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!!!

Ragnar SoCal Report - Runner 4

My Ragnar weekend started with a drive to Huntington beach with my sister in law, Denise, where we were going to stay in her aunts beach house. We got to the house and had to go through the back gate and then look for a lock box with the key to the house. I held the flashlight while Denise opened the gate and an 8 foot metal pole came right down into the middle of my forehead. It hurt but we laughed. Denise and I went down the side of the house to find the lock box, still laughing and I said "Wouldn't it be funny if this was someone else's house?" Just then she turns around and whispers "It is!" So we take off running, and laughing. We found the right house and got in safely.

I was runner 4 of SoCal this year. I wanted to choose a runner that was a little easier/shorter runs than I usually pick but leave it to Ragnar to make changes, even just days before the race, that made it not quite as easy as I was hoping. I went into this Ragnar with not much training under my belt because I was trying to heal up some injuries after running a half in January. So, I wasn't sure how I was going to handle my legs of the relay. This is how it all went down...

Leg 4 - Anaheim/Santa Ana Trail 4.3 miles - Moderate - 9:26 pace

Jon, our runner three, got to the exchange about 5 minutes before us due to construction and traffic that we got tied up in. However, I was just chilling in the back of the truck trying to rest before my run so I didn't realize until we pulled into the parking lot of Angel's Stadium that I was going to have to jump out, run to the exchange and take off. I wasn't able to get my ipod or Nike plus set up so i had to do that the first part of my run. I got settled in and got my pace and breathing good. I had run on this very same part of the Santa Ana trail during the Disneyland half marathon and knew exactly where I was. This part of the trail was dirt before so I was happy to see that it had been recently paved. Most of the run was on the trail which I liked. I was feeling good and happy to be starting off my Ragnar SoCal 2011 experience. It was already getting a bit warm so I was happy that we had an early start time so my leg was earlier in the morning. We turned off the trail and onto the streets with about a mile left. I saw the gates at a railroad crossing start blinking and come down and saw several runners duck under them. As soon as I got up to the gates I saw how close the train was and thought those runners were really brave to go across. The train passed quickly and a finished up my run at a park where I passed off to Nick. It was a good run.


Leg 16 - Old Town Temecula - Just what I needed! 5.6 miles - Hard - 9:19 pace

It had been really hot during the day so I was extremely happy when the sun went down and it cooled off quite a bit right before my run. I started out in an industrial/rural area and it was just getting dark. I was feeling good in my legs and breathing but my feet were hurting a little. There were so many bugs around but luckily I didn't get any in my mouth or eyes. I ran part of my leg on a trail about 20 feet away from the road and there was a lot of marshy grass areas. Reminded my of playing in the ditch by my house as a kid. I hadn't seen any other runners since I had started and there were very few cars around. I turned the volume all the way down on my ipod and could hear frogs and crickets as I ran, very soothing. However, it got old and I was starting to feel beat. Saw my team up ahead with water and was grateful for the distraction. Then about another half mile I crossed a street and ran right into downtown Old Temecula. Yep, just what I needed! This cute little town with wood slat sidewalks lined with restaurants and boutiques. It gave me so much to look at and people who were eating outside actually cheered as I ran by. I was feeling good and my pace picked up a lot on this part. I came into the exchange to hand off to Nick who was no where to be found. Morgan came up a minute later to let me know he was taking care of some business and would be there shortly.

Leg 28 - Del Mar/San Diego - Hard, oh so hard, 6.1 miles - 10:22 pace

I was a bit nervous for this leg because I knew I had a big climb and Ragnar had so ragnarlly added a half mile to the run. Started out on city streets just before sunrise. I was really tired as all Ragnar runners are for their last leg, but I was doing ok. The team stopped to give me water but I told them just to stop right before mile 4 when my big climb started. Saw my sister in Law Denise again at mile 2ish and I thought oh yeah, this leg is non support! She told me drink up and take the water with me because they wouldn't see me until the exchange. So, off I went into the wild yellow yonder - Yellow flowers everywhere! I got out onto some more under developed streets and was right on the shoulder with a mountain two feet to my left and cars two feet to my right. Kind of scary on a hilly curvy road. About a mile later I turned onto a street which was blocked for a special event that was happening later and a policeman told me i could run anywhere on the road until I got to the cones about a half mile up and then to stay to the left. I passed a field where the event was going to take place and there was a fog about 2 feet high covering the field. Weirdest thing. After I passed the field the sun was just showing over the mountain and there were hills covered in yellow flowers. It was so pretty. It was cool outside. It was very quiet. It was the beginning of my mile and a half, 400 foot climb. I was doing good for about 3/4 of a mile. Then I picked a spot about 25 feet ahead that I was going to let myself walk for a bit. I did this for the next 3/4 of a mile. I would run about 100 feet then walk about 25. My quads were burning and I was breathing hard. Got to the top and turned right and saw the road decline so I took off and finished strong. I was happy that my runs were over. Seemed strange though being done when it was still so early in the morning.

JB's Ragnar SoCal Race Report

Wow! Another Ragnar is in the books. For me, it was #8, and big ups to Ragnar for hooking me up with a free Petzl Tikka XP headlamp and this classy trinket to let one and all know that my heart indeed belongs to Ragnar.

Anywho.....the race report!!

Leg 6 - 2.7 miles - Easy
Unlike Morgan, whether my first leg of a Ragnar is 5 miles or less than 3 miles, it always kills me and I have no clue why. This leg started off with a steep decline that lasted about a half mile. As such, I blew the brakes, let it rip and had about 6 kills all within about 3 and a half minutes. This was my first Ragnar rocking my Vibram Five-Finger Bikilas, and I absolutely loved them. However, I had not trained in them on such steep declines as what I experienced at the beginning of this leg. Once things leveled out, I noticed a burning on my right heel and I knew a blister was brewing. It didn't bother me too much throughout the rest of the leg, as I was struggling with a pretty strong headwind instead. I love being runner 6, though cause there ain't nothing better than running into an exchange with 11 other Chasquis cheering you on! My phone was charging during this leg, so I'm unsure of my pace and time. Let's say it was average.

Leg 18 - 5.4 7 miles - Hard
In anticipation of this race, and knowing I would not have any legs longer than 5.5 miles this Ragnar, the longest training run I did was a 5-miler. Imagine my shock upon discovering (2 hours before running my second leg, mind you) that my 5.4 mile leg had been increased to 7. Wow. So, I got all drama about it for about 5 minutes and then decided that I was just gonna do it dirty. The run went really well. The first half was a nice downhill and the rest was relatively flat. I ran the first half with a girl that did the run 7 minutes walk 1 minute thing, and it seemed to work for her. During the last half of the race I ran with a high school hoops coach/psychology teacher from L.A. I thought I could bait him by talking UNLV basketball, since we heavily recruit of the L.A. area; we ended up solving most of the world's problems and chatted about the. Did you know that, among a slew of other things, a youth receiving support from three non-parental adults, effectively communicating with his/her parents and actively engaging in service to others has an exponentially higher chance of "beating the odds" than a youth that doesn't have those things? ANYWHO...we had a good chat and it certainly helped pass the time and take my mind off of my sore feet and blister. Avg pace: 9:35

Leg 30 - 4.3 miles - Moderate
Dude, moderate my butt crack. This is where the wheels came off the bus. While the exchange right on the Del Mar shores was epic, I was quickly swept away by a mile-long climb back into the innards of the California coast. For this run I had to leave the five fingers behind and lace up the old murdered-out Nike Zoom Vomero 4's. I absolutely had to have some padding underneath the now-agitated blister on the bottom of my heel. Had the blister not been there, I would have been in the 5-fingers again. After running in my 5-fingers since Thanksgiving, the Nikes were now extremely heavy-feeling and cumbersome, and because of all the extra padding, my stride was messed up as my foot seemed to be landing earlier than what I was used to. Pair that up with my fatigue and the fact I was running straight uphill, and you've got yourself one miserable run. Seriously, it felt like I was moving backwards the majority of the time. How fortuitous was it, however, that just as I was running through the Torrey Pines Golf Course entrance, I got caught by my favorite high school basketball coach/psychology teacher! Turns out his name is Jim Smiley, and we just chatted out the remaining 2 miles of the run. Thank goodness for the smiley. Avg pace 13:13. Wow.

Ragnar So Cal 2011 Race Report Legs 2&3

Ok, the saga continues.

Leg 2
First of all, HUGE ups to the Chasquis in van 2 who endured the heat during their first legs. None of us were ready for 95 degrees and a wicked sun. You all had the worst of it, so good on all y'all. Van 1 had a really nice resting spot under some pine trees in the shade of exchange 12. Homemade chips and salsa (thanks Denise and Belinda), beef jerky.... and all that after a nice break back at the Bunker beach house in Dana Point. Alright, alright, on to the leg report. It was about 4:30 or around there once Justin got to the exchange looking like roadkill. Justin, no disrespect, you had to put up with some brutal conditions, and I only saw you for a brief moment. My reckoning was about to begin. I train at 5-5:30 in the morning and in Vegas its only, probably 50 degrees. The heat was as big a slap to my face as anyone. How hard could it be? 5.1 miles on the shores of Lake Elsinore. I started out feeling ok. My ankle wasn't bothering me, thank goodness. After 2 miles though, the wheels came off. I was very lucky the van was able to support this leg. The cold water dousings were a must. Adding to my misery, there was no "1 mile to go" sign! Who does that? No notification of when my pain can end? The Garmin was right on though. That exchange couldn't have come much later. Really glad that one was over. Thanks to the van 1 Chasquis for watchin' out for me.

Leg 3
Originally this leg was to start right at the Oceanside Pier and follow the coast all the way to Carlsbad. Approx 6.5 miles of coastal bliss. I've raced on this route, I've trained on this route, but Ragnar had other plans. Instead, I started in the hills and office complexes above Carlsbad. Urban assault indeed. It was dark, it was cool, and I felt good. No lingering issues from the leg 2 heat relieved me big time. I had an incredible view of the ocean and the moonlight reflecting off of it on a clear night. It was really a pretty sight. I was finding it hard to believe that the sun hadn't started to come up yet on Saturday and I was done with all me legs. Despite not sleeping a wink in the Taylor Made parking lot, that last leg was great.

There you go kiddos. Yes, as a Chasqui, your are required to post a race report. No, just kidding. It would be really cool if you all did though. Especially the van 2 Chasquis. Next stop Ragnar LV in October....gonna get real, real fast.

Ragnar So Cal 2010- Race Report

Done and dusted. Ragnar So Cal '10 is in the books. All that's left is the acid in the thighs. After a year of no Ragnar on my calendar, I was pretty psyched to run this one. I hadn't trained as I would have liked, but that might have helped me in the long run, jury is out. I liked the early start time, I liked being in Van 1 (in 6 Ragnars, a first), I liked my van mates. It was "ON". Leg 1 We arrived at the start with a little extra time to spare. I like that. I like to absorb the energy at the start. I had no idea what to expect. I didn't know how my ankle would respond to running hard, something I hadn't done in 3 weeks. As is my custom, I always start out fast. I can't help it. JB even told me right before the countdown, "Don't start out too fast." It was a great reminder, but I simply replied, "Now that wouldn't be my style." I have been to the start of Ragnars before, but I've never realized how big some start groups are. Our 7 am start group was big. I was set to get down to business and it seemed like the team intros went on forEVER. It was cool to have a group of Spec Op Marines in our group. Wonder what those fellas have seen? Countdown: 5....4....3....2...1..GO! I thought I started quite conservatively, NOT. It didn't take but 100 yrds and I knew it was going to be me and the Marine. We started out at a 7:10 pace through 2 miles. I glanced back and saw nobody. Well if this Marine is gung-ho, we 'bout to have showdown. I felt great, no ankle trouble, nothing. My new K-Swiss were just cruzin'. I was on the Marine's shoulder the entire time. Mid point and we slowed a bit to 7:25 pace, no worries. I didn't want to hang on his shoulder for 4 miles and pass him in the last half mile. We understood each other. No words exchanged, just shoulder to shoulder. It was pretty cool. Saw the blessed "1 mile to go " sign. Marine and I finished 4.9 miles right together. Little did the Marine team know, Team Chasqui was about to open up a can "whoop ass" in the form of Denise. Exchange made. The weather was beautiful, cool, sunny. Great way to open my account. Leg 2 to come....

Ragnar So Cal 2011- Still Pumped

It has been a long ass time since I threw something up on the Chasqui blog! NO better time than race week for Ragnar So Cal 2011. It took me awhile, but I finally got super stoked about running this thing about last week, bad ankle be damned. I will Chasqui up and leave a little bit of my soul on the pavemet of Huntington Beach, Lake Elsinore, or Carlsbad. Not like Bean did last year, but close. There is a whole new contingent of Chasquis that have joined the tribe and I'm anxious to meet them all. Having not run Ragnar LV, the last Ragnar I did was So Cal last year. This will mark the first time in 6 Ragnars that I am in van 1. This will be strange as last year I started my first leg at about 5 pm. I should be finishing my last leg (according to projections) at about 2 am Sat morning. I run the first mile of my first leg along the beach and I run the last mile of my last leg within sight of the beach. Thanks Ragnar for the kick to the teeth by destroying my final 5 mile dream run. Originally this leg was to start in Oceanside and end just south of Carlsbad, the whole leg right on the beach, a route I have trained on many times before. Oh well. Still pumped to run. Still pumped to stink. Still pumped to live on Pro Bar's and Gu and Honey Stingers for 2 days. Still pumped to smell the farts from said 2 day diet. Still pumped to "sleep" on the pavement in some parking lot (at least its not the Santa Monica Pier parking lot). Still pumped to put on a sweaty ass head lamp in the middle of the night. Still pumped to have a sweaty ass. Still pumped to see the "1 mile to go" sign. Still pumped to be able to do this with my BRO. Still pumped to run Ragnar. Still pumped to be a CHASQUI!! How 'bout you?

St. George Half & Nike Frees'

Warren here. It’s been a little while since I’ve posted a review on this blog, but running season is back in full gear, so it’s time to get this blog going again.

This weekend was the St. George half marathon, one of my favorites. It’s held in January so it’s a little cold out, but the weather is usually pretty decent, and it’s a nice flat course. This year the course was a little different than in years past. They also changed it a couple of times in the last month or so because of flooding from a month ago. But the final course was pretty good. It started at the convention center in the south part of town, headed east toward river road, headed back through a neighborhood, then looped around a couple of times on the river trails, then back to the convention center. The trails down by the river are actually great to run on. It was also decent sized with about 2700 runners participating.

So the night before the race I was a little worried because I woke up in the middle of the night with a bad sore throat and a headache. I was worried because both Heather and Parker had a bad cold all week and I knew that the timing was going to be perfect for me to get it race day. But I woke up feeling good enough to go. So I got up and ready, out the door and headed for my pre-race meal of McDonalds oatmeal (which was actually pretty decent) and pancakes. I got there in plenty of time to eat, use the bathroom and enjoy the pre-race jitters for a little bit. I also made the decision to use my new Nike Frees’, which are a lot different than my previous Asics that I had been using for two years. I looked for Mason and Belinda, who were both running but couldn’t find anybody before the countdown began and off we went. The biggest battle I have is always with myself. My mind is definitely not my biggest cheerleader, and this time was no different. I started off thinking “here we go, this is a long way,” “ I hope my throat feels ok,”or “ did I eat enough?’ But after the first several miles I found that I actually felt pretty good and my energy level was keeping up. I was able to maintain my pace of between 7:30 and 7:45 pace without feeling like I was pushing too hard. I only had one bag of honey stingers but ended up eating only 2 or 3 pieces. By the last third I was telling myself “ I feel pretty good, let’s do this thang.” I charged through the finish line feeling pretty good. There were a ton of people at the finish line cheering everybody on which was great and they had a great food spread at the end. I finished with a time of 1:40:57, which was a personal best in a half marathon for me. I was pretty happy with the result so I went and got cleaned up and treated myself to a Five Guys double bacon burger. This is a great race, very well organized and a great participation rate. The city of St. George knows how to put on a great race. Also congrats to Mason and Belinda who both did awesome. The only thing I missed were my tag team cheering squad with their catchy signs, of Heather and Parker who couldn’t be there. There were missed but were happy to hear the results.

Now if you’re still reading, here is a quick review of my new Nike Free shoes. I decided to try these to see what this whole minimalist running shoe thing was all about, and I had also just finished the great book “Born to Run.” I had heard great things about the Nike Free so I decided on the Nike Free 7.0 v2 because it has a touch more support than the 5.0 or the 3.0 but is still flexible, then eventually working my way down to the 5 then a 3. It feels like a slipper when you first put it on because it is so flexible and light. It didn’t need any breaking in. I took it right out of the box and on a three mile run. It is definitely different than the traditional running shoe. For one it is so light, almost like it’s not there, and two you sure feel the road a lot more. I wouldn’t say you feel every little crack, but your feet are able to bend and flex more and you feel closer to the ground. They naturally help me to hit the ground with a more midfoot strike and not on the heel. I feel like my feet are doing more work, but that is a good thing. On the turns you do feel your feet do more work and not the shoe. With the 7.0s I haven’t really had to make a transition. These are the only shoes that I have worn since I got them a month ago, and my feet feel just fine. They are very breathable on top, and there is no real tongue, it’s all sewn together, and the few seams on the shoe are nice and tight so no rubbing. It fits nice and tight, but you do want to get almost a whole size bigger I found since they do run very small. It fits almost like a sock. It also has plenty of traction; I had no problems with slipping. Final verdict: I love these shoes. I won’t be going back to a traditional running shoe. Also as a plus, they come in really cool colors. I got the red and grey ones. I Love these bad boys.