To tell you the truth, I wasn't really looking forward to Ragnar Relay this year. After feeling so awful during last year's race, I knew it could happen again. Plus, this relay was right in the middle of the triathlon training, so I saw it as more of a hinderance than anything. But as race day got closer, I got more excited. How often do I get to spend two days with my closest running friends?
This year our start time was a few hours earlier. I saw this as a good thing because I figured more daytime meant less nighttime. This may seem a bit weird, but I felt my worst during the night last time. I had a couple of ideas of how to remedy this and hoped that it worked this year.
Our start time was 8:00am this year, so we met at Carrie's at 6:00am. Early start for a long day. We packed up our sparkly van and headed to the race start in Huntington Beach, CA. I was extra excited for Ragnar this year because my brother Eric was racing too. And his start time was the same as ours! He came with a team of 12 and although we didn't run the same legs, we got to hang out a lot.
Four of us were returning to the team and two of us were new. The four veterans kept the same positions as last year, so we could see if we had any improvements. The race was about 10 miles shorter this year and a few of the legs were different. Only two of mine ended up the same and I had an additional 5 miles this year.
#1 Linda
#2 Brenna
#3 Kelly
#4 Danica
#5 Carrie
#6 Elise
Linda started us off at 8:00am. Eric also was runner #1 so I got to cheer him on as he started off too. The race had begun for us and we were pumped! Since I was the last runner, I wouldn't be running for a few hours, right as the day would start to get hot.
Like I mentioned before, last year I got super sick. I think part of the reason was because I got carsick. Sitting in the back of a 12-seater van will do that to you. This year I brought lots of Dramamine and took it every 4-6 hours. It worked like a charm (thankfully)!
As each runner would start their leg, I would see Eric's team at each exchange. We realized that we might actually stay close the whole time and it became a competition. No surprise since we come from a pretty competitive family. Sibling rivalry at it's best.
#1 - Leg 6: 3.8 miles Easy (Anaheim, CA)
Time: 30 minutes (7:53 pace)
Kills: 9
(NOTE: You won't believe it but my Garmin only holds 7 runs in it's history. I already had 2 in there, so it deleted all of my Ragnar runs, except my last one. Go figure. So all of my times are approximate.)
This leg was 1 mile longer than last year, but I actually went faster this year. Last year they had so many street crossings in this leg, so I spent a lot of time waiting at stoplights. Someone got smarter this year and had us run on the trail instead of waiting to cross a major intersection. This was a pretty short leg and it was hot outside. We ran on the Santa Ana River Trail for half of it and the sun seemed to radiate off the trail. I finished my leg and was surprised that my team wasn't there waiting for me, only the next runner. I didn't have my phone and I didn't know where they were. Luckily I found my brother and was able to call them. I guess parking was bad and they were parked far away. Being runner #6 means my legs always ended at big exchanges, which meant my team wasn't able to meet me there. Kinda a big bummer, but now that I know that, I wasn't sad for the situation.
#2 - Leg 12: 8.5 miles Hard (Lake Elsinore, CA)
Time: 1:11:00 (8:21 pace)
Kills: 29
This was definitely my hardest leg of Ragnar. Last year this leg was only 4 miles, but they extended it to the next exchange this time. It was 90 degrees, only one water stop, and my van never stopped to give me a refill. Luckily I brought a handheld water bottle because I needed it. As hard as this leg was, I really liked it. I've always liked running in the heat. I just kept telling myself it was a fun run in a new place and I should enjoy it. I tried talking to some of the people I passed but almost everyone had headphones. Lame! I came into the exchange and was greeted by a unicorn. Yes, our team had two unicorn heads which we used to entertain ourselves as well as others.
Not long after that, it began to get dark. We stopped by a Carl's Jr. to pick up some food. I went with a BBQ grilled chicken sandwich. It was nice to eat real food, although I had been trying to do that all day. My strategy was to pretend like it was a normal day and eat how I normally would. Then, before each run I would eat a gel.
#3 - Leg 18: 7.5 miles Very Hard (Escondido, CA)
Time: 1:04:00 (8:32 pace)
Kills: 32
This was my favorite leg last year and I have to say that it remains my favorite this year too. But just because it's my favorite doesn't mean it was easy. It starts with a 2 mile, 6% grade, 1000' climb. It is just the perfect grade to chug along, but not feel exhausted. I seemed to pass people right and left running up that hill.
As I got near the top of the climb, I spotted a Vizsla and was able to shout, "I have a Vizsla too." Then I saw that it was my pup. Surprise! Skyler, Pumpkin, and Desmond were there to greet me at the top! I couldn't have been more shocked or excited! It was near midnight and Desmond could barely keep his eyes open. Pumpkin, of course, jumped up on me. They ran with me for about 1/4 mile then left to meet me at the exchange.
After that, the run was cake. There was a lot of downhill and some rollers, but I was on cloud nine. My family had come to see me! I finished the rest of the leg and was ready to greet my family at the exchange. We talked for a few minutes, but I had to go quickly since the race keeps going. Skyler is such a great husband!
#4 - Leg 24: 4.9 miles Hard (Carlsbad, CA)
Time: 40 minutes (8:09 pace)
Kills: 1
Since we started earlier in the day, there was a different dynamic for the race. We passed a lot of the slower teams, who started earlier than us, at the beginning, so there weren't as many to pass as we got closer to San Diego. This Carlsbad leg was my least favorite both years. It's in the middle of the night (around 2:30 am) and is super boring. It's an industrial area and there weren't many runners around. This was the first time I got passed by a runner. When I finished I tried to go to sleep for a while. My stats-taking skills then went down the drain as I neglected them.
I tried to sleep during those early morning hours, but my body just wouldn't let me. But surprisingly I wasn't feeling sick like I did last year. Another reason for that was because I changed out of my sweaty running clothes after each leg during the night. I pulled on a sweatshirt and sweat pants and felt so cozy. It's way better than shivering in wet clothes in the middle of the night.
We were at the Solana Beach exchange for quite a while. Eric was there and we got to hang out as the sun came up. It was a beautiful morning!
#5 - Leg #30: 4.2 miles Very Hard
Time: 32 minutes (7:45 pace)
Kills: 8
Torrey Pines. This was another hilly leg that a lot of people feared. About 500' of climbing in about one mile. It's steeper than the Escondido one, so it seems longer, but it isn't. This leg didn't happen until about 8am. The sun was beaming and it felt wonderful. I really enjoy climbing. I felt great, so much better than last year. My calves were really started to stiffen and it was difficult to walk, but running was a lot easier than walking. I guess that's expected when you sit in a van doing nothing between all of the legs.
#6 - Leg #36 5 miles Easy
Time: 44 minutes (7:56 pace since I ran an extra 1/2 mile)
Kills: 2
Just one more leg to go. Just another 5 miles. Although my calves were screaming in pain, I knew I could finish strong. I changed into a royal blue skirt, since we were dedicating our finish to honoring Boston. I was ready to rock.
Eric's teammate started just 30 seconds in front of me. I thought I could catch him, but then I hit a detour....an actual detour. I got lost. In the same place Kelly got lost last year, I got lost this year. I was running along a patch near the harbor when the sidewalk split into two. There were always signs when you needed to deviate from continuing straight, so I continued running straight, following another runner. Something didn't feel right and when I caught up to the runner, who wasn't running in the race, I knew I had made a wrong turn. Luckily I wasn't too far out of the way, or so I thought. I couldn't find any Ragnar signs at all! Where was I supposed to go?! I knew the finish line was near the convention center, so I ran in the that direction. Still no signs and no runners, so I was feeling a little nervous.
Finally I spotted the "One Mile Left To Go" sign. I ran as fast as my tight calves would let me. I sprinted to the finish waiting area to find my team not there. They were walking along the side not paying attention. I yelled at them to hurry up so we could finish together. And we did! 29 hours and 39 minutes later, Team Sparkle finished!
I was excited to see my brother waiting for me there too. His team finished 4 minutes in front of us, just about the time it takes to run 1/2 mile (the extra mileage I ran while lost). Oh well.
Photos galore! That's what happens when you bring a professional photographer in your van with you. We had a blast posing and running around the place.
I ran a total of 34.4 miles in approximately 4:42, at an average pace of 8:09. And I had the most elevation gain of anyone on the team at almost 2500'. Oh yeah I'm proud of that! Will I do it again? Last year I said NO, but this year has changed my perspective of relays and I will definitely be on board for next year.
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