Counting Down to Ragnar PNW

And my nerves are in high gear!

Training for Ragnar is now done. And as always, there is this little voice in my head that keeps asking…”Did you do enough? Did you train hard enough? Did you give it your all?”

Ragnar training is different than training for a half. Though you most likely won’t be doing 13.1 miles in one leg, you will most likely be running that many miles plus over your 3 legs and over 36 hours period with very little sleep, food, and overall rest.

I will be in van 1 running legs 2, 14, and 26. My legs will be 6.8 miles, 3.8 miles and 3.0 miles respectively. And though my legs aren’t that long, there will be hills involved.

My training runs involved lots of steep and rolling hills incorporated into 3 runs over 36 hours done once a week over the last 6 weeks. This was besides my normal training for the Seattle Rock ‘n’ Roll Half this past June and my continued training for the Eugene’s Women’s Half in August.

I must admit these 3 training runs over 36 hours stretched my body beyond its limits. The first run was always the easiest as long as I beat the heat and humidity. After that, it was all downhill. Run 2, my legs felt heavy and my body felt the remaining day’s heat and humidity more. Prior to run 3, sleep was never easy. I tossed and turned all night as my legs twitched most of the night. By the time run 3 rolled around, I was seriously questioning my sanity.

This video may explain some of our “insanity” http://youtu.be/EL1hLU_LBvs. (thanks, Kelly Howard for posting this)

And even after seeing this video, I am still beyond ecstatic to be involved with Team Pipulsion’s Ragnar PNW. I am also extremely grateful to be part of this team. I am their slowest runner. But then someone has to be. It just so happens to be me.

Donna Canterna, one of my best friends, sent this to me to help keep me focused:

“We’re all slower than somebody. There’s nothing to be gained from belittling yourself over how fast you can run; banish all thoughts of ‘Oh, I’m so slow, what’s the point?’ People get tapped even in world-class 10Ks on the track. There will always be lots of people faster than you. That fact detracts not a whit from your efforts to get faster and the meaning you can find in that pursuit. Any thoughtful runner who has set performance goals and worked hard to reach them will respect any other runner’s quest to do the same. Your effort, not your pace at that effort, is what really matters.”
Scott Douglas, The Little Red Book of Running

And I might add that though running is basically a solitary sport, it is also so much a team sport. There has never been a sport more supportive of each other than runners. In fact, a whole network of runners giving and supporting each other.

We cheer each other on. We support each other even if it means we won’t PR in a race. We share our stories of injuries, what works and doesn’t work for us, and our triumphs with each other freely. Every runner experiences this and more.

And now, I will be able to experience what it is like to be one of twelve runners running 200 miles in a relay race!

 

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