Ragnar in Retrospect

I'm just now getting a minute to write about my most amazing weekend, running the Ragnar Relay with 9 other runners... we ran in legs, a total of 190 miles from New Haven to Boston. I'm not even sure how to describe it! I'll try...

There were 10 of us - should have been 12, but 2 of our runners had to cancel. The extra legs they would have run were split between various runners. I had 3 legs, a total of about 16.5 miles. I thought it would be no big deal. I've run marathons after all, I thought running 16.5 miles over the course of 24+ hours (broken into 3 legs, with time to rest in between) would be no big deal. I hardly trained for it. Did my easy runs since I'm only just beginning training for my next marathon right? I was thinking it would be kind of a like a party (which it was... for sure) with a little bit of fun running involved. Boy was I in for a shock!

My first leg was hilly, and it was hot. I had gotten up extra early that morning to leave for the relay - I had been stressed out all week preparing for it. And I've had a whole bunch of other commitments leading up to this race - the weekend before was exceptionally busy - I've had a lot on my plate. In my life, the first thing to "go" when I'm extra busy is the running. I was unprepared. Anyway, the first leg was hilly and I felt like I was dragging. My second leg, the one I was most worried about, occured in the middle of the night - we wore headlamps and reflective vests with flashing lights on them. But that leg was awesome - I had gotten my second wind, it was cool in the night air, I felt strong and I ran strong. I felt that runner's high which is just so hard to describe. I loved that leg because of all the things going through my mind... how much I enjoyed this activity, how much I was loving everyone's company, how happy I was that the van was shadowing me throughout the leg so I wasn't alone in the dark streets, and the relief over not seeing critters! It was an odd feeling running at night, which I do every so often, but not a whole lot. I loved it. We slept outside in sleeping bags, some slept in the van. Just getting a few hours sleep felt great. We woke up the next morning to the sound of runners coming to the exchange point where we were expecting the other members of our team, just finishing up their leg.

My 3rd and final leg was also tough because of the hills. I finished, but I hated it. I was ready to be done.

In retrospect, my key mistake was entering into this situation without being prepared for the hills. I admit... I just don't like hills. I run the Philly marathon which is a pretty fast course. Running is hard enough - marathons kill you. Why pick races that are hilly? I just never "got" that. I've never trained on hilly roads, literally almost never! If I had trained on hills, I would have enjoyed the course a whole lot more. Lesson learned. Amazingly, after 2 days of hurting quads, I feel great and in an odd way my body is sort of "craving" for hills. Running the hilly roads made me want to commit to doing it more often.

My teammates... I can hardly describe the dynamic between us. Picture this... running with 9 other people, many of whom you've only met a few times. Picture being stuck in a van with them for 27 hours! Picture how awful that could be if you didn't get along with these people. You're tired, hungry, and cranky. Can you picture this?

Well, I was elated to discover that these 9 other people are some of the most wonderful folks I could ever have the pleasure of knowing. We did such an awesome thing together. I learned tons from them. My teammates looked great on the hills. I looked at them in awe. I will start training for hills because I want to do better, and to be a better runner. I want to train harder. They inspired me a lot and I'm grateful to them. It's unmistakable that God puts people in your life for a reason.

Another wonderful thing about this relay was the course and how beautiful it was! We ran through many little beach towns in Connecticut like Old Saybrook and got to drive through some lovely areas. We saw a fox hunt outside Boston which took my breath away. These are things you just don't see every day, and that was a great part of the experience.

We're planning a post-Ragnar party and I can't wait for my family to meet this bunch of fabulous runners. And we're talking about doing another overnight relay next year. I'm looking forward to it!