Running Again

I think I may have a problem.  This post will be mostly about some running I have done over the last few months.  So to begin I should talk about the first run since the last one…

Clinton City, well the youth council for Clinton City hosted a 5K, 10K, and half marathon.  I thought it would be fun to support the city I worked for and give it a shot.  I helped plan road blocks so I knew the route very well.  I signed up for the half marathon.  I understand that the 5K and 10K had a lot of people come out to them.  Once the race started I was feeling good but I was not trying to break any records, I was just there for the run.  As we made it to the first intersection the leader of the pack made a left turn instead of going strait.  I knew this was wrong but by the time I was at the intersection there were 10 or so people ahead of me.  Needless to say we ran the entire thing backwards.  It’s all good because it’s the same distance, but it was a little harder at the end going up a hill instead of down, owell.  I finished that race in 6th place overall and 2nd in my age group.  I was pretty happy about that since I wasn’t running extremely hard.  There were only about 39 or so that ran the half anyway.  But here is picture proof of that one.

The next thing I did was the Ragnar relay once again.  This makes it my 4th Ragnar in the last year.  Yes I think I have a problem.  Maybe even a slight addiction.  We just got done doing it and are already signed up for next year.  Anyway, this year since I knew which legs were more difficult I thought I would select an easier one.  This year I didn’t have hills to combat, but I did have the distances.  I think my overall total mileage was around 22.  They were fairly casual runs, aside from the distances.

I was runner number 1 and we were part of the very first runners to leave at 5 in the morning.  That is way too early for me.  So away we went, well me and about 80 others.  I was mid pack or so because with 2 runs following this one I had to pace myself.  Also being mid pack allowed me to just run and not have to focus on what turns needed to be made, the rest of the pack would lead me right?  I should have learned my lesson from the story above but I didn’t and the leaders of the pack ran up some stupid his a half mile until they realized it was wrong and back down the hill a half mile we went.   I was a little irritated but I could have been better prepared too.  So that was no big deal what’s an extra mile right?

This is my first leg attire.

The 2nd run went off without a hitch.  I ran from Snow Basin down the hill.  It was a really good run and I felt good the whole 8 miles. 

Once that was over it was time to try and get some rest.  I was able to sleep for a little over two hours.  This was a huge improvement from the other Ragnar relays I’ve done.  I think it’s because I’ve learned the tricks on sleeping.  So we rested at a destination not near our next exchange point so we had to wake up early and get ready for runner 12 to hand off to me at the Oakley Rodeo grounds.  We saw all the cars and runners headed to where we thought was the final exchange for me but in fact we were one exchange too early.  I was dropped off and stood at 3 a.m. in 40 degree weather waiting for the next guy to come in.  After an hour of waiting and no one coming I borrowed a phone from a girl and my van was on their way back to get me.  The road was closed so they had to get a police escort to come and get me.  We were only delayed an hour and 40 mins.  I was exhausted, tired, cold and ready to be done.  So my last 6 mile run I ran as hard as I had energy for and ran a 7 minute mile.  I got it over with. 

So after a long 33 hours we finished.  We didn’t set any records or place but it was a good time.  So good we are doing it again.  So yes I think I have an addiction to the Ragnar Relays, they are a good time.

Team One Mile at a Time

Oh yeah and we did it with only 11 runners instead of 12.

I think that is enough for one day, I will post about Lagoon, The Princess Festival, Swimming and two other races I’ve done in the last month in a day or two.  There is only so much running we can stand to hear about.  So here’s the Lagoon preview.