SoCal Ragnar

In the past less-than-a-year-ish, I picked up this new favorite hobby: Ragnar.  I do not consider myself a runner, although I wish I had the drive, discipline and physique of one.  But I really love running Ragnar.  I ran Wasatch Back in June and did Vegas in November.  So a few months ago, I emailed a friend from college.  I commented that I had seen his Ragnar pictures the year before and asked if there was any chance he was doing the SoCal Ragnar this year.  Hurray!  He was and I was quickly added to the team, along with my best friend and cousin.  (However, my cousin had to drop due to family stuff.  It was my first race without my him.  I hated that he wasn't able to make it, especially since he's the one who got me started on Ragnar, and regularly gave him a hard time about it.  But he scored serious bonus points for running each of my legs with me, even at 800 miles away.)

So last Thursday morning found me leaving two of my kids in care of one of my amazing sisters and another kid with a different sister (divide and conquer for some one-on-one attention).  My smokin' hot husband/official Ragnar driver, my best friend/running buddy, a random guy met through a friend of a friend and I piled into an enormous vehicle and drove south.  In Vegas, we picked up two more runners.  We met the rest of the team in LA to have dinner at the Olive Garden.  At dinner, we acquainted ourselves with the new team, devoured mounds of salad and pasta and eventually crashed at a hotel for the night.

In lieu of story form, here's what I learned at the So Cal Ragnar this year:

1. It's basically the beginning of a good horror story.  Random girl shows up in a parking lot, gets in a van with 11 other strangers and no one hears from her for 2 days.  except it's awesome.

2. Ragnar Roulette is brilliant.  Typically, each runner is assigned a position.  Your 3 "legs" are preassigned to that position so you can study out your length, elevation, intensity, etc. and pace yourself.  You know the order of people in which you will run every time and based on a pace calculator, you even know what time of day you will be running.  You stay with the same van (each van having 6 people) throughout the race.
In Ragnar Roulette, all 12 runners approach the starting line ready to run.  The announcer, seconds before yelling "Go!", draws a name and calls out the team's first runner.  That person draws the second name and starts running.  You keep drawing until all 12 runners of the first leg are assigned, you hop into vans and dive into the race.  When runner 12 finishes their first leg, the name drawing begins all over again, possibly (and hopefully) mixing up the order, the van assignments and any expectations of what you might be hoping to run that day.  It's awesome and was so fun.  I got to to know more people on the team this way, there's plenty of teasing and guessing about what legs to run next and the surprise keeps it more challenging.
For the record, I ran 5.3, 4.8 and 3.5 miles for a total of 13.6 miles.  Some teammates ran 12, some ran 20 and one guy ran 26.  And he was the last minute, 2 day prior replacement runner we had to find.  He's basically a legend now.

3.  On your first leg, HOLD BACK.  That super easy, down hill, so fast you can fly feeling of euphoria that racks up 7:30 minute miles (compared to my usual 9:30) will kick you in the face on your last leg.  ...and the day after when your calves are replaced by rocks.

4.  Do not mix foods from different countries within a single break.
Ragnar is basically spent running, sitting in a van talking to teammates while waiting to run or eating.  Our first "break" (I was in van 2 so we had to kill time before we could start), we dropped off my husband at a meeting for work while we got some Starbucks and Subway breakfast and loitered his client's parking lot.  During my second break there was more food including tacos which did not sit well during my run.  During my third run, the glory of IHop.  The other van did Carl's Jr., Denny's and Thai food.  Post race: burgers at San Diego Brewery.  And Slurpees.  (of course.)
 4b. If you have the best snack food ever, share with van 2.  There were only two runners that I never got to "van up" with and therefore, never share my best-ever snack food.  They heard about the awesomeness of my S'mores Snack Mix (thank you Costco) and are now holding a grudge until I redeem myself at our next race.  We always end up with way more snack food than anyone could possibly eat but I'm never sure what I'll be wanting.  but always bring pre-cut water melon.  and goldfish crackers.  And a cooler full of water and Gatorade. 

5.  Having a dedicated driver is always awesome.  It absolves me of any driving/navigating/destination decision making.  He is my 2 mile markers on each run, he brings me water, he cheers me on and he's my personal foot masseuse.  Doesn't get much better than that.

6.  A really good friend from college that you haven't seen or spoken to in 12 years (other than a little facebook stalking), is still a really good friend with a few hours of catching up conversation.  :)  Especially on a Ragnar.  1 hour of Ragnar time is pretty much the equivalent of 12 hours of civilian time when it comes to conversation depth/quality/bonding/etc.
6b.  Don't run on a broken foot.  But come along anyway.  Cause after you limp in after that first "easy" leg, your team votes to ban you from running and you become driver #2 while your remaining legs are passed off to other runners.  Fortunately, you still get to hang out with the team, renew friendships and at least you tried.  And will forevermore be known for being just that hardcore.

7.  The night run is always awesome.

8.  During your night run, you may want to take a bodyguard along in case you run into a cheetah.  Because your bodyguard can take care of that thing.  But he can only kill it if he can do it without causing it any pain.  Or on second thought, he can just run faster than you and the leopard will eat you instead.
8b. middle of the night conversations don't have to make sense.
8c.  I was not part of that conversation.
8d.  Having a bodyguard on you night run, still not a bad idea.
8e.  Except that this particular bodyguard had such a wry sense of humor that I could never tell if he was kidding.  I was fairly sure he didn't like me, then realized he was teasing me, acknowledged that he probably one of the best people I've ever met (genius, gentleman, sense of humor) and yet, still unsure if he was kidding or not.  And he's this huge, military, could-snap-me-in-half kind of guy.  good bodyguard material.

9.  Loved the team I ran with.  Seriously, we had a great time and I loved getting to know them.  I thought my Wasatch or Vegas teams were fun and was willing to run with them again.  But I LOVED this team.  Already planning two more Ragnars with them.  I loved the sense of humor, easy going attitude, race experience savvy, diverse backgrounds/personalities and team camaraderie.

10.  Nothing beats a sunrise beach run.  My last leg (which put me in van 1, running only 2 hours after my 2nd leg--loved that! not enough time to get stiff and sore but enough time to recover) was gorgeous.  1 mile in, I ditched my headphones and just ran listening to the crashing surf and waving hello to local joggers.  It was beautiful, refreshing, reviving and definitely the most picturesque run I've ever done.

11.  Sleep in for the weak.
just kidding.  I love sleep.  I got better-than-before sleep at the hotel during the night before the race (thursday) which helped a lot.  My bf and I cuddled up and crashed in the back of our van for 2 hours ish during our night break (not good sleep though because we both woke up every 15-20 minutes).  Night after finishing the race (saturday), we drove back as far as Vegas and slept 4 hours on a friend's floor.  And then I tried to sleep on the drive home for a few hours (not much luck).  After we got home, played with our kids for awhile, husband and I both fell asleep cuddling our kids, eventually stumbled to bed and end up sleeping almost 11 hours. 

12.  Do more hill training.  After my previous 2 races, I was painfully sore for 3-4 days.  This time, mostly just Sunday.  By monday (day 2) I went to yoga, on tuesday I taught Pilates and was pretty much back on track.  Until my bf suggested we run this evening.  3 miles and my calves were killing me.  But I signed up for a half marathon in 2.5 weeks so time to keep training!  I train mostly on a treadmill and research/experience is teaching me that hill training will keep my calves from locking up so bad.  My other problem is that my hips tend to hurt by the time I'm done.  Time for more yoga.

13.  Parking at the finish line sucks.  Being in van 1 for the 3rd leg meant I had been finished running for a few hours.  Our van had breakfast, cleaned up a little, donned fresh clothes and hung around the finish line party for awhile.  We checked out the booths, the gear tent and eventually sprawled out on the grass, yards away from a rocky, beautiful beach.  Van 2 got stuck in traffic (just trying to park in the massive crowd) and didn't get in before our last runner crossed the finish line.  Nevertheless, we collected our medals, waited for our team and took some team photos.  We ranked 135th in our division with over 500 teams.  Not too shabby, especially since we weren't at all competitive about the race.

Can't wait for next time!