Ragnar Relay

As mentioned in a previous post, Adam and I are running the Ragnar Relay at the end of September. This is a 183 mile relay from Cumberland, MD to Washington, DC. Each team consists of 12 members who run three different legs anywhere from 3-9 miles. The interesting part is Adam and I are not on the same team.

Adam has taught a bootcamp class for the past six years and thought this was a great event for some of them to do. The plan was to create ONE team and I would be on that team. But when we had our first team meeting to see who was truly interested, there were more than 12 people. So that left me to try to come up with a second team. The second team consists of myself, two guys from bootcamp, one of Adam's co-workers, two women Adam knows through personal training, my friend Michele, and four guys from the triathlon club. Oh, and a friend of one of the guys from the triathlon club. While Adam's team is a little bit more cohesive and know each other, my team is a hodgepodge of people.

As with most things in my life, being the captain of this team has stressed me out. Logistically this relay can be a nightmare (vans, van drivers, volunteers, food, etc.) But Tuesday night we had a team meeting and I am actually excited about the relay. Things seem to be falling into place and people seem to be looking forward to it. This will be unlike any event I have ever done before.

The best thing about the relay is it has gotten me to run on trails. I have always heard that trail running was so much better than running on the road but was always a little scared to try. I thought it would be harder (which is not something I need while running). And while I will say it is difficult and takes more concentration I really like it. I love that I don't have to smell car exhaust as I run. I also like the possibility of seeing wildlife (deer and rabbits mainly). The best part is there is an open-space park with a bunch of trails about a mile from my house. So it is great to run from the house and be able to get in a good trail run.

This weekend we will do our first triple training run. For the past few weekends we have run in the morning and then also in the evening. This weekend we will add in a third run - 7 am Saturday, 7 pm Saturday, 7 am Sunday. I haven't run much this week so this weekend might be difficult. Thank goodness I have Monday to recover.