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Last weekend I was one of twelve runners for the long distance relay team Crouching Runners, Hidden Vans at the Las Vegas Ragnar Relay!
For those of you not familiar with a Ragnar Relay: The Ragnar Relay is a long-distance relay race a la' Hood to Coast. The average team has 12 runners, and the course is around 200 miles long. Each runner runs 3 legs of 3 to 9 miles, and the race takes an average of 30 hours to complete. The runners get from exchange to exchange via two passeneger vans. While one van's runners are running, the other van is resting and trying to get some sleep. For more info, check out this link.
This was my second Las Vegas Ragnar and my 10th Ragnar overall. My team captain Kris was my captain for my 2012 Wastach Back Ragnar team A Backwards Glance.
Leg One - Run at Dusk
My first leg was a 2.7 mile run through the outskirts of Las Vegas. This Ragnar was a bit unusual in one respect: When runners run at night, they're required to wear nighttime gear as per Ragnar rules: A reflictive vest, a headlamp, (Or runner's flashlight,) and a back blinky. (One of those little blinking lights that cyclists usually wear.) Ragnar always has a nighttime range for every race, the hours when all runners must wear this stuff. Usually it starts from 6 to 7 PM, but for this race, the nighttime hours tarted at 3:45 PM! I was surprised to hear this, and even though it was only edging up to 4 PM when I started, I had to put on all this junk.
For good reason as it turned out. The Sun was down behind the mountain before I even got started! I took off from a local park and ran through the suburban streets of outer Vegas. This suburb was verging on being countryside-ish, as I did run by a llama pen on the way to the exchange. By the time I made it to the exchange, it was verging on night.
This was my first race since I had to DNF the Portland Marathon a month ago, when I strained my calf. My calf was feeling good, no more pain or soreness, but it was still tight. I was worried that my calf might act up to the point where I might have to DNF a leg, and maybe even have to drop out altogether. I knew that having to drop out was a slim chance. I felt good about it after this run. I felt some tightness, but no pain or soreness. It did tighten up to the point where I had to slow down. For this entire Ragnar I couldn't run at pace because of my tight calf, not just because it was pulling on my leg, but also because I kept my pace down for my calf's sake. As much as I wanted to do well in this Ragnar, I wasn't about to reinjure myself for it.
( Read the rest! )
( Pictures! )
For those of you not familiar with a Ragnar Relay: The Ragnar Relay is a long-distance relay race a la' Hood to Coast. The average team has 12 runners, and the course is around 200 miles long. Each runner runs 3 legs of 3 to 9 miles, and the race takes an average of 30 hours to complete. The runners get from exchange to exchange via two passeneger vans. While one van's runners are running, the other van is resting and trying to get some sleep. For more info, check out this link.
This was my second Las Vegas Ragnar and my 10th Ragnar overall. My team captain Kris was my captain for my 2012 Wastach Back Ragnar team A Backwards Glance.
Leg One - Run at Dusk
My first leg was a 2.7 mile run through the outskirts of Las Vegas. This Ragnar was a bit unusual in one respect: When runners run at night, they're required to wear nighttime gear as per Ragnar rules: A reflictive vest, a headlamp, (Or runner's flashlight,) and a back blinky. (One of those little blinking lights that cyclists usually wear.) Ragnar always has a nighttime range for every race, the hours when all runners must wear this stuff. Usually it starts from 6 to 7 PM, but for this race, the nighttime hours tarted at 3:45 PM! I was surprised to hear this, and even though it was only edging up to 4 PM when I started, I had to put on all this junk.
For good reason as it turned out. The Sun was down behind the mountain before I even got started! I took off from a local park and ran through the suburban streets of outer Vegas. This suburb was verging on being countryside-ish, as I did run by a llama pen on the way to the exchange. By the time I made it to the exchange, it was verging on night.
This was my first race since I had to DNF the Portland Marathon a month ago, when I strained my calf. My calf was feeling good, no more pain or soreness, but it was still tight. I was worried that my calf might act up to the point where I might have to DNF a leg, and maybe even have to drop out altogether. I knew that having to drop out was a slim chance. I felt good about it after this run. I felt some tightness, but no pain or soreness. It did tighten up to the point where I had to slow down. For this entire Ragnar I couldn't run at pace because of my tight calf, not just because it was pulling on my leg, but also because I kept my pace down for my calf's sake. As much as I wanted to do well in this Ragnar, I wasn't about to reinjure myself for it.
( Read the rest! )
( Pictures! )