4/4-4/5/14: Ragnar So Cal Relay (Runner's High)

This was my third Ragnar Relay. I ran both Ragnar So Cal and Ragnar Las Vegas last year and loved every moment of it.  We had five new runners of our team this year and everyone was a lot of fun. I was in Van 2 again this year and my total mileage was 12 and some change. I like to keep the mileage low because when I don't sleep since I don't enjoy running all that much when I am dead tired. I also told my team that I will be backup for anyone who gets injured or cannot run their leg for any reason. I am also glad that I didn't go for much more than I did because of the issues that I have been having with my hip. I knew that I was going to have to take it easy which is hard.

The same company, TRL Systems, that sponsored our team last year was nice enough to do it again this year. They paid for our vans and the gas which is the largest expense for a team unless you use your personal vehicles. We did have a huge scare with our two 15-passenger vans the day before the event. Enterprise called our captain and told him that due to the Chevy recall that is going on, they were not able to rent the vans to us. After explaining our situation to them, they found two SUV's for us and that is what we used this year.

 

We also had some great volunteers who also volunteered for our team last year. They are so nice to do this for us. One of the girls on our team (pictured below in the middle) finds all of our volunteers and drivers. She is awesome and saves us a lot of headaches, time and money since we would have to pay if we did not find volunteers.

 

Our driver was awesome as well. He drove Van 1 last year and this year he drove us in Van 2. He told us that it was a whole new experience driving Van 2. I guess we were a little too crazy for him. He slept whenever he could but I know the poor man was tired.

My team had a start time of 6:45 am but we ended up starting at 7:00 am since we were busy taking team photos and missed our start time. Ooops! Not a big deal because we do not run this event for time but simply for fun. This year we ran for a more important purpose. We ran in honor of my running buddy's husband who was the driver of Van 2 last year.  He took his own life last September and he is the one who started "Runner's High" so our team ran in his honor by wearing these bibs.

The weather was so much cooler this year which was a real blessing. It was in the 60-75 range which was really nice. It was so hot last year which made it pretty tough. So here is a quick summary of the three legs that I ran. 

Leg 9: 5.3 Miles (3:23 pm): Average Pace 8:02
My first leg was the longest but the easiest. I was a little nervous because I wasn't sure what to expect with my hip but it was actually pain free and I did push it a little just to see if I could run faster than a 9:00 pace which is the pace that I committed to. I really enjoyed this leg because I haven't ran an 8:XX pace in a few weeks. I think I got 16 kills on this run too!

 

Leg 21: 3.25 Miles (2:28 am): Average Pace 9:07
This leg was tough! I had not slept at all and I was running on empty. My dinner did not sit well and I was just not feeling it! I just told myself to take it easy and try to stay at a 9:00 pace if possible and forgot about the kills. I didn't want to run alone in the dark so I pretty much stayed with another girl who was out running. We came to a signal and when the it was our turn to go she looked at me and said "Happy Trails. See you at the Finish" and took off. I wasn't sure why she said that to me. It started to sprinkle and it felt really good to run in the cool weather. I eventually caught up to "Happy Trails" and ended up passing her and she was kill #10. I think she gave me the motivation I needed to get to the exchange.

Leg 33: 3.52 Miles (11:49 am): Average Pace 8:31
My last leg was probably the most enjoyable! Most of it was on a beach path and the ocean view and breeze was amazing. I had slept for about an hour at this point so I was still lagging but wanted to finish this last leg at a decent pace because I was about to be done. My goal was an 8:30-8:35 pace and I was able to accomplish that even though I was exhausted!

 

We had a lot of fun in Van 2 and from what I hear, Van 1 was very quiet. They called themselves the "Library Van." Our van was non-stop and we had a lot of fun. We provided leg support to our runners whenever possible and we also handed out bottles of water and snacks to the other runners out there. That was pretty fun and the runners really appreciated it.

We ran to the finish line as a team which was really fun. We finished in 33 hours 2 minutes and 47 seconds to be exact and placed 304th out of 510 teams in the Regular Mixed Open Division.