Ok, now that I've had a little shuteye I will be able to compose a somewhat intelligible race report. Two hours of sleep in two days doesn't bode well for decent writing.
Met my team Friday afternoon at Jon's (our team captain) house. Van 1 consisted of Ivy, Leland, Amanda, Amy, Morgan, and Boyd. Our van, Van 2, was Jon, Gina, Jen, Jamie, Dan, and me. Van 1 started earlier in the day, and I was going to go watch them start, but for some reason I thought they were starting at 11:30 but they really started at 11. I had only met most of my team once, and the remainder I hadn't met at all with the exception of Jen, who I recruited from home to run on our team. I would be spending the next 35 hours with this team, and it turned out to be a really great 35 hours. The whole team was just a joy to be around, and I think that making these new friends was one of the highlights of the Wasatch Back for me.
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| The Swag Pirates |
Van 2 drove from Logan to Liberty via Ogden canyon, which was a beautiful drive that I'd never been on before. In fact, most of the course was new territory to me, and it was absolutely gorgeous. After a brief safety meeting, we waited around for a few minutes for Van 1 to show up. They were running very well and were about half an hour ahead of schedule. I had eaten half a Subway sandwich on the way, and ate the other half at the park where we met them. Boyd was the anchor for Van 1, and he came in looking very strong. Gina was our first runner, and took the handoff. Gina was strong throughout the entire race, which was impressive because she had only been running for a couple of months prior to this race. No "easing into things" for her. I warmed up for a few minutes barefoot in the park before we drove to our next exchange. Jen was our next leg, and would be handing off to me on the following exchange. She also ran very well throughout the race, turning in very solid performances.
Leg #9: 3.2 miles, -59' vert., 17:04 (5:25/mi.)
This leg was basically like a flat 5k. It had been nearly a year since I had run a 5k, so I wanted to push this one fairly hard and see what I could do. I was very anxious to get started and my legs felt great and ready to go at the exchange. I was not too worried about burning out for the rest of my legs, because since I've started training for marathons I've found that although a 5k hurts, it doesn't take long at all for me to recover. Jen came in looking very strong and I took the handoff. I wanted to start out very fast and go from there just to see what I could do, so I treated it just as I would have a cross country race in high school. I was feeling very good. I quickly settled into a fast pace and turned my attention to catching a small pack of runners who had come through a bit ahead of Jen. I soon caught and passed that pack, but I would have to chase down everyone else I passed one at a time from that point on. Mile 1 was a 5:07, but probably the last half of it was at 5:15-5:20 pace, so I was really cruising at first. Mile 2 was a little slower at 5:35, but it felt much more sustainable. I did have 13+ more miles to run, after all. I'm not completely bulletproof. I was actually feeling very good though, even considering that my lungs were having to work much harder than I was used to. Caught a few more people here and there. It was great to always have people in front of me to chase down. It really keeps you honest. My goal was to catch everyone I could see. Mile 3 was uphill, but it was slightly faster at 5:31. Here one guy with no shirt challenged me for a little bit, but after a couple of hard surges I was able to gap him. I pushed pretty hard into the finish (0:52 for 0.2 miles), but not at an all out sprint. I would need my legs later. Handed off to Dan, and was glad to be done, as my lungs were burning something fierce. My legs were tired, but didn't feel too stressed. After taking a couple of laps around the parking area I was ready to get in the van and wait another few hours for my next leg. Dan did well in his leg, which was similar to mine but a little longer. Jamie had a GIANT hill to run up, and absolutely killed it, and Jon continued the trend, finishing his leg at Snow Basin. I had fun hollering out the window at the top of my very burned lungs at our runners, probably to their embarrassment. :) After Van 1 took over, we drove to Morgan to the home of an aunt (?) of Jon's to grab an hour or so of sleep. They were very gracious and even had a big pot of potato soup ready for us, which was incredibly delicious. If you ever run this race, I highly recommend crashing at the home of a good cook at least once. I really needed that hot meal.
Leg #21: "9.3" (but really 10.0) miles, 248' vert., 1:00:37 (6:05/mi.)
At this part of the race (between midnight and about 7 AM), my memory gets a little foggy. Most of what I remember is green and orange reflectors, Journey's "Don't Stop Believin,'" courtesy of Dan, hearing that Van 1 had some sickness and falls, and running my leg. I was very tired. I remember Gina had a tougher than anticipated leg with lots of decent sized hills, but she handled it like a trooper. Jen also did well on her leg, but I honestly don't remember much about it. I was too busy trying to get my mind to focus on the task at hand. It was a chilly night, so I donned my winter garb and was grateful that I had decided to bring it. The 35 degree temps were good for a wakeup though, so I felt pretty good warming up. I took the handoff from Jen with no one around, but I had seen a fast looking guy warming up, so I was determined to build an insurmountable gap on him. I had to be careful on this leg though. With Logan Peak a week away, I did not want to push too hard for too long, and jeopardize that key race. I started out faster than I expected, and felt better than expected. It's always a great thing to look down at your watch and see your pace is 5:35 when it feels a minute slower than that. I cooled off to a pace in the ballpark of 6:00 for the long haul. I felt really good and proceeded to pick off lots of other runners. I also noted that this pace felt easier than it did at TOU last year. I always run well in the dark, and this night was no exception even though it was 4:00 in the morning. At about halfway, we crossed the highway, climbed a hill (pace slowed to about 6:20) and then jumped onto a dirt bike path. I had forgotten that there would be dirt, and the first part of the trail was somewhat rutted, so the pace remained at 6:20 for another mile until I could get my rhythm back. After that it was one of those superman runs where you feel like you can go forever as fast as you want. At length, the trail became paved and I was really able to put the hammer down, dropping to 5:50 pace. I was starting to feel some fatigue, but not too bad so I kept going. Passed the one mile mark with about 1.5+ miles to go (this leg was about 0.7 miles longer than the book said, but oh well). Made the turn into Coalville, then up the hill to North Summit HS where I sprinted to the exchange against a very fast older guy. Unfortunately, the people radioing in what numbers were coming up were stationed only about 50 m from the exchange. At a full sprint I cover that distance in 7 seconds, so I missed Dan at the exchange. We found each other quickly though, and he was on his way in another 20 seconds. He and Jamie had some really spectacular legs, scenery wise, and also did very well running wise. I don't remember much else. Jon's leg completely slips my mind (but I know it was good, Jon). I was pretty out of it mentally at this point. I just wanted sleep.
Leg #33 "Ragnar Hill Part 1": 3.2 miles, 1470' vert., ~29:00
We drove to Heber to the next major exchange while we waited for Van 1 to get there. I was able to roll out the sleeping bag on a lawn under some trees and doze off for about an hour and a half. Some jerks set off their car alarm right next to us, which wasn't fun. But I was able to get a little needed rest. It was cool under the trees, but outside it was starting to get hot. Gina's leg looked like an oven, and lots of people were walking. Fatigue was starting to set in for all of us, and we just wanted to finish. Jen ran her leg, again with very little shade. I had been warming up, eating, and hydrating at every stop though, so I was not too worried. I had my hand bottle as well and planned on taking it with me. I was excited for this leg, as it is a very challenging leg with nearly 1500' of climbing in just over 5k--a great warmup for Logan Peak. I was hoping I would get to race my friend Jamie's team. Her brother Skyler, which I know is spelled differently, was running the same leg as I. Unfortunately, they had passed us and he had about a 10-15 minute head start so I wouldn't see him. I got the handoff and after a short downhill to get my speed up I hit the mountain. I had forgotten to start my watch, so I'm unsure of my exact time. I ballpark it at 29:00, though it could have been faster or slower. The first mile with the watch was surprisingly fast at about 7:30 all uphill, but I soon felt the fatigue and put it into my mountain climbing all-day gear with a few 10 second race-walking breaks. I motored right on up at a pretty consistent 9:00 pace, which was about what I had expected. I was tired, but this was using different muscles that were more fresh and which are in good shape, given my recent training, so it went pretty well. I passed lots of people on this section. I finally reached the handoff point, and gladly gave up the wristband to a shirtless and very tough-looking Dan. He would take on the second half of the hill. Jamie got lucky on this leg, as after a short, steep, uphill, she had a long descent into Deer Valley. We were all bone tired at this point, but we were beginning to smell the barn, so our pace was still good. Reaching the final exchange, we were somewhat in a celebratory mood. One leg left! Jon would bring us home in fine style. We bussed to the finish line, and after a few minutes wait (and dressing up as pirates we ran across the line with Jon, clocking a time of just under 30:00:00.
Afterwards, Leland (who had already been the financier of a good portion of this adventure), treated all of us to dinner at the Red-something Restaraunt (really, this memory thing will come back after I catch up on sleep). What a great guy! I had a burger in a pita pocket which really hit the spot. Real food is always so delicious after a long endurance race. After we all got back to our vehicles, we hopped in and drove home. We were all so tired, but very glad to have had this experience, as most of us were first-timers. It was a total blast! I am very happy to have now done this race once, and more to have met my other team members. It was a great time with them. I am also very pleased with my running. I didn't feel nearly as much running-related fatigue as I expected. I was able to run fast and competitively on all of my legs regardless of distance or difficulty. I feel like I am in great shape and that my recovery time is very good right now. I was also mostly impressed with the race itself. I have had kind of a bad taste in my mouth about Ragnar in the past, but after actually running a race, much of that has dissipated. There are still some things I would definitely change if I was the race director, but overall it made for a very good time and a fun challenge. I may do this race again sometime. Perhaps someday even all by myself!
To Jon, Ivy, Leland, Gina, Morgan, Boyd, Dan, Jamie, Jen, Amy, and Amanda: It was great to be able to spend 35 hours riding around in vans with you and watching you run. You were all very supportive of everyone and always had a great attitude. Some of you are new to running: I hope you enjoyed the race and found something in running that you love. You all did such a fantastic job of hanging tough even when the going was rough. What a great accomplishment! This is something anyone should be proud to hang their hat on. I had a great time. I hope you all did as well. I am both proud and grateful to have been able to join your team.
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