It's A Major Award

I have even more incentive to get my bum foot completely healed. I was just notified by the race director of Ragnar - Northwest Passage that the video I put together for our team this year (Extreme Cow Tippers of Mill Creek) won first place in the video competition. With that, we get a free team entry next year (over $1000). That's pretty exciting, if I do say so myself!

In case you missed it, here's the video (warning - the song gets stuck in your head):

Ragnar NW Passage 2010 Team Video

Here is the video presentation I just completed to document my team's experience at Ragnar - NW Passage (July 23 & 24). Editing and original backing soundtrack by yours truly. A big thank-you to my teammates for providing great photos & videos.

[Video embedded below, but it can also be seen, in better quality, here]

Running Across Deception Pass (Ragnar video)

This was a really cool experience for a few of us. At about 6:50am on Friday, July 24th, Garrett was running leg 24 (of 36) of the Ragnar Relay. At this point, he ran over the Deception Pass bridge, which connects the mainland to Whidbey Island. The bridge is over a quarter mile long, and roughly 180' above water (it looks higher when you're on it). Three out of the six men in our van decided to run over the bridge with him. Garrett ended up running this leg at 6:37 pace (he was close to the end of this one), so I assume were were running roughly that pace. Fun times.
Below is a photo of the bridge:

Ragnar Photos

Starting area, Blaine, WA

"Extreme Cow Tippers of Mill Creek" Top (L to R): Cris Cable, Mike Turk, Kris Amato, Garrett Klovdahl, Dave Cowan. Bottom (L to R): Colin Hayes, Josh Narode, Lars Larson, Gus Anaya, Brian Brandser, Mike Minea, Tony Byrd

Yours truly, handing off to Kris @ exchange 34

Waiting for Kris to hand off to Garrett

Final handoff to Garrett, who will bring us home.

The finish line, where we all crossed together.

Ragnar - Northwest Passage, July 23 & 24

I figure I should finally post a race report, at least before next year's Ragnar!

In today's vernacular, the word "epic" is overused…in my opinion, anyway. But in describing my experience at Ragnar last Friday and Saturday, it would be my word of choice.

I'm going to post my (not terribly impressive) personal stats first, to get that out of the way, because this event was so much more about the team experience than our individual performances. Out of the 36 total legs, I ran legs 10, 22 and 34. Originally, I was scheduled to lead off with leg 1 (and run 13 and 25 after that), but due to my heel and subsequent lack of fitness, our captain (Lars) cut me some slack and gave me the shortest legs. According to my Garmin, they were 3.17 miles, 4.22 miles, and 4.16 miles. Here are the results:

Leg 10 - 3.17 mi (10:20pm) 22:05 (6:59 pace) 0 kills (but set up our first kill). Flat and straight.
Leg 22 - 4.22 mi (5:23am) 30:52 (7:19 pace) 2 kills. Some hills.
Leg 34 - 4.16 mi (12:45pm) 32:35 (7:50 pace) 6 kills. VERY hilly.

As you can see, my paces deteriorated pretty significantly - partially due to ZERO sleep and buildup of fatigue, partially due to the hills, and partially (okay, significantly) due to being a bit out of shape. The heat also came into play during the third leg. My average heart rate slowed somewhat from leg to leg. But even if the heart was willing, the legs weren't. By the start of the third leg, I knew I was about out of gas. My heel held up great during the first two legs, but started barking at me pretty noticeably during the third.

The Northwest Passage edition of Ragnar consisted of 187 pretty hilly miles, from Blaine, WA to Langley, WA. Our team consisted of 12 men, split into two vans (6 guys each); each man running their leg, then rotating through both vans in a set order. Our ages varied from late 20's to mid 40's.

If you're familiar with Ragnar (or other long relay events), you know what a "kill" is. It signifies passing a runner from another team. Several weeks prior to the race, each team had to submit an anticipated average pace for all of their runners. Our estimate put us in the last (fastest) group (Friday, 4pm start time). The slowest groups started at 7am. There were 4 other teams that started with us. Needless to say, they were impressive. We spent the first several hours in last place before we finally started picking off other runners in the middle of the night.

I could write a book about all the stories, both funny and inspirational, that took place during the race, but I'll refrain. It was an amazing and well-organized event, and it was great to have the opportunity not only to run it, but to hang out with a bunch of great guys and get to know them better. I'm currently working on a video, and accompanying original song, that will hopefully do justice to the experience. I will, however, give shout-outs to my brothers-in-vans by listing their names: (Van 1) Gus, Tony, Lars, Brian, Josh, Mike M., (Van 2) Mike T., Cris C., Dave, Me, Kris A., Garrett. We had some tough and speedy guys on our team! Overall, we finished 5th out of 208 teams, and 2nd out of 21 in the Open Men's division, both of which surprised us. Our total time was 22:16:14 (7:04 avg pace, by my calculation). Not bad for a bunch of guys who meet at a coffee shop every Saturday morning to run a few miles together.

As tough a time as I had, and even with a night of ZERO sleep, I would still do this again. Hopefully we can pull the same guys together next year and do even better…but more importantly, share another really cool experience.

And maybe I'll even be in shape next time!

RAGNAR!

I'll post the official race report later (this weekend continues to be busy), but briefly I'll say that my experience at Ragnar Northwest Passage was epic. I was surrounded by 11 amazing guys (6 of us per van). We ended up finishing 2nd out of 21 in the Open Men's division, and taking 5th overall out of 208 teams. I was in awe over the times my teammates were throwing down. I knew we had some fast guys in my little Saturday morning running club, but didn't quite realize just how fast some of them were. As I posted on my Facebook page:

I was honored to run with such a high quality group of guys - and I'm not just talking about running abilities (which were AMAZING). It was great to cover 187 miles with you and get to know each of you a little better. Thanks guys!

Another Week in the Books

Last week was another step in my careful return to running. The mileage was still low, and any attempt at speed proved to be pretty frustrating. I finished the week with a 6.5 mile run with my Saturday morning group. I hung with two younger & faster guys (Kris & Ruben) for about 4.5 miles, then had to back off. Sadly, we weren't laying down a blazing pace, either (I ended up with a 7:48 pace, which seemed much harder than it should have). I just don't have it right now. But I digress.

Here are last week's numbers:

Runs: 5
Miles: 23.6
Long: 8 mi
Time: 3:27:01
Avg pace: 8:46/mi
Avg HR: 136

For Wednesday's 8-miler, I ran in the afternoon to get a little "heat training" in. It was 80 degrees, which felt plenty hot, comparatively speaking. During the 20-minute drive home, I cranked my heater all the way up just to add to the effect. I was a slimy, sweaty mess by the time I got home.

Throw in a 13-mile family bike ride on Friday night, plus a little strength training here and there and that sums up the week.

I'll run short and easy today and tomorrow, then rest on Wednesday and Thursday before starting Ragnar on Friday.

Week & Month Wrap-Up

This has been an interesting week, running-wise. I've been in a bit of a funk the last couple of weeks, actually, feeling pretty run down. Yesterday I ran an "easy" 10-miler that ended up feeling anything but. In hindsight, I think a lot of how I felt during that run could be attributed to a Unisom hangover. I don't often take sleep aids, but I foolishly downed a TON of caffeine Thursday afternoon and KNEW I wouldn't sleep unless I medicated myself.

This morning I met, for the first time, with the Mill Creek Running Club (only online presence I know of is on Facebook). There's a 5:30 am group and now a 7:00 am group. I chose to run with the latter. There were 4 men and 3 or 4 women. Since I wasn't familiar with the course, I wanted to stay close to someone. I ended up getting caught in between the two lead guys and everyone else, so I did my best to keep the fast dudes in sight. I ended up running the 6.53 miles at 7:18 pace (nearly race pace, for me), which was much faster than I had hoped. My choice now is to either force myself to run slower when I run with them again, or re-arrange my week so my long run isn't the day before this run. Either way, it was fun to meet everyone and I look forward to running with them regularly (and drinking coffee afterward!)

Here's how the week played out:

Runs: 6
Miles: 36.5
Long: 10 mi

And the month:

Runs: 24
Miles: 162.1 (PR for monthly mileage)
Long: 13.1 mi
Races: Nookachamps Half Marathon - 1:41:22 (PR)

My long run should top out at about 15 miles in February, in my buildup toward my first marathon on May 15th. The only other race I currently have scheduled is the Mercer Island Half Marathon, on March 21st.

Here's to some great running in February!

Oh - I forgot to mention that I've agreed to join the Mill Creek Running Club team for the Ragnar Relay, in July (Blaine, WA to Langley, WA). Should be a hoot!