Ragnar SoCal Race Report - Niki

A note from JB: Niki's race report is here!

After an ankle injury just before the Vegas Ragnar and officially becoming a “drop out” I had something to prove in this race!! I was well trained and ready to get back into racing. Here’s my uncensored report…

Leg 10- 5.4 miles- Hard- 9:36 pace

HOT!!! Hotter then hot….hotter then hell!!! Just two runners before, the temp. gage read 85 degrees. It’s warm, but I could handle that….no worries. I started running around 1:30 in the afternoon. I was only 1 mile into my run and my throat was so dry I couldn’t swallow. I kept wishing I had trained in the middle of the day in the heat, but then realized, there hadn’t been a day this hot during my training. Yes….that’s what I was thinking while I was running, why is it so hot?!!! I was so glad to see my van at mile 2 with water. I drenched my body and to my surprise I was dry 1 minute later. A short dirt trail appeared in a residential neighborhood and I had the pleasure of running behind a tractor, blowing dirt in my face. So unexpected! With just a mile to go, after completely soaking my body with water about 6 times and drinking more then I wanted to, (I felt sick to my stomach from drinking so much) I was running out of reasons to keep running. I wanted to stop and walk the rest of this run. I couldn’t find a reason for this insanity! What was I doing?!!! I was stopped at a stoplight when another runner caught up to me. She was struggling as well. I asked her if she needed more water, my van was just ahead of us. We were talking about how hot it was. We decided to run together the last mile and pace each other. The light turned green and we were off. Talking took my mind off the heat…and I found out this was her first race ever. This mother of 4 from North Carolina, that had trained indoors on a treadmill was struggling. She needed to walk. I couldn’t leave her now. I walked with her for about 15 seconds and then her watch beeped. 1/2 mile to go. I was so happy to hear those words come out of her mouth. We can run the rest of this! She regretfully agreed to try and run the rest of the way without stopping. The girl in green was walking and I grabbed her arm, “come on, you can do it, run with us!” We picked up a 4^th girl just before the exchange came into view. It might not have been the longest Ragnar leg I’ve done, but it was by far the hardest. I was so glad when that run was over. I didn’t find out until I got in the van but it was 96 degrees! Are you effing kidding me?! No wonder!!!!

Leg 22- 3.8 miles- Easy- 7:35 pace

I felt good going into this run. I was hydrated and fully recovered from the brutality of my first run. After struggling through our first legs, Van 2 was feeling the hunger to pick up the pace and get these second legs over with and get a little sleep. We had shorter runs, and with the sun down and the temp. just right, nothing was going to stop me from busting out a good pace. This run was a little more then a 5k, mostly down hill, with a little steep up hill in the middle. I trained on hills and I felt confident. Taylor and I were making predictions on how fast we could run these legs. I wondered if I could finish this run in 25 mins. It was 1:30 a.m. and I was ready to bust out this run! Almost 2 miles into this short run I was feeling amazing and my legs were moving fast! Just ahead was that steep hill. I could see a couple of runners at the top of the hill just as I was approaching it. I was determined to pass them before this race was over. Before I knew it, the hill was gone and I had sprinted up it. Now it was time to pass those runners. With 1 mile to go I passed them, now I just needed to keep my lead. That damned headlamp kept falling in my face and then my shoe came untied. I wasn’t about to stop. I ran through the exchange holding my headlamp on my forehead with an untied shoelace flopping around. I have never ran that fast or that hard in my life! It had to be fast. I was sprinting. Sure enough, my fastest time ever. That felt good!!!!

Leg 34- 6.4 miles- Hard- 9:14 pace

Our van was still looking for Taylor who had wondered off the unmarked course with about 15 other runners. I was very nervous that I was going to get lost. I kept asking the volunteers if this run was marked well, and asked them to describe the route to me. I DID NOT want to get lost!!! Taylor came flying into the exchange like a bat out of hell and I was off. The first mile I was running along a busy boardwalk…people everywhere, I was weaving in and out of them. I wanted to sing a circus theme. I felt like a spectacle. My saving grace for this run was going to be the scenery…running along the beach…yes! (It ended up being a really ugly run through the worst part of San Diego. Great!) Mile 2, my hamstrings and calves were screaming at me. Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to sprint that 2^nd leg. I was feeling the effects now. This run was supposed to be flat, so when I looked ahead and saw my first hill I groaned out loud…”Liars!” I caught up to a girl and quickly started an I’m-crazy-what-am-I-doing-running-this-race-I’m-dying conversation. We agreed that it would be easier to finish the last 4 miles of this race together. We talked about everything from natural childbirth, to marathons, to being glad we were running with a buddy through the San Diego ghetto to avoid being gang raped, to the fact that our vans can’t go 10 secs. without making a “that’s what she said joke.” We kept a steady pace and although I may never see her again, I am very grateful to Candice from Glendale, Ca. for pushing me those last few miles. I finished all 15.6 miles! And I didn’t BONK!!!