Saints and Sinners...

This weekend I ran in the Las Vegas Ragnar Relay mostly to add this medal to the collection. The saints and sinners medal is awarded to runners who run Wasatch back in Utah (saints) and Las Vegas (sinners) in the same year. I was runner number 12 which means I am the actual finisher. The mistake I made was comparing every little thing to Wasatch Back. Wastch Back in The Ragnar "flagship" race. There is twice the runners and twice the hype for that race. Its not fair to compare that environment with Vegas. Lets just say Id run Wasatch every single year and I am happy I got this medal, but I dont need another one.

Leg 1: Began at 5:19 pm on friday night. I received the wristband on Lake Mead blvd just outside of Lake Mead national park and ran all the way to the 1st major exchange at Loews Resort and Casino at Lake Las Vegas. Funny since this is where I train quite a bit. The swim at Silverman is at the this lake and I ride these hills all the time, but hardly ever run. After this run, I realize I should. It was a steep uphill, followed by down hill, then met with a huge up hill finish. Hills. Here are my splits: 9:58, 8:45, 8:34, 10:41, 11:06, and half mile in 4:36. Total: 5.5 miles in 53:43 for an average of 9:44. I experienced some sharp knee pain on the downhill. Did not seem serious or permanent just sore after.

Leg 2: Began at 3:55 am saturday morning. I received the wristband just outside of the small town of Jean, NV. For those who arent from around here its on the I-15 on the way from CA, where the Goldstrike Casino is. So with our rain in the last week (lots for us), the trail run I was about to do was sort of a question mark. What was this trail going to be like? Ragnar labeled it as "very hard." Lets just say they got this one right. 900 feet elevation gain over 8.02 miles. Thats not what made it hard. What made it hard was the rocks. Little ones, big ones, loose ones, hard ones, sharp ones, then there was the bumps, sand, and did I mention it was dark? Yeah 4 am dark. Bloody runners showing up at this major exchange. Runners loosing their minds when met at support areas. I did the best I could. Hopping from left to right on a 4 foot wide trail at most places while my head lamp was lighting about 10 feet in front of you and with shadows what is what? This is no exaggeration, I nearly fell 100 times or more. Very frustrating. I have a lot of room to grow as a runner in order to run this run economically. My feet were thrashed. Bruised and sore with blisters. It was a god send to have my trail shoes on. I survived it and I am a better runner for it. I hope to kick this runs ass another day. Everything hurt on this run from the bouncing side-to-side and the rocks. This run challenged my ankle, knee, hip, and lumbar stability. I also got caught up in the festivities and wrapped a glow necklace around my right ankle. It was fun while it lasted but I got some achilles tendon irritation for it. Sore walking around the rest of the morning.

Leg 3: THE LAST LEG. Began at 5:23 pm on saturday night. I received the wristband at Calico Basin, in Red Rock National Park. The last leg of the race is a gift for the 12th runner after what we experienced this am. Other runner 12's were not happy about that leg. A badge of honor as far as I am concerned. All 5.5 miles down hill. With my feet sore, an achy knee, and calf soreness what would my body do? At Wasatch, my 3rd leg was much harder then it normally would be. Would this be the same? My plan was to just go. Do not give in to the soreness and see what was what. Here are my splits: 8:04, 8:59, 9:33, 9:01, 8:44, and last mile in 1/2 mile 5:02 (includes getting teammates and finish slowly as a team). 8:56 average pace for a total of 49:26. I felt great. No issues. My fitness this race was much greater. Obviously different terrain but the overall effect of this type of race was not a challenge for me. Proud of that. 20.5 miles total in 24 hours. I am sore today but nothing hurts. More sore on my R achilles and knee but not so bad. I am not so tired. I am happy with the whole experience. Here is the rest of the week:

Monday-Swim 1500 m. Amazing how miserable the pool is. I need to swim some this next few week. May be 2 open water swims.

Tuesday-Easy 4 mile run. Ruined by stopping to poo. Our bodies are funny.

Wednesday-Quality bike. Pushed on account of the torrential down pour and serious wind. I thought it might add to my small taper for Ragnar.

Thursday-Rest. Ragnar get together.

Friday/Saturday-Ragnar

Sunday (today)-Rest. Quote:

“Rest when you're weary. Refresh and renew yourself, your body, your mind, your spirit. Then get back to work.”

Ralph Marston

And by work I mean kicking Silvermans Ass.