This past June I ran Ragnar. this makes me an official Ragnarian. In case you don't know about Ragnar, let me tell you:
There are many Ragnar races all over the country. This one was from Madison, WI to Chicago with a total distance of around 200 miles. To accomplish those 200 miles someone from a team of 12 is always running; one at a time.
The team is split into two sub teams of 6, known as van 1 and van 2. Each runner is assigned a runner number. van one contains runners 1-6 and van 2 contains runners 7-12. I was runner 7. I like the number 7 (3 is my favorite number) but I did not like to be runner 7.
I was the first one to run on our van for each set of legs. It stinks after TRYING to sleep and it also stinks having to wait for runner 12 to finish before we stop for real food.
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| We closed down the after party |
Each runner runs three legs, each of varying lengths. The most cumulative miles is about 22 and the least is under 10. This makes it nice for people who don't do long distance running to be on the team.
Ragnar challenges:
- Trying to keep your shit together
Having a 12 passenger van for 6 people sounds like there would be ample room for everyone's stuff. Sort of. I organized my stuff as best as possible but not having done this before I packed without knowing how this thing was going to go down.
That small area in the back of the van had about 3 layers - coolers, sleeping gear and bags full of personal belongings. Then there were bags of personal belongings that everyone kept with them in the main cabin. Add in a bazillion charging cords, water bottles, towels and snack bags.
One of us wasn't that organized and so instead of a nice contained bag of stuff it was strewn all over the first bench seat. I was certain at one point that I left my second pair of shoes back on the lawn at the hotel. I was a little panicky as the shoes I wore for my first leg jacked up my feet to where my toes felt like they were crossed. Zuzana reminded me they were in the way back. Whew!
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| Where did I put that again? |
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| All nice and tidy... for now |
2. finding time to sleep
I took Z-Quill the first night in the hotel. I needed to get a good night's sleep as I knew sleep time during the race was extremely limited. While van 1 is running we (van 2) had about 6 hours to clean up, get food, restock supplies and SLEEP!
I do like my sleep. I make sure I always have enough time to sleep. I am not trying to be some warrior who survives on 4-5 hours of sleep per night. that's just stupid. Not to mention unhealthy. Of course this was an exception but my body is used to ample time in bed. I made it, obviously, but it was challenging and all part of the big fun.
We finished our first set of legs after the sun set. We found a Noodles and Company and scarfed down some food then headed over to some school that kindly opened its doors for us to sleep. I opted out of a shower and headed straight for that hard gym floor.
I envied those who spent good money on a fancy sleeping pad. As a stomach sleeper with an ample bosom it was impossible to get comfy on that floor. Adrenalin is a real thing and the only thing that kept me going.
I envied those who spent good money on a fancy sleeping pad. As a stomach sleeper with an ample bosom it was impossible to get comfy on that floor. Adrenalin is a real thing and the only thing that kept me going.
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| it was like a junior high lock in...remember those? |
I was the first runner in our van which meant that I had to come right out of that not-so-sleep sleep and run.When I'm exhausted it takes me awhile to shake myself into a functioning alert person after a short nap. Luckily the first part of my 6 mile leg at 1 in the morning was on a nice decline.
On a side note I am also one of those people who cannot throw up and get on with everything. One of the runners in van 1 puked and kept running. That's amazing.
On a side note I am also one of those people who cannot throw up and get on with everything. One of the runners in van 1 puked and kept running. That's amazing.
The second opportunity to sleep was in Racine in the early morning. I did decide to take a shower this time before napping. The shower and the nap were at a beautiful YMCA that overlooked Lake Michigan. Our van found a small exercise room and sacked out. My FitBit recorded a total of 1.75 hours of sleep during Ragnar.
I started to get cranky later that day and nodding off in the van. I'm so glad we had a driver who wasn't running because if I had to drive we'd probably all be dead.
I started to get cranky later that day and nodding off in the van. I'm so glad we had a driver who wasn't running because if I had to drive we'd probably all be dead.
3. Deciding whether sleep or showering is the higher priority
As I mentioned there is little time to get everything done while the other van is running. I made my own baby wipes to take with. I baby wiped the heck out of myself after each leg aiming to not stink and to not develop a bacterial infection. I think I did a good job because I felt fresher than I had imagined I would so after the first set I opted to sleep.
4. finding a place to change
While one person is out running the rest scurry to drive to meet them somewhere around half way with cold water, a quick muscle stretch for those hard to reach places and to check on their health. In this heat anything was possible.
We were talking to the race director while waiting for Zuzana in the middle of her first leg. He was on the ground with a laptop quickly trying to complete as many injury reports as possible. I think he has something like 300 already.
There isnt much time to change and not many places to change. You have to make do. There were almost 500 teams and with each team having two vans that's nearly 1000 white vans parked alongside of these Wisconsin country roads. There's no privacy! Good think I'm not too shy.
The first time I got to change was when we were parked alongside the road and a wooded area in the middle of the day. There was a van in back of us but no one was in it and the Goose Island team in front of us.
My team went around the corner to check up on Ernest. With the van door blocking the Goose Island folks I quickly changed outside. it's really hard to get a tight sports bra off quickly when you just ran 7 miles in 92 degree weather! Now I see where a Sprinter van with the high top comes in handy - you can actually change inside the van!
The second time I changed was around 2 in the morning in a church parking lot. Everyone was close to the street waiting for Ernest to come along. We were the only can in the lot. I suspect the guy who came outside of his house across the street was the church care taker and he had a video feed of what I was doing.
I never got to change after my 3rd leg because we split up the last few legs due to the heat. I had to be ready to go. Funny how at this point there was more waiting around time.
5. Putting aside your normal eating habits
You have to eat what you can and when you can! the snacks for the van were purchased for us and not stuff I would buy for myself. Next time I'm going to suggest a BYOS arrangement. I was really limiting the food I brought too.
I had a few blocks for the run and some sports nutrition but nothing solidly food. I also didn't realize that no we weren't going to stop for real food until the last runnier in the van finishes. This was not good for me being the first runner in the van. I was eating stuff I didn't want to eat. But that's how it goes I guess.
6. the heat, by God, the heat!
I have never ever run in heat like that! We arrived at the starting point of our first leg for our van. The temperature must have climbed 10 degrees from when we left the hotel. I had a short sleeved shirt on over my tank top when I got out the van. What was I thinking? We stood there in the sweltering heat listening to a safety video and I was miserable.
It was a good 1.5 hours before I actually got to go. As I stood alongside a building trying to get in what little shade there was I began to panic. There was no air flow and I thought I was going to pass out. I have passed out twice before so I know it can happen to me although it wasnt from heat.
I took a photo though snapchat and flipped through the filters. The temperature filter said 92 degrees. When you run, your body can heat up, up to 20 degrees. So basically it was like running inside an oven.
I got onto a partially shaded trail. Every once in awhile I came to a clearing and a hot breeze like a dragon's fire would blaze out. It didn't help. I needed one of those magical Lake Michigan breezes I can usually count on!
My night leg was great. It was still humid but the temperature was wonderful. We arrived in Racine early saturday am at one of the major exchanges. I was chilly enough to put on a light jacket.
Then, of course, the heat settled in again as the day wore on. By the time we pulled into the last major exchange in North Chicago it was all gross outside, again.
I ran what was supposed to be my last official leg though the neighborhood and out to the main road and passed Great Lakes Naval base. At this point I really had to go to the bathroom. The course took me onto the Greenbay Trail.
I ran this in the opposite direction last year in the Fort to Base race so I knew that I'd pass some small strip malls and train stations. I kept my fingers crossed one of them was near and open. Success! A train station was open.
I was so bored on this trail. No one was coming along. I would have paid at this point to be someone's road kill! The heat and the boredom was agonizing. My text alert went off on my phone. I usually never stop to look at a text when I'm running but this time I'm glad I decided to check. Emily told me that Ernest was going to take over at mile 3. I think my leg was supposed to be 7.5.
We had decided to split up Emily's leg of 10 miles and Millie's leg had to be covered as well. They decided to split up my leg too because of this insane heat. Ragnar also lets teams skip portions of the course if you have a very good reason but as long as you double up and cover the mileage. They call it leap frogging.
Emily and Zuzana ran together and then Evelio and Gina ran together. Oh, did I mention that Evelio was in van two but stepped in to cover some of Millie's miles? He's pretty awesome that way.
The deal in our van was that the person who ran the last leg got to sit in the front passenger seat to feel that ice cold blast of the A/C until the next runner finished.
7. Tagging other Vans...Like we didn't have enough to do
Each team comes up with a silly name. Ours was from the SNL skit Livin' In a Van Down by the River. It was easy. It was their name from last year.
There was already a giant van magnet made. Done! Teams make up magnets, or in one case post it notes with sticky frogs attached in little plastic bags, and "tag" the other van.
I expected to come out of this thing with a crap ton of magnets all over our van, but no.
We probably ended up with about 15. It was still fun tagging other vans.
You're supposed to be covert about it to add to the fun. Some teams got lazy and just wrote on our van with window paint. Boooooring.
8. Counting roadkill and other random things
Counting roadkill sounds silly but it helps pass the time while out there, sometimes all alone. There was a Ragnar article in the June Runners World issue. Someone actually wrote in and complained that the author shouldn't be calling runners roadkill - it was mean. This person obviously had never partaken.
Roadkill is anyone you pass out on the course. Weeks later I was out on the Lakefront path in Chicago, when I passed someone and thought, "ooooh, roadkill." I'm a slow runner so I don't get to pass that many people. When you get back from your leg you mark the number of road kills on the van window. Of course, I didn't know I was supposed to write the number so I just put a check in the box.
The road kills mattered more to me on the second leg. I was tired and it was 2 am. I saw a few people struggling and slower than me. It gave me the push I needed to pass them up. Sorry guys!
On Friday night Zuzana started sneezing every time she came in the van from being outside. Apparently she has this thing that makes her sneeze when going into an extreme climate change. We started tracking her sneezes next to the road kills. We thought we were hilarious!
9. finding time to stretch and foam roll
I have serious tightness issues with my legs. My hamstrings have been locked up for months and my calves are not far behind. I have a million different tools to combat the problem.
I was constantly rolling my legs during Ragnar. It really helped! I wasn't stiff at all. It could also be that we didn't stop moving much.
10. These country roads have never seen so much action
I know this happens every year to these country parts but I cant help wondering if the people are annoyed or thrilled to see us.
I imagine that one lives in an rural area because they like the quiet and peace and traffic-free environment. And here were come, a bunch of yahoos, perhaps mostly from Chicago, and tear up their town littering the road shoulders with white vans.
Of course I had no idea what this event was even going to look like. I couldnt have imagined seeing white vans every where we went. And within every cluster of vans there were so many teams I had not seen yet.
Like an idiot I actually thought I'd see people I knew who were running Ragnar. I even posted something in a Facebook group for female Chicago marathoners asking if anyone was running Ragnar and what their team name was so we could say hi. Silly me.
There were something like 500 teams times two vans per team, one for ultra teams. I actually saw "the other Kim" at the showers in the Y in Racine. We volunteer together at Road Runners and CARA.
11. Gina has the best husband ever
We had such a hard time putting this team together. Our original captain who was only going to captain and not run backed out silently with out warning and without telling anyone. Emily had to take over and because she is so busy I helped.
We had trouble putting a team together. A few people we know were undecided so it was a whoever got Emily the money first was in. At one point we had too many people who said yes but didnt pay yet and then we were short teammates. It was ridiculous and unnecessary.
Ragnar has a facebook page. The month or two leading up to the big day one could find desperate pleas for runners to join their team. Our team was among the desperate but no one seemed to be doing anything to get people on the team! We posted on the Ragnar FB page and found some young dude from another state who ended up backing out again. I swear my heart couldnt take all the ips and downs.
Then we found Gina from Austin and with Gina came And with Gina came her husband. He wasn’t going to run. He was going to drive. Like an angel from heaven, jon was sent to us. Typically the runners all take turns driving. I don’t know if I could have been trusted to drive a giant van with 5 other runners milling about while half asleep. It was even stevens as far as head count goes too. Millie was out and Jon was in. Perfect!
4. finding a place to change
While one person is out running the rest scurry to drive to meet them somewhere around half way with cold water, a quick muscle stretch for those hard to reach places and to check on their health. In this heat anything was possible.
There isnt much time to change and not many places to change. You have to make do. There were almost 500 teams and with each team having two vans that's nearly 1000 white vans parked alongside of these Wisconsin country roads. There's no privacy! Good think I'm not too shy.
The first time I got to change was when we were parked alongside the road and a wooded area in the middle of the day. There was a van in back of us but no one was in it and the Goose Island team in front of us.
My team went around the corner to check up on Ernest. With the van door blocking the Goose Island folks I quickly changed outside. it's really hard to get a tight sports bra off quickly when you just ran 7 miles in 92 degree weather! Now I see where a Sprinter van with the high top comes in handy - you can actually change inside the van!
The second time I changed was around 2 in the morning in a church parking lot. Everyone was close to the street waiting for Ernest to come along. We were the only can in the lot. I suspect the guy who came outside of his house across the street was the church care taker and he had a video feed of what I was doing.
I never got to change after my 3rd leg because we split up the last few legs due to the heat. I had to be ready to go. Funny how at this point there was more waiting around time.
5. Putting aside your normal eating habits
You have to eat what you can and when you can! the snacks for the van were purchased for us and not stuff I would buy for myself. Next time I'm going to suggest a BYOS arrangement. I was really limiting the food I brought too.
I had a few blocks for the run and some sports nutrition but nothing solidly food. I also didn't realize that no we weren't going to stop for real food until the last runnier in the van finishes. This was not good for me being the first runner in the van. I was eating stuff I didn't want to eat. But that's how it goes I guess.
6. the heat, by God, the heat!
I have never ever run in heat like that! We arrived at the starting point of our first leg for our van. The temperature must have climbed 10 degrees from when we left the hotel. I had a short sleeved shirt on over my tank top when I got out the van. What was I thinking? We stood there in the sweltering heat listening to a safety video and I was miserable.
It was a good 1.5 hours before I actually got to go. As I stood alongside a building trying to get in what little shade there was I began to panic. There was no air flow and I thought I was going to pass out. I have passed out twice before so I know it can happen to me although it wasnt from heat.
I took a photo though snapchat and flipped through the filters. The temperature filter said 92 degrees. When you run, your body can heat up, up to 20 degrees. So basically it was like running inside an oven.
I got onto a partially shaded trail. Every once in awhile I came to a clearing and a hot breeze like a dragon's fire would blaze out. It didn't help. I needed one of those magical Lake Michigan breezes I can usually count on!
My night leg was great. It was still humid but the temperature was wonderful. We arrived in Racine early saturday am at one of the major exchanges. I was chilly enough to put on a light jacket.
Then, of course, the heat settled in again as the day wore on. By the time we pulled into the last major exchange in North Chicago it was all gross outside, again.
I ran this in the opposite direction last year in the Fort to Base race so I knew that I'd pass some small strip malls and train stations. I kept my fingers crossed one of them was near and open. Success! A train station was open.
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| Only the captain got these cool sunglasses |
I was so bored on this trail. No one was coming along. I would have paid at this point to be someone's road kill! The heat and the boredom was agonizing. My text alert went off on my phone. I usually never stop to look at a text when I'm running but this time I'm glad I decided to check. Emily told me that Ernest was going to take over at mile 3. I think my leg was supposed to be 7.5.
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| You can't cross the road without a flag |
We had decided to split up Emily's leg of 10 miles and Millie's leg had to be covered as well. They decided to split up my leg too because of this insane heat. Ragnar also lets teams skip portions of the course if you have a very good reason but as long as you double up and cover the mileage. They call it leap frogging.
Emily and Zuzana ran together and then Evelio and Gina ran together. Oh, did I mention that Evelio was in van two but stepped in to cover some of Millie's miles? He's pretty awesome that way.
The deal in our van was that the person who ran the last leg got to sit in the front passenger seat to feel that ice cold blast of the A/C until the next runner finished.
7. Tagging other Vans...Like we didn't have enough to do
Each team comes up with a silly name. Ours was from the SNL skit Livin' In a Van Down by the River. It was easy. It was their name from last year.
There was already a giant van magnet made. Done! Teams make up magnets, or in one case post it notes with sticky frogs attached in little plastic bags, and "tag" the other van.
I expected to come out of this thing with a crap ton of magnets all over our van, but no.
8. Counting roadkill and other random things
Counting roadkill sounds silly but it helps pass the time while out there, sometimes all alone. There was a Ragnar article in the June Runners World issue. Someone actually wrote in and complained that the author shouldn't be calling runners roadkill - it was mean. This person obviously had never partaken.
Roadkill is anyone you pass out on the course. Weeks later I was out on the Lakefront path in Chicago, when I passed someone and thought, "ooooh, roadkill." I'm a slow runner so I don't get to pass that many people. When you get back from your leg you mark the number of road kills on the van window. Of course, I didn't know I was supposed to write the number so I just put a check in the box.
The road kills mattered more to me on the second leg. I was tired and it was 2 am. I saw a few people struggling and slower than me. It gave me the push I needed to pass them up. Sorry guys!
On Friday night Zuzana started sneezing every time she came in the van from being outside. Apparently she has this thing that makes her sneeze when going into an extreme climate change. We started tracking her sneezes next to the road kills. We thought we were hilarious!
9. finding time to stretch and foam roll
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| My legs are of the right length to brace my foot on the van roof! |
10. These country roads have never seen so much action
We joked a lot that it must look like a child kidnappers convention...Yes, I know that's not nice and probably offensive to people whose child has been kidnapped but ya know what? sometimes I get sick of living in such a PC world.
The country quaintness was begging for me to take photos with my real camera and walk around and explore. We passed through some cute little "downtown" areas. Would it even be called a downtown when there are like three stores, a restaurant and a post office? More like a depot? I'm not up on small town terminology.
Like an idiot I actually thought I'd see people I knew who were running Ragnar. I even posted something in a Facebook group for female Chicago marathoners asking if anyone was running Ragnar and what their team name was so we could say hi. Silly me.
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| KT tape lines |
11. Gina has the best husband ever
We had trouble putting a team together. A few people we know were undecided so it was a whoever got Emily the money first was in. At one point we had too many people who said yes but didnt pay yet and then we were short teammates. It was ridiculous and unnecessary.
Then we found Gina from Austin and with Gina came And with Gina came her husband. He wasn’t going to run. He was going to drive. Like an angel from heaven, jon was sent to us. Typically the runners all take turns driving. I don’t know if I could have been trusted to drive a giant van with 5 other runners milling about while half asleep. It was even stevens as far as head count goes too. Millie was out and Jon was in. Perfect!
Jon also acted as our roadie. He kept the back area eith the
luggae in order and the coolers full of ice. Whatever we needed, he was there. He
took up fuel duty and doused us with ice cold water when we ran in from
finishing a leg. And for Gina he was like her personal pit crew, rolling out
her muscles and refilling her water bottle.
In exchange for all his awesomeness we didn’t charge him for
anything like hotel, food, van rental.
I hope someday to have a Jon of my very own.
Van 2 created sayings:
- slap back
If Millie ever reads this I hope she doesn't get upset. Millie was out before she even started. She wasn't feeling good when I arrived at Emily's Thursday night but being the trooper that she is she went with the team to Madison and thought perhaps all she needed was a good night's sleep.
She woke up Friday morning and still felt like crap. While we were downstairs eating breakfast we get a text that says she is getting a second wind and can we bring her some back to the room. Woo hoo! By the time we got back to the room she was sick again.
As soon as we got in the van to head to the first major exchange we had to figure out how to cover her legs and she had to figure out how she was going to get home. Unfortunately, since it was a workday, her daughter wasn't able to come and get her and we weren't any where near a Metra or Amtrak train line.
At the exchange we all left the van to go and get settled in and do the safety orientation. Zuzana and I took awhile longer to shop. By the time we got back to the van Millie wasn't looking so good and in the fetal position inside the van. Since van one was almost done with their first set of legs they (we) decided they should take Millie to the hospital.
We took her back at the next major exchange later that evening and then gave her back to van one around 1 am. They were finally going to be sort of near a train line.
So, where does the "slap back" part come in? The person from the team who is running wears an official Ragnar slap bracelet. It gets handed off from one runner to the next. I think you get the picture..
2. running is the worst part of Ragnar
Ragnar is an amazing experience. I loved everything about it! The teamwork, the camaraderie, the late nights sleeping on a gym floor.... all of it.
It's the most exhausting fun I've ever had. And I've had a lot if exhausting fun in my life. But, man, the running part sucks!
Who has time to train where you run in the middle of the day and then again at 2 in the morning? I have a job for crying out loud! If we could have just driven around in a van for two days laughing and being silly, I would have much rather done that. Not really, I like goals.
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| ready to go on that night leg |
Running was the worst part mainly due to the heat. That first leg was a nightmare and it made me feel horrible. Horrible about myself for walking as much as I did and feeling a little like I let down my team and physically horrible.
The night leg was amazing. There were times I felt like I was flying! I'm pretty sure I was doing a 10 minute mile at some points.
The night leg was amazing. There were times I felt like I was flying! I'm pretty sure I was doing a 10 minute mile at some points.
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| rock on running warrior |
Running past Great Lakes Naval Base and onto the Greenbay Trail was a night mare too! it was so hot and so boring. I couldn't take it any more. And then when they decided to split up my leg I wanted to run (Uber) home because that meant it wasn't exactly over and I was going to have to run again. But once you get past that and look back on the in between moments it makes it all worth it.
3. Ragnar alaska!
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| the heat! |
Do I need to say any more about the heat?
Van 2 toys:
- megaphone
I like the idea of cheering people on during a race with a megaphone. I also like opportunities to be obnoxious. I got a way cool megaphone with my Blue Cross points and hooked it up to my phone to play a specially curated soundtrack of running related songs:
- Born to Run (Bruce Springsteen)
- Break my stride (Matthew Wilder)
- Charriots of fire (Vangelis)
- The distance (cake)
- Hand clap (fitz and the tantrum)
- Runnin' down a dream (Tom Petty)
- Running on Empty (Jackson Browne)
- Rocky theme song
- Joy Ride (The killers)
- The walker (Fitz and the tantrum)
- The final countdown (Europe)
We played the music and talked into the 'phone to cheer on runners and keep ourselves amused. I'm so thankful my team was fun! Some of these others teams were so drippy and boring. Why would someone NOT want to dance with me along the side of a country road in the middle of nowhere? I think we made people happy with our obnoxious form of encouragement.
2. little hands
While eating dinner at Emily's on Thursday before we left someone noticed these tiny little rubber hands on the table.
We mounted them on the business end of plastic knives and took them with us. We poked people while sleeping.
We clapped for each other and at the last major exchange, we stood on the side walk, one with the megaphone and two, each with a little hand and high fived the runners coming into the exchange. Oh the looks we received!
things I wish I had with me
- sleeping mat and second pillow
If only I had a reason to buy one of those fancy camping mats from REI... I have to sleep on my stomach. Sleeping on my stomach on a hard floor doesnt really work when you have boobs. I could have slept partially on my side holding a pillow like how I normally do but in the interest of packing light I took one small pillow. My mat was an old quilt with fraying edges and a small pillow. I might as well left the quilt at home because it provided no padding.
Final Thoughts:
So that's it. One of the coolest things I've done and I think I've done some cool shit. I wondered how in the world I was going to pull this off.
How was I going to be stuck in a van with a bunch of people and not go crazy? How was I going to run 22 miles in a day and a half?
How was I going to do all of this on no sleep. Well, it's done. And I did it. And I'd do it again.
2. long sleeved shirt
It cooled off quite a bit at night. The air felt great when running but it was still a touch humid. All I had was a plastic rain jacket for running. A nice soft t-shirt would have felt a lot better on my clammy skin.
Final Thoughts:
