I actually posted this first on Facebook, and am cross-posting here. If only Facebook would keep/return its notes import feature, this wouldn't be a problem. Stupid Facebook.
A brief report on the trail Ragnar Relay Series I just returned from in West Virginia...
So, there's no getting around it: a lot of it was a really, really tough experience - but due to circumstances out of the organizers' control. The weather was bonkers. We were at the tail receiving end of a tropical storm, and as a result, almost every trail was near washed out and we were running or hanging around in the driving rain. Running the trails in daylight was incredibly difficult and involved a lot of delicate walking and scrambling. Running the trails at nighttime, on your own, with only a headlamp to guide you amongst slick boulders, twisting tree roots, and barely-defined paths (sometimes covered in mud so bad and so deep that it literally sucked the shoe off of one of our teammates) was a nightmare. And it was cold. Oh so cold. We worried we would NEVER BE WARM AGAIN. It was pretty darn miserable at parts.
The other difficult part was that I seriously underestimated how tough trail running is. Most of you know I'm a longtime, relatively dedicated runner. My last marathon was 3:49. I generally run at an 8 or 8:30 minute/mile pace, and consider myself overall in good shape. It's fair to say I slacked on the training for this 17-mile trail run because I thought I could wing it pretty easy.
Man, I was so wrong. Trail running uses muscles that I'm relatively sure my body has never exerted before in its life -- not to mention making pretty good use of all the regular running muscles, too. (And my triceps are as sore as anything else. What's up with that?) The technical aspect of it is difficult -- anticipating when and where your foot can land several steps ahead of all the other steps that you're actually currently running. And did I mention the hills? There were kind of a lot of them, and my quads would just not power me up most.
That said. The race was well organized, and the folks running it made some good decisions on the fly, like allowing most runners to double up with partners towards the end to help us all finish the course in less than 24 hours. There were smores a-plenty (though they ran out of coffee, which, now that I think about it, nets them some pretty huge negative points). And though I didn't sleep more than 3 hours, and I was honestly totally terrified to set off by myself into the woods at 4am, with nothing but instinct and a headlamp to guide me, it was kind of exhilarating, too.
But where the experience really shone was with my 7 awesome Ragnar teammates. Sleep was restless and there wasn't much of it; the weather was wet and miserable; we were exceedingly nervous about the trail conditions; and somebody from our team was running exhausting miles literally every hour for 24 hours. And yet? Everybody remained supportive, positive, organized and kind. If there was any situation where a short temper, pissiness about our situation, or a nuclear meltdown could have been expected it was here, but it simply didn't happen. We ended the day with cheers and smiles and plans for Ragnar 2014. (Jesus christ. Is the human capacity to remember pain and misery short or what?)
So many thanks to Michelle Campbell, Bronwen Rice, Stefanie Winzeler, Paige Wooden, Tyler Frisbee, Cortney Higgins, and Allison Harris, (not to mention the dashing male support team of Seth D. Michaels and Alias) for the many hours that went into making this happen, and for such a great time. Here's hoping there's lots of aspirin, whiskey and hot showers in your immediate future.
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