RAGNAR SOCAL RECAP, PART II

About to hand off to Katie at exchange #1.

After waiting an extra fifteen minutes to start, I was finally off for my first leg as Runner #1 at 5:15am. I was also the first runner out of the van on my Hood to Coast team, but it was a lot of fun to actually start the race with all the other teams (as opposed to being in the second van). The start line was a little odd because it started on grass but then had a one-foot step down to the concrete after about 20 yards. They could have just moved the entire thing onto the concrete but whatever!

Like I anticipated, the run would have been really pretty but I couldn't see anything because it was still dark outside. It was all just north along the seawall in Huntington Beach. All I could see was the blinking lights of runners ahead of me and about fifteen feet or so of paved trail in front of me. I was feeling good and got in a good rythym. Had interesting splits: 7:30, 7:25, 7:17, 7:25, 7:30. Didn't quite get a full sixth mile in because the leg was only 5.9 miles long, but I was running a 7:13 pace to that point when I hit the exchange.

There weren't a ton of runners in front of me, maybe like seven or so. I passed off to Katie and she started her leg. Right after she started the sun began to rise. I was feeling great, the leg was easy enough and despite the fast pace it wasn't too taxing on me.

Then started the fun of driving around to support your runners and going to all the exchanges. Katie got lost on her first leg and ended up running two extra miles. It wasn't her fault though, they were missing signs on that leg and a ton of other runners got lost. She handled it well. Everyone else seemed to have a good first leg and before we knew it, we were done.

During our down time we went to meet one of Katie's readers at her school. She is a teacher and we actually got to stand up in front of her class of middle schoolers and talk about Ragnar. It was really fun! Never did I imagine giving a talk to a bunch of kids in the middle of Ragnar. After that we went for lunch at a Mexican place and then tried to nap a little before our second legs. I got maybe thirty minutes in the back of the van.

Colleen passing off to me for my second leg.

Soon enough it was almost 7pm and Colleen came bolting in from Van 2 to hand off to me for my second leg. This leg was 11.9 miles and would be my longest. I have to say it was my least favorite and that wasn't even because of the distance. My complaints were a plethora of stoplights (especially at the beginning) and lack of scenery.

I was able to get some decent scenery right at the beginning when I could see the beach through the trees. But mostly it was just along a highway and kind of sucked. The sun went down and then we started to climb up some hills and run around San Clemente. Lots of stoplights again. The hills weren't bad because I was used to them. The route ended down a service type road through the woods. That was kind of fun. Pitch dark and all you could see was fellow runners. Reminded me of my Hood to Coast night leg.

My body was feeling pretty decent until about mile nine. At that point I just felt kind of tired. I was taking a nice, easy pace at 8:27/mile. Normally on any run over ten miles I run above 9:00/mile so it was nice to run faster and still feel pretty good. I handed off to Katie for her second leg and felt relieved that my hardest leg was done!

Our team once again did awesome on our second legs and finished around midnight. Our team had rented a hotel near the midway point so after handing off to van two we headed there to catch some winks. I curled up on a couch after taking a shower and passed out. Two very important hours of sleep. Unfortunately van two had shorter legs and before I knew it we had to meet them at the exchange.

I then started my final leg. Colleen was always so fun running in and slapping the bracelet on me. She was always so happy and upbeat! Wish I could say the same for myself. Three crappy nights of sleep were catching up with me. My body had stiffened up after my nearly 12 mile run and I was not feeling it. This leg started in the dark again around 5am. I basically limped out of the exchange at 9:45/mile. I'm sure my team was thinking "uh oh!"

Only one mile to go in my relay! Hallelujah!

This leg was a slog but I was able to get through it. The first mile was mostly uphill and that sucked, but I was then able to get a downhill mile. Lots of people were passing me, including many I would normally be passing myself. My body just wasn't having it. I settled into my normal long run pace at 9:45/mile. I was in survival mode and this would get me to the finish line without incident.

The first half of this leg wasn't very memorable, through some office parks and then under an I-5 overpass. The last four miles were along the beach though and right as the sun was coming up. Scenery wise it was the best of the legs and that helped carry me through those last few miles. I felt lucky to be doing what I was doing and my body not feeling very good wasn't going to damper my enjoyment.

Anyways, I "airplaned" into my finish and then I was done! Phew! I don't think I slept at all after that until later that night. Our van was done with our legs around 11am or so.

To be continued...