Las Vegas Ragnar 2012

All 12 of our Ragnar team.



Van 1: Glayds, Sarah, Megan, Lauren, Amy and Me

Caution:  There is a lot of complaining in this post.  I don't want to sound like a complainer, but after the Ragnar, I am thinking that marathons are the way to go.

 

I have ran 7 half marathons, 3 marathons, and a handful of fun runs.  All of the races that I have done in the past were so much fun and well organized.   Whenever the organizers said that they would have water stations at designated area, I knew that I could count on them following through with that statement.  Case in point, I paid $40 for the Pocatello Marathon last year.  At every aid station they not only had the products that they promised, they also volunteers to hand everything to you.  I paid $118 for the Ragnar.  We were told at the safety meeting and on the Ragnar's website that there would be water stations on any runs over 4 miles, which all of mine were.  My first run was a little over 8 miles, with no van support.  I figured that I would be fine becuase we were told that there would be water on this run.  There were 2 water stations on that run and they consisted of a table with the big orange water containers and paper cups that were in the bag lying on the ground.  Luckily, I learned from that experience and decided that I didn't want the inconveince of bending over to get my water cup and filling it up, so I took my own on the next 2 runs.  I was lucky because there was nothing on my other 2 runs. 

 

Complaint #2: on my longest run, I ran 8 miles down a dark, country road by myself without anyone within 400 yards of me most of the time.  In Las Vegas, or probably anywhere for that matter, it is not safe for a woman or even a man to be alone on a country road at 10-11 at night.  Seriously, what were these organizers thinking.  Once I came closer to the city, I found that the course was poorly marked and the city streets that I ran on were also dark and deserted.  I was very dissapointed with how this race was put on.  I really don't understand what my $118 went towards. 

 

Complaint #3: The weather was terrible.  It was cold and windy the entire time.  Last weekend was warm and next weekend is forcasted for great weather, but we just happened to get the one weekend so far this fall with terrible weather.  On my first run I had a headwind of 20 miles per hour with gusts up to 40 miles per hour.  Amy was the first runner and she ran in blowing snow and hail.  The only thing that saved her was that her run was downhill with a tailwind.  My run on Saturday was the most pleasant.  There was a slight breeze, but after the wind on Friday, I was ok with it. 

 

After all that complaining and boobing, I really did have a fun time.  I think that I might do another Ragnar, but not in Las Vegas. My sister, Amy, did the Wasatch Ragnar and she said that it was a lot better organized than the Las Vegas one. I really love to run, so the actual running part of this race was great.  Even though it was difficult, I was glad that I pushed myself and tried something new.  It was good to get to meet some of Amy's friends and to spend some time with my little sister.  I was really glad that I volunteered to run the longest legs, I like to "do hard things," and this really pushed me.  The hardest run was the second run because I had not had any sleep and I felt fatigued, which is probably why I didn't run as fast as I should had.  Overall my times were decent considering the terrain and weather.  As I stated before, my first run had a head/side wind and the first 6 miles were over a gradual incline.  I ran 8.23 miles at a 10:37 min/mile.  The second run was 10.33 miles it was a gradual downhill, I believe that it was an elevation loss of about 800 feet and I averaged 10:03 per mile.  I really felt like I could have ran faster, but I was really nervous because it was so dark.  I guess that I didn't mention before that I forgot to replace the batteries in my headlight before the race and they started to dim more and more the longer I ran.  Run #3 was 7.57 miles of  rolling hills with an elevation gain of 259 feet.  I averaged a 10:20 min/mile for that run.  I really wanted to stick to 10 min miles or less, but I was just so tired and the weather was so bad for the first run, that I feel like I gave all the runs everything that I had.

 

I was really glad that I heeded Priscilla's advice and that I used walk breaks every 5 minutes for each run.  Everyone else on our team was limping or hurt except for me.  Except for being exhausted, I felt great!!!  I really could have even ran another leg if I needed to.  I also kept all of my food prior to and during the race 100% clean.  Several of the other women had digestion issues and a few were very ill, but I believe that by keeping my food clean I was not only able to have more energy, but I also didn't have any tummy troubles.  I snacked on fruit, natural peanut butter, dates, nuts, proteing shakes and protein balls.  I ate my normal breakfast on Friday and Saturday and I was able to come back to my sister, Caryn's house to eat a salad and tuna pita for lunch.  After we were done running on Saturday, we did go to lunch for my "cheat" meal and then my husband and I got soup and sandwiches for dinner.  I tried to make the best choices, but i decided that after all that I did on Friday and Saturday, I could cheat twice in one week.