Ragnar Relay 2014 - Madison to Chicago

Ragnar Relay 2014 - Madison to Chicago - June 6-7, 2014

time = 28:52:39
58 out of 308 in our division (mixed open)
placed 117 overall out of 502 teams

what to say about this?  wow... this was an amazing experience!  196.1 miles (give or take), 2 days, 2 vans, and 12 runners.  IT.WAS.AMAZING! it was also so so fun!

i was in van 2 so we didn't get rolling until late afternoon which gave me ample time to go to yoga, do some light grocery shopping, and mow the lawn before anyone even got to my house.  i have to say that i am not a fan of the late start.  in hindsight, if we had a morning start i would have been much more inclined to stay at the end because we would have finished much earlier.  live and learn i suppose and we'll get to that part of the recap later.

we're here!

we arrived in lake mills, wisconsin about an hour and a half before our legs were to begin.  exchange 6 was set up at a lutheran church.  they had your average spread of goodies... pb&j, chicken sandwiches, chips, sponsored items, and the like.  once we were done perusing those items... we wandered over to the safety briefing, received our goodie bag, and then waited for runner 6 from van 1 to arrive for the first exchange to our first runner.



we saw a lot of costumed runners.  i can't believe people run in some of this stuff!  i would die!  more power to them tho'...

THIS guy!

van 1 consisted of:  jon, michelle, wendy, sara, colleen, and michael.  van 2 consisted of: gretchen, eric (aka feedar), shannon, me, matt, and megan.  we barely saw van 1 so really i think if you put together a team you could combine 2 smaller teams of 6 people because you really only see the other 1/2 of your team at the big exchanges and at the very end.  what i mean by that is... what if you can't find 12 people you know who want to run this race?  then you can combine with someone else's team of 6 and now you've got your 12!  6 of your friends and 6 of someone else's friends... that sort of thing. when you do this you really want to be with people you jive with because you're going to be stuck in a vehicle with them for a good 24 hours non-stop doing disgusting things around them and smelling gross and being gross on no sleep and with little food... some people don't handle those conditions well and i for one don't want to be with you if you're one of those people.

because we didn't know what to expect or really what was going on yet... the start was sort of anti-climatic.  we did get some pretty sick tattoos tho'  so there's that.  

megan & me rockin' some ragnar love

once our first runner, gretchen, took off... it was really go go go from then on.  we tracked her down and waited on the side of the road cheering on all the runners who passed us while we waited for her.  her first leg was pretty long (7.3 miles) so we had the luxury of lallygagging around to see her before we trucked on over to the next exchange.  after that it seemed like we were moving pretty fast.  the legs varied in length but once you take into consideration everyone's variation in pace, as well as parking, and the possibility of wrong turns... well, we didn't waste much time between exchanges.

speaking of ass... here's feedar's

we pretty much just hauled ass from one to the next.  in fact, when my first leg came up i was a few seconds late to the exchange so (shannon) the runner before me was waiting for me instead of me just being there waiting for her.

leg 10 (my first leg) - 5.6 miles in sullivan on the glacial drumlin trail.  it was rated as "hard" in the ragnar bible but really... we couldn't figure out how they were rating the legs.  after awhile we figured maybe it was by distance and nothing else.  this leg was pretty flat and easy.  all on the trail which is crushed limestone.  the worst part about this leg were the bugs.  i started this leg at 8:10pm and the sun was just beginning to go down.  the bugs were out in full force and at one moment i even ran through a huge black cloud at about my knees.  i panicked and was looking all over my lower legs to make sure that none were stuck to me since i was so sticky with sweat.  i digress... as i took off for this leg i was alone.  no one in front of me and no one behind me.  i was alone for probably half a mile and then i got passed by a guy who had to be running around a 6 min mile... at this point i was running at way too fast a clip and finished out my first mile in 8:15 after slowing myself down from a 7:55.  i got passed again by another guy quite close to the first guy and then i was alone again for probably the next 4 miles.  nearing the end of my run i started passing people and while i can't remember exactly... i think i got 3 or 4 kills on this leg.  i failed to write it down for this one but not to worry... i tracked it for the next two legs.  "kills" represent how many people you pass before you finish.  there was even one guy about 1/2 a mile from the finish and he was walking.  i don't understand why you'd be walking it in on your first leg of a run when you're so close to the finish?  i will never understand that i don't think.

leg 10 - 5.6 miles - sullivan, wisconsin

i'm really pleased with my performance as i genuinely thought my run would be a lot slower.  i did take 2 aleve earlier in the day and i'm sure that had a lot to do with it.  my leg really wasn't a problem at all.  i'm wondering if it's getting better slowly but surely or if it was all the doing of the aleve... i guess only time will tell.  after my leg there were 2 more runners and we handed off the baton to van 1.  we decided to just head to the exchange where we would wait for van 1 and try to get some sleep.  we only had about 3 hours and turns out that's not as much time as it sounds like.  especially in the middle of the night.

we napped/ate/showered/bathroomed at martin luther high school in greendale, wisconsin at exchange 18 where we would wait for van 1 to finish their second legs.  i didn't get any sleep at all.  the gym of the school was open for sleeping with dim lights and everything but people were talking and walking around and really i'm not sure why i couldn't nap but i just couldn't.  around 1:30am my stomach took a turn for the worst and i spent the rest of the race hitting every port-o-pottie at every exchange sometimes more than once.  it was brutal!

leg 22 (my second leg) - 4.0 miles in racine on country roads.  this actually was a smidge longer than 4 miles.  my mapmyrun.com app tracked it at 4.16 so there's that.  why was i using mapmyrun.com instead of my garmin you ask?  funny you should ask... well, turns out that after my first run when i so meticulously put my garmin in bag 2 for this leg it wasn't turned off and at 9:10pm got turned back on and tracked about 35 driving miles before the battery died.  good to know that i could run 35 miles before it poops out tho' so that's the silver lining in that.  i didn't bring my charger because my garmin lasts for 5 hours of continuous running time before i need to charge it and i wasn't running that long so... why bring the charger?!?  welp... looks like i learned my lesson there.  i started this leg at 4:36am on zero sleep and a stomach that was so very unhappy.  all the poops!  all of them.  it was about 56 degrees but when it's dark out that feels a bit colder.  i was shivering so much but i knew that as soon as i started moving i'd be fine.  i had some homemade arm warmers on (cut off knee-high socks) so i was feeling pretty good.  one might say snazzy even.  as soon as i took off from the exchange my headlamp slid off my forehead and onto my nose.  lesson #2:  make sure you tighten your headlamp each time you put it on and don't assume it will stay tight after each use.  sheesh... got that taken care of and got in my groove just as the woman in front of me lost her rear blink light all over the road in front of me.  well, to be honest... FIRST she passed me and THEN she dropped her light which exploded in an array of batteries and plastic that she had to stop and pick up all the pieces of.  she caught back up to me in no time and then i tailed her for the next mile or so watching her pull her tight running shorts down over and over again (which she was wearing underneath regular running shorts).  i thought for sure this would slow her down enough for me to pass her but no such luck.  my speed got slower in the second mile because there was a bit of a hill and i just lost her.  it wasn't even much of a hill but with no sleep, poor nutrition, and diarrhea... it must make a difference.  this was my best performance of the 3.  i had 6 kills on this one which was fun.  i liked counting them and focusing on the next person in front of me and trying to catch them.

leg 22 - 4.0 miles - racine, wisconsin

the next two runners to go after me were matt and megan.  after they finished and we again handed off to van 1 for their 3rd and final legs we found ourselves at a perkin's for some breakfast.  i was finding it incredibly difficult to get any food down but i managed to stomach a couple of eggs and some juice before we left.  we made it to the next exchange to wait for van 1 to finish and try to sleep there.

urban high school camping... ragnar style

we camped out on the lawn of north chicago high school.  i look like a corpse but i guess that's basically what i felt like.  i'm pretty sure i didn't really sleep more than maybe 1/2 an hour but i can't be positive about that.  we were all so tired but having a blast!  this is the exchange where we saw a lot of the teams with costumes and getting rowdy.  probably because it was daytime and everyone was delirious with lack of sleep.  it was glorious!

megan & shannon "resting"

matt "resting" or maybe studying... who knows

leg 34 (my 3rd and final leg) - 3.7 miles in illinois mostly on a trail that paralleled what looked like train tracks.  the trail started out in a park, went through a neighborhood, and then angled down into between trees on the left and train tracks on the right.  pretty secluded and someplace i wouldn't run at night but maybe it's safe.  i don't know the area but from the looks of it i wouldn't run there at night.  anyway... this was the shortest leg of them all for me and also the most challenging.  i ran this at 2:17pm and it was hot.  i was as naked as i could legally be (shorts and a sports bra) and i was still really warm.  i think because the trail was dropped down between trees so there wasn't any movable air.  i was passing people left and right... lots of walkers.  ended up with TEN kills on this leg!  TEN! about 2 miles in and i heard all sorts of clomping directly behind me.  i expected the runner to pass me and when the person didn't i looked behind me.  it was a man.  he didn't pass me and i started to feel nervous.  i've been sexually assaulted before as well as groped on a very busy street in broad daylight on a different occasion so this guy's proximity as well as my near nakedness was making me very uncomfortable.  i began to panic inside a little bit so i looked back at him again and slowed my pace (unintentionally) a little bit.  he must have noticed me looking at him this time because he moved across the trail to the other side.  i was so relieved.  unfortunately, once i slowed my pace i never got it back.  my leg was really bothering me at this point and i was noticing the discomfort.  i just kept focusing on the person ahead of me, on catching them, and passing them.  one after the other i did this over and over and finally the trail portion of this leg was over and i was coming out onto beautiful tree lined streets.  beautiful houses, and most importantly a BREEZE!  i was now going east towards the lake and i could feel the cool air.  it was lovely.  

leg 37 - 3.7 miles - winnetka, illinois

the finish to this run was wonderful in that i knew i was done running now but awful in that my leg really hurt.  i had to stretch immediately which is something i didn't have to do the last 2 times and i was limping which was a minor issue after run #2 but not like this.  it went away and felt fine after some stretching but i still find it worrisome.  matt is the runner after me and he's really fast so we had to hurry to the next exchange pretty quick as he was only running 5 miles and would be there pretty fast.  poor megan had the last leg of the race and it was 9.4 miles.  i think if i were ragnar i would make the last leg a little shorter but maybe it doesn't really matter since someone has to run the long ones and all the 3rd legs are someone's last leg.  

shannon, gretchen, matt, feedar, me, megan
van 2 represent!

ragnar 2014 in the books!  this was one of the best experiences i've ever had.  i loved every minute of it... even the awful ones.  i had so much fun and i will absolutely do it again.  i feel so fortunate to have been a part of it with the people i ran with.  we had a really good time together.

finishers!

one last thing:  as i mentioned at the beginning regarding the late start... megan and i didn't end up staying for the after party because by the time we finished it was after 5pm and we were pooped.  we were looking at an almost 2 hour drive back to delafield from chicago and well... it just didn't sound like a fun thing to do in the middle of the night after having been up all night and running already.  if we had started earlier then we would have finished earlier and gotten to the party earlier and subsequently gotten home earlier.  better all around in my opinion.  next year i might just book a hotel room in chicago and make it a whole weekend affair.  problem solved!

and done!  in the bag.