Ragnar McDowell Mountain – Part the Fourth!
Luis finished his second run - the yellow loop - without
incident around 8pm Friday night, and Chris headed out on his jaunt around the green
loop. Since it was getting a bit
chillier, we headed down to see Chris off and hang around the campfire for
awhile to stay warm. S’Mores were being
roasted, but I decided against them, figuring eating one and then running
wasn’t the greatest of ideas.*
Murph, Chris, and I getting
ready for our second set of loops.
Getting ready to run
and modeling his $2 Wal-Mart do-rag.
Rag’Merica! Freak yeah!
I saw Chris pop up on the “incoming runner” tv screen,
dropped my warm gear with Keeli and Murph near the campfire, and headed into
the transition tent. Our team and Matt’s
were still running neck in neck, so I wasn’t surprised to visit with him near
the campfire while Chris was running, as he was also getting ready for his spin
around yellow. However, it was still a
bit of a shock to see him enter the transition tent and line up directly behind
me! This was a huge motivation during my
run of the yellow loop, knowing that if I slowed down, he might literally be
breathing down my neck soon.
Overall, I really liked the yellow loop, and I think I’d
count it as my favorite of all of the trails we ran. It was technical in several sections, with
both decent up and downhill sections, but nothing too steep or strenuous. There were quite a few “danger” signs on the course,
as many areas of the trail would have one “flat lane” but a good 2-3 foot
vertical drop to the next “lane,” only a few inches away. Chris took to calling these “ankle snappers,”
and it was essential to look out for them.
There was a really fun area on yellow where you ran over a culvert of
sorts, then looped back around and ran through the tunnel that went underneath
the culvert. Going through this section
at night reminded me (warning: geek reference) of the Test Track ride at EPCOT;
you turned the corner and suddenly, all you could see were headlamps flying
toward you, until everyone hit another turn.
It was also super chilly, and since the top I brought for this run was a
tank, I was motivated to keep moving and get back to our campsite and my warmer
clothes.
Near the end of my yellow loop, I got back onto the last
section shared by all three loops, hit the timing mat to let my team know I was
coming, and climbed up the stupid hill right at the end of the course.** I
sprinted (as much as possible, at this point) into the transition tent and
handed the race belt to Sara, so she could start her run through the red
loop. I predicted my night trail pace to
be 10:30, and I was right on pace for this run.
After my run, I headed back to camp with Luis, who was at the transition
tent to see Sara off. I changed into
warm, dry clothes*** and commandeered a sleeping bag, a sandwich, and a
beer. After all, proper nutrition and
hydration are essential to success.
At this point of the blog, we enter the span of a Ragnar
known as “Ragnar After Dark.” Not many
pictures are generally taken during this time as it’s completely black outside,
but it’s when everyone cuts loose and gets more than a little goofy from all
the running and lack of sleep. Erin
refers to this extra special time as “Goof-Thirty,” but my personal preference
is “Stupid O’Clock.” Coincidentally,
this is when most of the laughing happens, and when many of the best inside
jokes are generated. A bunch of us were
sitting around, just swapping stories and having fun ragging on each
other. Notable moments that ensued:
·
- Matt coming over to visit with his fleece blanket with a zipper, which may or may not be an actual sleeping bag. Opinions continue to vary.
Not taken at this exact moment, chronologically, but here’s Matt in his
sleeping blanket.
With a zipper.
- · Murph bundling up inside two different sleeping bags, leaving one hidden somewhere and Jake without one easily accessible. Jake went to his gear bag looking for his warm jacket, only to find that Keeli was inside both that AND her sleeping bag. Poor, cold Jake.
- Me waking up a bit later with a massive Charlie horse/cramp in my right calf, having to struggle out of my sleeping bag and off a pool raft serving as an air mattress,***** and almost falling over with Bryan lunging to catch me, stating, “I don’t know what you’re doing, but I’ll try to stop you from going down.” Bryan and Jen may be the nicest people we know, all kidding aside.
I lost track of the running rotation for awhile, but
everyone did their second legs and made it back without a problem, which was
great to see. At most Ragnar events, I
tend to have one “I hate Ragnar” moment, and I have to admit it occurred
here. I was tired, cold, disoriented,
smelly, cold, didn’t know whether to stand up or sit down, kind of hungry but not,
cold, needing to pee but not wanting to leave my warm sleeping bag, and - did I
mention – cold, and I started questioning why I do these things over and
over. Thankfully, this quickly passed as
I got over my initial whiny moment and realized I only had to run 3 more miles
before I could drink beer again.
Motivation, that.
While I was having this moment of gooberdom, I vaguely
recall Jen being asleep in the tent with Sara, and Keeli heading in there,
too. Murph, fresh from her second leg,
decided it was a good time to relocate to the tent as well, stopping to
readjust another two sleeping bags she was sporting, which may or may not be
different from the two sleeping bags she had earlier, as mentioned in the notes
above (Actual Jake quote: “AGAIN?!?!?”).
Jake also followed the ladies into the tent, and those of us who were
outside marveled at this demonstration of team solidarity and what you’ll sleep
through when you’re cold and tired.
Eventually (2:30am Saturday), Luis got back from his yellow
loop, and Chris headed out for the red loop, so I knew I had about an hour and
a half until I was up again.
Coming up – the final loop!
Later,
Amy
PS – A huge thank you to Sara for her picture!
* Sadly, I never ended
up with a S’More during this Ragnar adventure.
We shall have to remedy that using the firepit in our backyard when it
gets colder…you know, in February or so.
** I distinctly
remember climbing up this short, steep hill at the end of my first run
(remember – I’d just run 8 miles and only had .4 to go) and being like, “I’m
going to have to climb this stupid thing on every loop. FUUUUUU….”
*** So essential to
staying warm and not catching cold.
You’re super sweaty and warm when you come into the transition tent
finishing your run, but within 15-20 minutes, you’re shivering since you’re
damp and it’s cold outside – it dropped into the high 50s while we were camping. It’s really important to get into warm, dry
clothes quickly. Also, I seriously
didn’t bring enough long sleeved layers for this event. By this point at night, I was wearing pretty
much every item I brought with me, in an effort to stay warm.
**** I’m glad I
encountered Jen on this. When we were
retelling the story later, her husband Bryan said, “oh, you missed the best
opportunity! You should have been like,
YOU HAVE TO RUN NOW!” So mean, that one.
***** Which actually works quite well. Thanks, Mom, for sending these to us!
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