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Ragnar Madison-Chicago 2013: meet the San Diego Yogging Club

Ragnar Madison-Chicago 2013: meet the San Diego Yogging Club

A week ago at this time, I was trying to rest up some, in a mustachioed van, before I started running my second leg of the Ragnar Madison-Chicago 200 mile (approximate) Relay through a very dark, very starry sky somewhere in rural Wisconsin. Now, with my legs propped up, horrible TV on in the background for noise, and from the comfort of my in-laws’ home the night before *another* race weekend, I can finally catch my breath and tell you all about last weekend’s running adventure.

You might recall that I did Ragnar 2012 with a bunch of perfect strangers and that my only “connection” on the team I met for the first time as we were loading up our suburbans for the trek north. This year’s Ragnar stranger round-up was a little less awkward. Of the nine other people on my team, I had only met two others once before in real life (having run with Mere for about 11 miles out in Barrington in February and later that morning, meeting AB in the Barrington High School parking lot for about 30 seconds), yet when AB posted on twitter that she wanted a female “competitive” runner to fill-out her Ragnar team, I told her I was in… and then asked what “competitive” meant.

Anyway, our 10-person team of awesome carried on the legacy that is the San Diego Yogging Club, a team that has been around, in some iteration, for at least the past five years, even predating #ragnarchi to its predecessor race (whose name I can’t recall… MC 200, perhaps?). Some of the teammates had been part of the SDYC family for a few years, and the rest of us were new to the Channel 4 newsteam. (And if you don’t get the references, watch Anchorman again, and it’ll all come flooding back. Promise).

the 'stache. Interestingly, we were about one of 3-4 vans with 'staches this year.
the ‘stache. Interestingly, we were about one of 3-4 vans with ‘staches this year.
#hurl
It might be a soft ‘j’
Not many Ragnarians played their cards right, evidently.
Not many Ragnarians played their cards right, evidently.
I enjoy running for an extended period of time.
I enjoy running for an extended period of time.
Our beloved van; enjoy the Anchorman references.
Our beloved van; enjoy the Anchorman references.

Come Friday afternoon, after a fun night with Colin, Justin, Casey, and later, Chris and Tim, and a morning fire drill at the hotel, the rest of the SDYC, AB, Meredith, Scot, and Liane, and we got to the start, took some awesome pictures, and sent off Meredith as our lead runner. This year’s weather was approximately a million times better than that of 2012, though during the daytime on Friday, it was still a bit steamy… but again, in comparison, nothing.

Let the games begin... pre-2pm start time on Friday in Madison
Let the games begin… pre-2pm start time on Friday in Madison
Meredith getting ready to rock with the help of chief SDYC Yogger Captain, Colin
Meredith getting ready to rock with the help of chief SDYC Yogger Captain, Colin

Meredith (purple, left, side-five) kicking off the SDYC awesomeness
Meredith (purple, left, side-fiving Annabelle [AB]) kicking off the SDYC awesomeness; notice my excitement on the other side of the screen. Clearly, I did not take this picture.
Being in van 1 this year meant that after the start, we had to hustle over to our exchanges quickly, especially since our team was pretty swift. My first leg was my shortest, just shy of 3 miles, and once I got my pace under control (after going out too quickly and then, randomly, having to stop to tie my shoe), it was a fine run, just a bit boring (country roads) and warm (it was around 3, I think). Best pic ever of me running came from this shot that AB scored of me handing off the “baton” to Casey (or, me almost running the poor guy over. Holy brakes, batman!).

kudos to AB for capturing this. This was my first handoff to Casey. All I can say is... quads.
kudos to AB for capturing this. This was my first handoff to Casey. All I can say is… quads.

We had a good amount of downtime between our first and second legs, so after we did the hand-off to van 2, we ventured to get real food (Noodles & Co.), wherein AB set an amazing PR in fashion.

Fashion PR (w Mere in the blue jacket)
Fashion PR (w Mere in the blue jacket)

Our second legs weren’t until after dark, which meant that it was time to break out all the required safety gear–a reflective vest, a headlamp, and a tail light–and not think too much about the fact that we were all running essentially in near-pitch-darkness, in a rural area, on a path through a forest preserve/trail area, where there are bears that can smell the menstruation. My leg didn’t start until close to midnight, and didn’t finish until after midnight, so I guess I can now disingenuously say that I have run overnight before. As with 2012, though, this overnight leg was my favorite (and fastest) one, no doubt thanks to the cooler temperatures and the novelty of running under a dark and starry sky.

We didn’t have a huge gap of time between legs 2-3 like we did between legs 1-2, and before we knew it, we were off and running again. My third leg started as the sun was rising, around 5am, through some country roads, and by then, we were finally beginning to catch-up to, and pass, other runners and teams who had begun several hours before us. Though we were competitive, we weren’t really into making a public declaration of announcing how many “kills” we had (though some of us did try to keep track). Really, it was just fun to be able to run in the presence of other runners because for most of our/my earlier legs, we were the only ones out there for most of our miles. About two miles into my four mile leg here, I could begin to feel that my stomach was getting wonky, and I contemplated pulling over to take care of business in someone’s woods (yard?) or just seeing what would happen if I waited.

Suffice it to say that I’m glad my run was only 4 miles long and that the GI distress didn’t set in until I was more than halfway done.

Justin excitedly about to pass another runner during leg 3. Note the requisite reflective gear and headlamp, even though it was light out (approximately 5:30/6am)
Justin excitedly about to pass another runner during leg 3. Note the requisite reflective gear and headlamp, even though it was light out (approximately 5:30/6am)
Safety first for Casey who, like Justin, still had to wear all the required safety gear for leg #3 since he started before the 6:30 cutoff
Safety first for Casey who, like Justin, still had to wear all the required safety gear for leg #3 since he started before the 6:30 cutoff

Between legs 3 and 4 marked the beginning of some nasty GI thing I had going on, perhaps due to the frequency of running in 12 hours, the mileage I had accrued by then (10 seems to be the lucky number for my GI to kick in and give me a ‘fuck you’), or because of what I was eating (lots of simple carbs and sugars) in relation to when I was running (probably too much, too soon). At any rate, I was still able to keep up a sub-8 average on my leg 3, closer to my 10k pace (but still a little slower), so despite the beginning of some GI catastrophe, I was happy, and beginning to get tired. My longest run (6 miles) was waiting for me on what I thought was my final leg.

We finally had a healthy amount of downtime between legs 3 and 4, so we got over to a Denny’s in Gurnee, (in Illinois by this point), and tried not to pass out. Some of us were more successful than others.

Poor Justin. At a Denny's in Gurnee between legs 3 & 4, I think
Poor Justin. At a Denny’s in Gurnee between legs 3 & 4, I think

We probably hung out at this exchange for at least a couple hours on Saturday morning, which gave us plenty of time to try to relax, stretch, rest, and fantasize about almost being done. The most I had slept was about 90 minutes, and I knew I wasn’t going to be able to sleep any longer, but I was feeling pretty well overall: just tired. And probably sleepy. I didn’t want to think that my hardest leg was probably ahead of me, since it was my last one AND the longest, but it was *only* 6 miles… as I told myself…

Van 1, waiting for our fourth legs at the N Chicago HS. L-R, Justin, Mere, AB, me, Casey. This is what about 90 minutes of sleep looks like.
Van 1, waiting for our fourth legs at the N Chicago HS. L-R, Justin, Mere, AB, me, Casey. This is what about 90 minutes of sleep looks like.

Before I knew it, and after several (a lot… like, a lot a lot) rounds of GI “fuck you”-ing, I was off on my penultimate jaunt… penultimate because in the time that I was waiting to start, Chris, another (super incredibly holyshit fast) Yogger got injured on his leg and wasn’t able to do his final leg from Glencoe-Evanston. I told him/the SDYC that I’d be up for covering for him, since my total mileage on the relay was originally only around 16 and change. Fortunately, I knew before I started leg 4 that I still had another 5 miles after my North Chicago-Lake Forest run, so I could try to plan and pace myself accordingly.

Just got the baton from Tim, so now it's time to leave the N Chicago HS and get to my old stomping grounds in Lake Forest
Just got the baton from Tim, so now it’s time to leave the N Chicago HS and get to my old stomping grounds in Lake Forest. I look ridiculously serious here. I promise I was having fun.

I worked in Lake Forest for my first two years post-college and was familiar with the area, which made it kinda cool to be running through it years later (sidenote: I started this whole marathoning jig when I was working at Lake Forest in 2007, so to be back here, in the same year that I’m going to be running my 20th marathon this fall, made it kinda cool and nostalgic). I felt pretty ok on this run, but the lack of sleep was definitely beginning to show. I really didn’t want to throw down any 8 minute+ miles, because I hadn’t yet, and fortunately, I was able to hang on. Having an impromptu water stop from my van was also pretty badass and way unexpected. 🙂

I think this is the end of my 4th leg in Lake Forest...
I think this is the end of my 4th leg in Lake Forest; I think I just handed off to Casey.

After my fourth leg, I had about an hour to recoup before getting shuffled over to Van 2 to get ready to do my final final leg from Glencoe-Evanston, which was my final leg last year, coincidentally. A good runnerd friend of mine, David, lives in the Glencoe/Evanston area, so he managed to squeak over and say hi before I had to get back to van 2 and get ready to run again. David saw me after my final leg last year in Evanston, so it was cool to repeat that new-found tradition this year as well 🙂

I knew leg 5, through Evanston, would be challenging because of the mileage (just under 5 miles, but putting me over 21 for the relay), but also because the route is damn confusing, based on my experiences there last year. To be safe, I actually tore the running directions out of the Ragnar handbook, so I’d always know where to turn, and despite my best intentions, I *still* managed to somehow botch things.

There were always runners ahead of me, until one time, there weren’t.

I kept going, following the instructions I had, until things began not seeming right, and no one was in front of me, and the only guy who was behind me told me he was just following me.

Fuck.

Well, at the end of the day, I cut-off about .9 of the 4.9 mile course, but my new buddy got me on the right direction. This was my only leg of the entire relay where I threw down a couple 8-minute+ miles thanks to fatigue (of course) but also due to getting stopped by stoplights and cars (drag). I couldn’t believe I had messed up my final route of the relay, even though I FREAKING HAD THE DIRECTIONS WITH ME AND WAS FOLLOWING THEM, but I later learned that there was some construction (or something) on the course that made following the directions unwise. Ah well.

Once we all got to Montrose Ave beach, we had just a few minutes to spare before our fearless and crazyfast captain Yogger, Colin, came barrelling in. Unlike last year, it was badass to have our entire team there, ready and stoked (though very, very tired) to take the obligatory post-race pictures, get the free beers and pizzas, and try not to fall asleep standing or sitting up.

It was a big deal.

IMG_20130609_224203(team SDYC: back- Tim, Justin, Colin, Scot; middle- me, Mere, Liane, AB; front- Chris, Casey)

This year’s relay was a really fun and positive experience. Since it was just over a month after Eugene, I didn’t really do anything in the way of training specifically for it; I just tried to maintain a base of 35 mpw, but in the absence of any formal or super-structured speedwork. Should I do this (or another) relay in the future, I’d definitely want to include some sort of structured speed as part of my training; I didn’t this time around just because I was in Eugene recovery (read: no speed allowed) for a self-imposed 4 solid weeks. It was a really awesome experience though, and we even fared pretty well as a team: 33rd/448 teams, 13th in our division. Not bad.

Post-relay, I’ve been feeling well, just tired, and I think it took my body a good couple days to get caught up on sleep and to begin feeling normal again. My quads were pretty fatigued on Saturday afternoon and Sunday, but I was able to casually run again on Monday and Tuesday of this week without consequence (besides more GI issues… eff off, digestive system). It’s funny; in the recent past, I have felt less tired after a marathon than after a relay. I would run marathons way more frequently than I would run relays. I think the combination of sleep deprivation, trying to run at pace, and figuring out nutrition (and ensuring my GI system doesn’t implode) puts way more stressors on my body than just running at MP for 26.2 miles in the confines of <4 consecutive hours.

…but maybe that’s just me.

Next up for me is a 15k tomorrow morning in Rockford, wherein my only goal is to have a new PR by the morning’s end, only because my only other 15k was when I raced at about 16 weeks pregnant. I’ve still got a few more weeks before I’ll commence training for Chicago and NYC, so until then, it’ll just be more fun running and racing (after the 15k, but before marathon training begins [I think] is a 10k).

I’m in a glass case of emotion, kids.

Next

Next

Alright, let’s be honest: I’m still floored (and floating) about Eugene. Words can’t adequately describe how special (aww) you all made me feel during my training and particularly on race day (and since!) with all the shout-outs, words of encouragement along the way, and general awesomeness. So thank you. Thank you very much. 🙂

I’ve been thinking a lot about my running since Eugene, for all the obvious reasons, but also because I think it’s imperative to reflect on experiences of any kind in an effort to figure out how to replicate outcomes, avoid ill consequences, or in general, just to improve.

(I’m hearing my professorial side coming out here… these are the same lines I feed tell my students to think about when they think about their writing and why they write how they do. Weird…)

I think a lot of things came together in my favor on race day, some of which I had absolutely no control over (helllllllo, perfect running weather!), but some that I did and that would behoove me to consider doing again. On the flip side, there are some things that I should consider doing differently, so I’ll break everything down accordingly… call this “Erin talking to herself” (isn’t this what this platform is for in the first place?), but definitely chime in with your vast runnerly wisdom and experiences.

Oh, and here’s some Eugene Marathon on-the-run race pics action.

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What’s worth replicating:

  • training. This might be obvious to most, but to be a better runner, you have to run more (notwithstanding pre-existing conditions that might preclude you from doing a ton of mileage, that is). This cycle was the first that I had used a Pfitzinger Advanced Marathoning plan, and it was a good fit for me. I don’t think I’d want to jump up to 70 miles/week, but having mid-week “moderate distance” runs of 10-14 miles, in addition to the weekend long long runs, helped my endurance tremendously… and the speed work was a whole different animal for me this time around (and coming from someone who loves speed work, this is saying something). I’m glad I found this plan.
  • ancillary work. I quit CrossFit in February in part because of how ridiculously expensive it was but also so I could devote more of my “exercise hours” on activities that would directly, unquestionably, improve my running. I tried to maintain some degree of strength and core work by doing at-home and bodyweight-based work about 4-5 times total/week, often 2-3 times/week for strength and another 2-3 for core. Though I certainly can’t power clean or throw up (and down) some thrusters like I could a few months ago, I think I still have power and strength where it matters, and this at-home business is definitely a keeper for future training cycles.
  • fueling. At the recommendation of my new friend Dan, from the Houston Marathon, I trained with AccelGel and used it during Eugene. As I’ve said before, I wouldn’t want to drink/consume the stuff as I do water, but it’s palatable, and it agrees with my body. In time, I will probably move toward a vegan product, but since I haven’t fully committed to veganism yet, I’ll keep using it. It jibes with my “strict vegetarian/almost vegan” get-up. 🙂
  • accountability. I haven’t suffered from not doing the running that I should be doing because of a lack of motivation, but it really has been kinda cool to see other runners’ running- and training-related commentary on twitter, dailymile, and RYBQ over the past few months. An added bonus is that I get to meet other people who are the same type of crazy as me 🙂

Let’s improve:

  • pacing. I did very few of my long runs (or even shorter runs, for the matter) at my strict, projected MP. Thus, while I knew what a 7:40, 7:49, or 7:55 felt like, and knew that it was comfortable, I never really knew what a true, flat 8 felt like. I was aware of this and knew that I “kinda” knew what an 8 felt like, so I just broke the race up into parts, as most runners do, and focused on running as close to a 1:45 half as possible. I was a bit nervous to be -2 at the halfway mark, fearing that that would surely promise a crash-and-burn later in the race, and how I pulled a 6+-minute negative split is still beyond me. For my future marathon training cycles, I want to run many more runs, of varying distances, at my legit MP, for both the physiological and psychological benefits. Moreover, that I could pull a 6+ minute negative split in a marathon makes me wonder about if I did the first half too slowly… I’ll revisit this later.
  • stretching. I stretch when I think about it, which isn’t very often, except for the maybe 2 minutes immediately before I leave (hop on a foam roller) and when I return (stretch my calves on the stairs leading up to my condo… and then hop on a foam roller, maybe, once I’m in the door). Likewise, I never did any dynamic stretching before any of my long runs (except once, on a 21 with Mort, at his suggestion), even though I know it’s a wise use of my time. I plan to be more mindful of that going into this next cycle. I can spare 3 minutes.
  • sleeping. Even though I’m a SAHM these days and not needing to bust out at 6am to get to the office, I know I’m not sleeping as much as I should be, because A awakens me in the middle of the night or early morning hours, I’m staying up late finishing stuff I didn’t do during the daytime, or because I’m just wasting time online doing nothing important. I usually prioritized sleep on the days where I had a big run coming up, like a mid-week moderate distance run or some speedwork, but I could be better about it. I should consider a “no technology after ___” type of rule. How do you prioritize your sleep, particularly for my readers with kiddos?
  • strength work. I want to get stronger. Though I don’t necessarily miss CF, I do miss being as strong as I was, because I think that helped keep me healthy/injury-free and helped me as a runner. I don’t need super huge biceps or anything like that, but I do want to be more diligent about my strength work and aim for 3 times/weekly for this next cycle instead of 2.

What comes next:

  • marathon goals. I’m at a loss here, and I’m telling myself that I’m not going to really think about it until early July, when I start marathon training again officially. As you might recall, the plan was to do 3:30, maybe a 3:27, in Eugene, if the stars aligned, and then train for a 3:25 in Chicago, and just “play” in NYC. I don’t know what to do now. All three times I’ve run Chicago, I’ve run poorly–likely due to hot weather or pregnancy (or both, as was the case in ’10!)–so part of me feels like I’d be happy to just go sub-4 here for the first time. A bigger part of me thinks that’s totally unacceptable and that I should see what I can do with this 3:20 fitness I have right now… and as for NYC, if I have no idea about Chicago, I have even less of an idea about NYC. (I am leaning toward just making the big apple a “play” race though).
  • races. I have a healthy mix of racing coming up: a 5k in Ohio on Memorial Day, the Madison-Chicago Ragnar Relay in early June, and the Espirit de She 10k inaugural event in Chicago in July (this one for which I’m an ambassador… once I have more info, I’ll let you know. It looks kinda cool). I want to clock a sub-20 5k this year and whittle down more time on my 10k that I posted in January, but we’ll see. I’m cautiously optimistic I can do both, but I don’t want to get ahead of myself.
  • reading. I have so many running, racing, vegetarianism, and veganism books I want to read to glean what else I should be considering in my training. I think I need to tell my toddler boss I need to take a sabbatical…
  • coaching? Should I be hiring a coach or just continue to rely on my training partners for their collective and very good advice? Would it be worth the investment?

Lots going on in this post for sure, but reach out. I’d love to hear your commentary on this stuff.

What do you think about after each race you run? How do you figure out where to go “from here,” and what do you do to keep the momentum and excitement going? Do I need to stop being all reflective and professorial and just enjoy things a while longer?