If you didn’t know already, Adam and I are running the Ragnar Relay in the Adirondacks this weekend. If you’re not familiar with the race, check out last night’s post or the above hyperlink. 🙂
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10:03: checking in… sitting in a stinky, moist, and quiet van while Hayley runs her beast of a leg (lot of uphills) and Anna warms up outside. Ray and Adam are attempting to sleep in the front seat… the stopwatch on my phone has not stopped moving since we began this morning. The total time of the race so far has been 11:45:56.1….2…..3…. 🙂
My computer is about to die, and we’re in the middle of no where at Exchange 16.
My run was awesome, but more to come on that later.
We enjoyed our 4.5 hour break while van 2 was running. They have some really great runners in their group, an advantage that allowed them to cover some other slower runners in their group and to gain about 7 minutes in their projected time. We went to laundromat (quite the experience) and from there, split up to get some food, and then met up again at Uncommon Grounds, a classy sit-in coffee shop with internet. We chilled there, went to EMS and browsed the “clearance” sections (still way too expensive for my budget), and then headed back to Exchange 12, where Ben was coming in and finishing up Van 2’s shift. We beat Van 2 there, and thankfully, the hand-off of the baton was smooth and Anna took off in a blast and killed the next 4-mile wildcard slot. I had thought I would be running that slot, but Anna had only had a 3.1-mile earlier and was still fresh and ready to go. This also allowed me some more rest time instead of running, resting one leg, and running again.
Anna ran her leg in a perfect 7:30-min/mile pace. Well done, girl! From there, Ray took over and ran his 7.9-mile leg. He stepped in a hole early on and that threw off his knee and his pace but still ran hard! We’re still doing great and killing our projected time. He passed off to me, and I took off for my 5.9-mile stretch.
Running in the dark was a few things, one of which was so relaxing. I actually sang through my first mile, enjoying the silence and my time with the Lord. As silly as that sounds….
Note: At this point, my computer died, and in the van without a working plug, I was forced to put my journaling on hold. I will continue from here from memory. 🙂
Running in the dark was awesome. I never run in the dark at home for the obvious safety reasons, but somehow, out there in the middle of nowhere, on a road with no street lights and more curves than the country roads around home, I felt safe and relaxed as I ran. (Later on, Van 2 runners told us they saw a bear on our route. I’m half-sad I didn’t see it in person. Half-sad.)
So, we finished up round 2 and headed to Exchange 18, where we planned on some decent sleep. Little did we know that Van 2 would also gain time and leave us with little relaxation and simply more running.
10:00am – 5.3 miles -COMPLETED
2:00pm – 5.1 miles – COMPLETED
12:00am – 8.7 miles – COMPLETED
8:50am – 4.3 miles
Ashley’s Run Times: 20.8 miles
12:00pm – 5.1 miles – COMPLETED
9:00pm – 5.9 miles – COMPLETED
6:15am – 5.7 miles
I’ll keep you all as updated with news and pictures as I can! Ask any questions you’d like, and I’ll answer as swiftly as possible!
(This post is getting published late ’cause we just got internet.)
For more information on Ragnar, visit: http://www.ragnarrelay.com/about
Making My Boast 