Seriously. What am I thinking?
As my super speed teammate April said, "I don't know whether to vomit or jump up and down...or vomit."....Pretty much fits my frame of mind. As if a regular relay isn't challenge enough...let's do an ULTRA....And to make it extra challenging, I'll be doing one of the harder legs. Over 30+ hours, I'll run 3 half marathons. NBD....Ha!
Ultras are run with 6 people instead of 12. We are an all ladies team of badass runners - 4 of us from the NW Passages team - Deidra, Jess, Me and April, along with D's friend Lourdes and her sister Bernadette, who I believe both live in CA. The funniest part is that D is the one who got asked by Lourdes and coerced all of us to join. And she was the one who had the hardest legs at NWP and she may have said, more than once at the finish, "That sucked so bad. I 'm never doing this again. Ever." One day later...she's recruiting us to run LV with her. Love it. That is exactly the kind of crazy I need in my life!
For an ultra, you can choose to run 6 legs over the relay (instead of 3) and change runners at each exchange as if you are a regular team. But that it way too much warming up/cooling down for these old bones. So we are doing what most ultra teams do and run two legs at a time.
8500 feet of elevation loss. Doh. But....there are 'luxury exchanges'...where we can 'lounge around by the pool'....except we won't have much time to do that, being an ultra and all...But still way cooler than high school gyms, for sure!
Ultras are run with 6 people instead of 12. We are an all ladies team of badass runners - 4 of us from the NW Passages team - Deidra, Jess, Me and April, along with D's friend Lourdes and her sister Bernadette, who I believe both live in CA. The funniest part is that D is the one who got asked by Lourdes and coerced all of us to join. And she was the one who had the hardest legs at NWP and she may have said, more than once at the finish, "That sucked so bad. I 'm never doing this again. Ever." One day later...she's recruiting us to run LV with her. Love it. That is exactly the kind of crazy I need in my life!
For an ultra, you can choose to run 6 legs over the relay (instead of 3) and change runners at each exchange as if you are a regular team. But that it way too much warming up/cooling down for these old bones. So we are doing what most ultra teams do and run two legs at a time.
Not quite 200 miles...but close enough!
This one will be different in a number of ways, besides the obvious half-the-size-team part. First, it's in Vegas...and typical weather there in November is pretty much our summer here in the pacific northwest--but desert summer. Lourdes did it last year and said it was hot. So there's that. Second big difference is the elevation. There were plenty of hills on the NW Passages course for sure, but it didn't start at a high elevation and go downhill for a lot of it.
From the event description online:
"This year’s Ragnar Relay Las Vegas course is even more scenic and runner friendly than ever. Teams start at the Las Vegas Ski and Snowboard Resort on Mt. Charleston and run down from 8500 feet into the valley below, taking in the views and conquering the challenging terrain."
8500 feet of elevation loss. Doh. But....there are 'luxury exchanges'...where we can 'lounge around by the pool'....except we won't have much time to do that, being an ultra and all...But still way cooler than high school gyms, for sure!
"As teams make their way through the night and into the early morning, you will encounter an oasis before you as you run above Lake Mead."
Not a bad view....Source
"Running through Spring Mountain Ranch State Park, you may catch a view of jack rabbits and exotic cacti as you make your way to the finish at Lake Las Vegas. The finish line party will be held at this spectacular resort where you are welcome to stay the weekend and make a vacation out of your 200 mile adventure."
I am seriously crazy, since I have no idea both how I am actually going to afford this (way more $$ than NWP, with airfare, hotels, etc) and if I will be able to run that much in that short amount of time. So as I am switching my focus to training for my first full marathon in October, one month before this crazyness starts, I will also be incorporating some two-a-days into the equation...and then really go crazy after PDX to get totally ready. This is going to be so awesome!
Team: Make Me a Sammich is a go! Game on bitches!
No comments:
Post a Comment