nadra and her lackey were back to their relay racing shenanigans this weekend at Ragnar Napa Valley, featuring a relatively point to point affair from San Francisco up through....Napa Valley.
We were in Van 1 (two vans, six runners each....you know the drill), which we've already determined is by far the best van as you typically get an early morning run, an evening run, and an early run again the next morning. So running at fairly natural times, avoiding the hot part of the day and (ideally) getting a few hours of sleep at a normal time, not to mention being the first ones to be DONE!
For this particular Ragnar, Van 1 had arguably the most scenic running routes as well, getting to cross the GG bridge as the sun was coming up and then cruising through the heart of Napa Valley during sunrise #2. Pictures really don't do it justice...
Now for the running business...
Leg 1 (2.71 miles) - 8:30amI marked my projected pace much more conservatively than usual from having done scarcely any running over the past year until dialing it up about 6 weeks ago. Given that I still have some fairly decent leg speed, I figured it could hit my projected times on the shorter legs fairly easily, but was worried that it would give it all back on my longer night run due to my utter lack of endurance.
This first short leg played out pretty much as I envisioned. It was a fairly nondescript route through some neighborhoods in Sausalito. We were right by the water, but I couldn't really see it with how things were laid out. I was given a target projection of 25 minutes and hoped to be around 23-24. A few runners had handed off just ahead of me, which of course lead to me going out way too fast in an attempt to gun them down (which I did!), then badly sucking wind and trying to hold it together the rest of the way. I more or less did, in spite of some short, but obnoxious hills in the last mile and managed to pass or 'kill' 5 people without getting passed myself. Time was 22:52, which was right on target, even with coming out a tenth of a mile longer than advertised.
Splits: 7:59-8:44-8:41 pace
Leg 2 (8.26 miles) - 8:12pm This was the long leg I was worried about, given my fitness level. I was hoping to hold it together as well as I could, then try to keep a consistent run-walk structure, as having a 'plan' ahead of time seems to work better for me. This is where the pace projections of Ragnar get a little screwy - somehow I was expected to run 20 seconds per mile
faster than my 10k pace over a longer distance after already having run once that day? I was expected at 1:21, but figured I'd be happy just to beat 1:30. The first half of the run was a bit sketchy as sometimes happens with the night leg - we were following a fairly busy highway without much of a shoulder, trying to stay as much to the side as possible while still being on the road to avoid the uncertain footing, not to mention potential roadkill. Fortunately I got through without taking any spills or stepping into anything unfortunate.
My headlamp became a big frustration for me early on, as it hung loose around my head and kept sliding down over my eyes and thumping the bridge of my nose, despite all my attempts to tighten it, which is every bit as annoying as it sounds. This caused me to lose a bit of focus early with the negative energy and shut down, leaving me a bit worried by the 3 mile mark because of how crappy I felt. Shortly thereafter, I finally just ripped it off and carried it. It didn't matter much, as the lights from vehicles kept the road pretty well lit and shortly thereafter, we hit the main drag of a town called Sebastopol for the final few miles, which offered street lights and sidewalk running; a welcome reprieve from the shoulder. It was a neat little area and brought us past lots of little shops, restaurants, and bars....and best of all, a lot of quizzical looks. This boosted my spirits a bit and allowed me to mount a bit of a rally from my earlier struggles and put in some more solid running. Whoever designed this course seemed to like to put sustained climbs in the final mile, and this leg was no exception. The climb wasn't exceptionally steep, but having already put in 7+ miles on soft legs plus my recurring calf cramps starting to sneak up on me, I was pretty well cooked. I still managed to hold it together and bring it home in 1:25:35 (plus an extra minute or so lost to stoplights), which was comfortably ahead of my self-imposed 1:30 target. Slow, but I was proud of the way that I was able to hold it together after the early frustrations.
Splits: 8:40-8:51-10:59-10:21-9:55-11:59-10:17-11:47-(10:04 pace)
Leg 3 (3.4 miles) - 8:55amOur team rented a gigantic 15 passenger van for this one, which has some drawbacks (such as trying to park & leave exchanges as well as trying to navigate that bitch through San Francisco), but also some advantages, such as having more room to spread out and sleep at night, which allowed me to get a few hours of rest before my last leg. This was another fairly non-descript route on some local highways, the first half with no sidewalks, then turning onto another major road that did have some sidewalks at roughly half way. I held it together pretty well for about 2 miles, then was more or less done, due to cumulative fatigue and another well-placed climb at the very end to cross an overpass. Fortunately, Ragnar is very generous with pace calculations on the final leg and despite being tired, I still figured that I could crush the 39 minute projection I was given and was hoping for something in the low 30s. I ended up at 32:13, which I was happy with, all things considered.
Splits: 8:28-8:45-10:24-11:18 pace
The rest of our van finished in short order (I was runner #4 of 6), then we made our way to a local diner for copious greasy food consumption after handing off to van 2 for their final legs. It was everything I hoped it would be and more. Van 2 battled well through some long and tough last legs in the heat, and then we all crossed the line together just after 5pm.
Ragnar is a lot of fun because of the social networks you form from joining up with different teams. Over time, you tend to develop 'core' groups of people that you love running with and start signing up for more relays with them, only to expand the groups more and more as other mutual friends are thrown in to fill the team. Being that ours has become a geographically diverse group (our van alone featured us from Wyoming, along with women from Vegas, Denver, California, and Kansas, while the team captain from the other van is from Arizona), these events essentially become reunions for all of us. Except for the actual 'running' part, it's great fun!
Best of all? At this race, we were joined by CH superstar badass Omega Lambda!!....
Not only that, her DH was nice enough to tag along in his vehicle and offer support, which worked out great. We were glad to be on hand for OL losing her Ragnar virginity and crushing some souls in the process! Now hopefully we haven't permanently scared her away
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