked. I should have been concerned about my footing and the road. Not the turns. But reason is foggy at 3:50 in the morning and I just wanted to be done.
I was terrified I would lose sight of the runner ahead of me and miss a turn. So rather than put my headlamp on the ground (ie, smart) I kept looking straight ahead to make sure I didn't lose the guy who was way faster than me and pulling away. Less than 1 mile into a 4.7 mile leg I stepped into a pothole. I twisted my ankle. And for the first time in Ragnar I walked. I walked for a minute to make sure I could, and I could. It hurt, but I could. I started to run again and it was tight, really tight. I ran for a couple of minutes and then walked again. I thanked God I had carried my cell phone with me, texted my van, and told them I was going to be slower than planned, but I would finish. I started to run walk to the end. 2 minutes running, 2 minutes walking.
And then, my lovely van came back. I was so overwhelmed with emotion that they would come to check on me. Our next runner came out and said she could do my leg. I said I wanted to finish. She said she'd run with me. I was so thrilled to have the company. And so we "ran." Very, very slowly to the finish. We averaged 12 minute miles (run/walking) to the end. I was so incredibly thankful Cheryl was there, and was also so thankful to be able to finish. I didn't want to let anyone down, but it was nice to have a friend and support at that moment.
*Sadly, no pics of all this, too dark to get anything, but it was amazing.*
And then, our van was done. Van 2 had about 34 miles left, but we were good. We got brunch at an amazing place in Truro and enjoyed each other's company and tales, and then we headed to the finish to meet van 2, and cross the finish together.
We were so excited and proud of what we'd accomplished: 192 miles in 30 hours. We overcame a couple of injuries and had a lot of fun. We were pretty happy to get our medals, though.
We were a little tired and the beer line was long.
But it was worth it, and even though it was harder than a half (by a lot, even without the ankle) I highly recommend a Ragnar. This will not be my last. Cheers.
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