What a Weekend!

I wish I could tell you how much fun Ragnar Relays are.  I've tried explaining it before. But not many folks understand that it is fun to run, sit in a van, run again on tired legs, get no sleep and run a third time.  All while you may or may not have gotten a chance to shower.  But the folks over at Ragnar have built this really cool brand that inspires fun, comradery, a little healthy competition and the urge to dig deep and give it all you've got.  Each time I run one of these I come home with new friends and even more passion for running. 
 
So where did I leave off last week???  Oh yes!  My ride had just arrived as I was hitting “submit” on my last post.

Fast forward to Friday morning.  We arrived at the Ragnar Relay Adirondacks start line around 9am and met up with the rest of our team, packed up the vans, decorated them, took a group photo at the start and then saw off runner 1. 

The Start, a.k.a. Saratoga Spa State Park

Then those of us in van 2 had about 4 hours to burn until runner 7 had to be at the exchange to get the slap bracelet from runner 6.  So what did we do?  We went to the mall.  Wandered around Dicks Sporting Goods (seemed like a good runner thing to do) and grabbed some lunch at a fresh market there.  And I found a great deal on a fleece vest from Old Navy.  I can’t help myself. I always start to get worried that I didn’t pack the right clothing for the weekend ahead of me and I generally wind up buying something to soothe my nerves.  

I was runner 7.  I ran on Friday around 2pm for 7.8 miles.  Then again Saturday morning at 12:30am for 2.3 miles.  My last leg was a little later that same morning around 9am for 5 miles.  In that time I probably logged a total of 3 hours of sleep, though broken sleep, some in the front seat of a minivan and some on the floor of a middle school hallway.  I had opportunity to eat some pretty normal meals, a turkey wrap, Tunisian bean salad (it was labeled vegan so in my head that meant I could throw it in the van and consume it hours later knowing there was no meat or dairy to immediately go bad), a Greek salad with a few sliced of pathetic chicken on it, a breakfast burrito and a cup of squash soup.  Half a CLIF bar and a banana rounded out what I ate during the course of the relay.  This is important to me because this was the first relay where at no point during it did I feel unwell.  See, in the past there has always  been stretch of time, usually somewhere between my second and third legs, where I feel nauseous and wonder why I signed up for another relay.  But this time, everything felt perfect.  I can't help but think that my attention to eating real foods and not existing on CLIF bars alone contributed to my well feelings.  Nothing against CLIF bars!  I do love them...but I don't think either they or I are designed to subsist on them for 30 hours while running 15 miles.  

As for my legs, my first leg had an unfortunate amount of traffic on it.  And for the most part I ran just off the shoulder in a gravely path, once stopping to get a little pebble out of my sneaker.  My second leg was along a wide well lit section of route 9N and utterly boring.  I'm happy that during my night leg I didn't miss any beautiful Adirondack scenery.  

Ready to start my second leg...can you see me??

The last leg was rather beautiful though as most of my running was along the Ausable River (still route 9N!).  And yes, I did pull out my phone to take a few pictures while I was running. 

Ausable River and Whiteface Mountain,
taken while running my last leg.

Last mile of my last leg...bitter sweet

Checking the box for my last leg.
And still smiling.  :-)

Our last runner crossed the finish line 28 hours and 3 minutes after we first began.  I'd say that is VERY respectable for having run 194 miles.  We had some seriously inspiring runners in our van, especially runner 12 who prior to Ragnar had never logged a single run longer than her first leg of 5.2 miles and who finished it up with a very hard 7.8 mile run for her last leg.  Talk about pushing yourself!  In my book she gets the award for toughest cookie.  

Toughest Cookie out there!

More Ragnar Bling!

Sierra Nevada Hop Hunter never tasted so good!

This year, when assembled,
all 12 team medal have a message on the back.

After we left the party we went to our rental house.  There are some amazing finds on vbro.com and one of our team members, Phil, is rather talented at finding them.  This house was gorgeous!  Though it lacked a single pan capable of frying an egg without having to use at least 2T of oil.  But I digress...

Much better than sleeping in a van or the hallway of a school

It had steam shower, sauna, hot tub, massive kitchen, sleeping for 12-14 people and conveniently located in the High Peaks region of the Adirondacks.  That made getting to our trail head on Sunday morning for our planned hike pretty easy.  That was the end of easy though as far as I was concerned.  

Sneak preview of the view we were going
to be treated to once we hit the real summit.

I mean, I'm not a mountain climber.  These legs are made for flat land.  I admit I struggled a bit climbing that mountain, especially after having just run 15 miles, but the views we encountered along the way and on the top were well worth the sweat!  Big Slide Mountain is #27 on New York's high peak list at 4,239ft above sea level.  From the trail head, you gain 2800ft  of elevation over a 4 mile hike which includes three other summits, the Brothers, as well.  And what exactly does "three other summits" mean?  It means that at several points along your hike UP you find yourself going DOWN.  Only to have to go back up again.  My legs were screaming at me!!!  

Hello Big Slide Mountain

Panoramic view on top of Big Slide Mountain

 

Mountain top yoga because it's becoming a tradition

Team photo taken on the way down.

We got back home Monday afternoon.  It was, again, an amazing weekend.  As long as there is opportunity I will probably be signing up for relays.  Not once have I returned home and thought to myself, "that is the last relay I'm doing."  I always come home anxious to sign up for another and wanting to train for something else.  What else do you ask?  Well, yesterday I signed up for a February half marathon in one of the snowiest cities I know.  No rest for the weary!  I have my planned half marathon this Sunday, take a few days off and then get right back in it.  Strike while the iron is hot, right??  

Another really cool thing happened since last I wrote that I want to briefly mention because I don't think its an experience I'll be forgetting anytime soon...I attended a wine tasting dinner.  My friend in law, Jen, invited and treated me to this wonderful event at the Buffalo Club where she and her husband are members.  We were assigned a table and got to know some wonderful people throughout four courses of fine dining and delicious wines (on of the gentlemen recognized my last name and turns out grew up in the same town as my husband...Buffalo is a small world!).  I'd always wanted to attend an event like that.  When Jen suggested it, it was as though she jumped into my brain and knew exactly what I desired.  We don't see each other as often as we used to, a function of new families and distance I imagine, so it was nice being able to spend an adult evening with her sharing that experience.  And I will definitely keep an eye open for some of those wines next time I'm out shopping.  

Have you ever attended a wine tasting event?  Or perhaps a dinner where the food as been prepared around the wine selections?