Warrior Dash Race Report!

Wow....been a while since a race report has been posted on the ol' Chasqui blog! Well, here we go...

Chasquis Denise, Warren, Mason, Dennis and I all did the Warrior Dash out at Lake Las Vegas on Saturday. If you've done a triathlon out there before, the Dash took place out in the desert hills just north of where the resorts are. The race is essentially a 5k from Hell on steroids, with about 10 or 11 different obstacles  between the starting and finish lines.  I'll describe all the obstacles I can remember, and perhaps any of the others that ran can fill in any holes.

First let me start with the fact that I ran this race in my Vibram Five Finger Bikilas and they were AWESOME. I was a little nervous about running over rocks and other fun things that a desert run has to offer, but I had nothing to worry about. My feet were protected, safe and pain free the entire way. My feet have been a little sore over the past two days, but I'm attributing that to the fact that they are not used to the uneven surfaces on which I was running.

So, we started the race, which was pretty much either straight up or straight down the entire way. Denise took off and we didn't see her until the finish line. Dennis and I hung back, just in case anybody needed help, ya know? About a half-mile in, we hit our first obstacle - about a 40 yard-long "puddle" of waist-deep muddy water. It wasn't bad at all. We just trudged through it and we were done. I'm sure, however, that the water probably added an extra few pounds to those in running shoes.

The next obstacle sucked. We had to military crawl for probably about 20 yards under barbwire that was only a couple feet off the ground. Crawling through the desert isn't fun for the knees and shins. Mine are still bruised and cut up.

After that, the middle of the race was kind of a blur. We had to straight up and down a few hillsides using ropes and cargo nets, and there was a big half-circle shaped ladder we had to climb over. None of those were bad at all.

The worst part for me was the muck. And when I say muck, I mean like, wet clay. We had to run trudge our way through it and it SUCKED. This stuff was so thick and deep. People were losing their shoes and getting stuck left and right. I went way over to one side where it may have been a bit shallower, but it was no fun. Gross.

After that, obstacles included a balance beam in the shape of an upside down "W," climbing over and down a half-circle of cargo-netting, crawling over tires/under the netting above you, climbing a rope wall, a ladder wall and a cargo net wall, and then two more big old puddles of mud. I was seeing people that had finished and were completely covered in mud from head to toe. I was only dirty up to about my waist, so I splashed around in the mud pool for a bit so I could get a little dirtier.

Not necessary.

After jumping over two burning hurdles (yes, they were on fire), the final obstacle was monkey crawling through about 30 feet of thick, nasty mud, and it felt oh, so good. When I climbed out of it, my clothes probably weighed an additional 40 pounds and my pants fell down as I crossed the finish line and shared a slippery, muddy, slimy hug with Denise. It was hot.

The Warrior Dash was an absolute blast. I don't know that I'd pay the $70 or so that they ask for it, but with another Groupon that got me in for like $30, it was well worth it.

Chasqui Results:

                                  Time                 Pace              Overall                Age Group
Denise                       39:23.45           12:18                118                     6/713
Warren                      40:46.85           12:44                154                     46/623
Mason                       48:41.05           15:13                 473                    121/434
Jordan                       50:01.20           15:38                 555                    147/623
Dennis                       52:12.65           16:19                 675                    182/623

Ragnar LV Time Projections!

Now that we have our 8 a.m. start time, the time projections are complete! These are purely based on the distance you will be running and the pace you have given me. They do not account for fatigue, inclines or declines. Have fun playing with these!

(if you notice anything wrong, please let me know)


Ragnar LV 2012 Projections

Start Time!

We will be starting Ragnar LV at 8 am on November 9!! More details and time projections to come!

The Blog is Back!!!

It's Back
Well hello there Chasquis! I've had a few minutes of spare time over the past week or so and was able to resurrect a large amount of the content from our old team website and bring it over to this one. Since I took the plunge and drooped Facebook from my social media portfolio, and because not everyone is on Twitter or Google Plus, and because e-mail just seems so old-fashioned, and because the Chasqui blog is just so freaking fun and awesome, I decided to put a little effort into bringing it back to life.

If you've been able to post on the blog before, you should still be able to. If you are unable to post and want to, just give me you're e-mail address and I will give you access.

Let's get this thing back up and running!

Ragnar Las Vegas 2012
Can you believe Ragnar LV is only like 5 weeks away?? I don't know about you, but I am digging this course and the opportunity it provides to finish with a super fast time. Guys, this is going to be Ragnar #10 for me, and despite the fact that my final leg just got increased to 9.5 miles, I don't want this race to leave a sour taste in my mouth because I felt crappy on my runs. I'm training carefully (thank you Rocktape and Bikilas) and hard and anticipate being in good shape once race day gets here.

Until Then....
Let's get this thing active again! Feel free to log on to share training tips and experiences, to ask questions or to just talk trash. Between, the blog, e-mail and those fun mass texts, we'll all stay well-informed and be ready for November 9!

Team Chasqui Ragnar LV Roster (Time projections to be posted soon)

1.  Nick G.
2.  McKay D.
3.  Liesel C.
4.  Gubes
5.  Warnie
6.  A-Rod
7.  Chasquita Denise
8.  Bel
9.  JB
10. Riley
11. C-Pix
12. Dray

9/11 Memorial Run

Denise and I represented the Chasquis today at the 9/11 Memorial Run in Downtown Las Vegas. Denise said she wasn't feeling it before the race started. she has been suffering from pain in her foot and a pinched nerve in her hip. However, when has a little pain ever stopped Denise. She plowed through the 5.4 miles with a 7:15 pace coming in 3rd in her age group. We'll just say I took it nice and slow, this was my recovery run from the half. (Truthfully, I just couldn't go any faster than I did and I was ok with that)

Good job Denise!

Disneyland Half Marathon 2011

I was so not ready for this run. Trying to recover from injuries did not let me train the way i should have. However, the day before the race I was really excited for it. Maybe it was the thrill of being in Disneyland and seeing all the people at the Health Expo but I was stoked.

We got to our corral and I was still excited to run. The race started out good. No pain in my feet, legs felt good and breathing was easy. The first 3-4 miles of this race is through the Disney parks and its always fun to see where the course takes us, which characters are out and who is trying to run in what silly Disney costume. I was feeling good as we hit the streets of Anaheim.

Just as I had predicted about mile 7 I was feeling some pain in the feet. It wasn't too bad and I knew it was only because I had not conditioned them to pound pavement for this distance. Mile 8 = major bonkfest! I hit a big fat wall. I stopped and walked for a minute then picked up again. I couldn't decide if my feet hurt worse walking or running. The rest of the race I walked for a small part of each mile. I was just ready to be done. It was a bit disappointing to feel like I didn't do my best but I hope to make up for it in January at the Tinker Bell Half. Now if I can just figure out how to keep running and not let the arthritis in my feet slow me down.



Look, JB, I remember ed to wear my Chasqui shirt this time!

Ragnar SoCal Race Report - Denise

Leg 2- 5.0 miles - Moderate - Pace: 7.12

I started this leg around 7:30 am ish, the weather was great, I felt great. I was excited to start my run early. Morgan brought it in neck to neck, shoulder to shoulder with the marine; I wanted to do the same!! Morgan came in slapped the bracelet on my wrist and I was off, this was a non-support leg, as I was on a trail just above a wash, so I wouldn’t see my team till the end. I was excited and kept a fair distance behind the marine, he was haulin, making quite a few kills, my first mile was a 6.49 pace, I was staying right behind him. Mile 2 came and went pace stayed right about 6.50. There were spots in this run were you had to run down into the wash and then right back up it, I was feeling great right about mile 3.5 it hit me like a fat kid in a candy store, a cramp in my side and stomach, I tried pushing through, cuz that’s the logical thing to do, and no doin it was doubling me over so I abruptly stopped caught my breath and decided I only had about a mile left, just run and hope for the best!! I could still see that marine, and none of my kills had killed me so I figured I was doin alright. As I ran into the exchange I could see Jon standing there so I took the slap bracelet off wiped it on my shirt and slapped it on his wrist and wished him the best of luck!!!!

Leg 14- 9.2 miles - Very Hard- Pace: 8.27

As we loaded into the truck from JB’s families Beach house I could still feel my cramps from my earlier run and I was really stressing about it. This was a hard long run (that’s what she said!!) I tried stretching and drinking tons of water, it was not helping, so the wonderful Chasqui Morgan offered me electrolyte tablets, I graciously accepted, even though I tend to have a horrible gag reflex for unknown tastes and things I just simply don’t like (that’s what she said), knowing this I hesitantly shook it up in my water and began to sip it, it wasn’t bad. When we got to the exchange where I was to run JB offered me capsules of some sort, I would try anything at this point I was nervous. I got into the exchange and waited for Morgan. JB asked how I felt about running 9.2 I told him “I can’t wait!!!!” I felt the bracelet on my wrist and I was off, I had started at a slower pace just so I could get a feel of how my cramps were doin and just how ugly this run might be, but I was feeling great so I picked it up. About 3 miles in, runners would be running on a horse trail. (Ragnar had runner 2 sign an additional waiver at the start line for this leg. This concerned me a little, as I did not recall Belinda signing a waiver to run Vegas 2010 leg 24, from which she walked a way with some pretty brutal ragnar wounds and has scars to prove it, but as they say…Chasqui up) So mile 3 I see the so-called horse trail, and it was pretty descent, so I thought. As I am running there are several, many, A LOT of foot gates that I was having to hurdle over as well as watching for boulders, holes and the marshy areas where you thought you were sinking. The gnats were eating me alive and I could feel swarms of them around me - figured it was a good source of protein! About a 1.5 miles into the trail run, I was killed for the FIRST time ever by a man who had gone the wrong way and had to back track and he was pretty pissed. As I came out of the horse trail area I saw my team standing with a whole lot of other people that were blocking my way, I didn’t know which way I was supposed to go…so I asked, everyone pointed and I continued on about 20 feet to where I had to stop and wait for the crosswalk. I crossed it and began a hill, It was just a small hill, I ran up and over and then lord and behold there was another hill. NOT on my map but oh well, ran it anyway. Finished feeling good and felt I probably could have done a little better but overall I felt good!!!

Leg-26- 7.4 miles - Very Hard- Pace: 8.12

I wasn’t nervous about the hill in this run until Belinda said that it wasn’t “just a little hill” well it wasn’t a little a hill and there wasn’t just 1. This leg started out pretty good. It was about 4 am and there was only 1 runner I could see in front of me, it was pretty dark. I made my first 2 kills and then came upon what looked like a lot of car lots, there were all types of vehicles from small cars to RV’s and trailers parked up and down the street. I ran on the sidewalk until it ended and so did the array of parked vehicles. At about mile 3 I looked to my right and there was the Ocean, it was really cool even though I couldn’t see much; it was really dark. As I began mile 4.5 I could feel the incline, so I decided to go for it. I made it up and over at about an 8.25 pace. I felt good and it wasn’t bad. Of course it wasn’t bad, that wasn’t my “big” hill as I had thought. Now I really feel bad calling this a difficult hill, as it was nothing compared to the cruel and unusual punishment Chasqui JB was forced to endure. But neither here nor there it was mine and I will own it. About midway up this hill as my thighs are burning, my calves are screaming and my knees are plotting ways to get back at me, I could feel someone at my back, so I moved to the left so this person could pass, well they never did, this was annoying. Have you ever had someone just tail you? Well I did and I didn’t like it. As I came to the top of the hill, like angels there was my awesome team with a bottle of water and tons of support. At mile 6.7 I was to go left across the crosswalk and then cross right at the crosswalk and continue straight. Well I was confused and I crossed again. Luckily the man behind me helped me with my confusion and we together continued down the right path. We stayed together until we knew we were going the right way with about ½ mile left, when I took off to my final and last exchange for SO-CAL 2011.