Long Run Friday - 20 Miles Cincinnati Style

For my final 20 miler before Marathon Sunday, I ran up and down big hills in Cincinnati.  Because that's how life is.  For a recap of past years final 20-milers, don't look for 2009 because it was so bad I didn't even write about it, here's 2010 with a bonus musical post and here's 2011. 

Weather - through a strange set of circumstances, this was the only day on the whole trip I could even get in a run this long, so I was stuck with whatever happened weather wise.  It wasn't super hot, in the 60s and 70s, but the humidity was impressive.  Around 90% when I walked out the door this morning.

Sidewalks - I feel like I never have to ask in Minneapolis or St Paul, "are there sidewalks on that street"?  It's an important consideration here, and even more relevant  because my reflective gear is at home.  (I'd planned to be doing this on a bike trail.)  So there I was on Victory Parkway going "wtf?" when there was no sidewalk in sight for about a mile. 

Hills - I'd originally had this slated as 22, but with the Cincinnati sized hills, I decided it could just be a simple 20.  That took me long enough as it was.  I went up a big hill on Victory Parkway between miles 6 and 8; down the big hill all the way into downtown and to the river from miles 8 to 11; and then all the way back up all the elevation I'd lost from miles 16 to 19.  I ran mile 16 and ran/walked from there to the top.  The last mile was literally all down hill which was great.

The route - my parents didn't want me to go out to the bike trail early.  For some reason they thought running through Norwood in the dark would be safer.  I picked this route at the last minute.  Other than Victory Parkway having no sidewalks it was a pretty good choice.  I'd run parts of this route for the Flying Pig but most of it was brand new.  Compared to where I normally run, there were so many stop lights. 

Nutrition and hydration - I think the salt sticks are working great.  I had a ton of them becuase it was so humid out.  I also ate a 'big' breakfast before I left of yogurt, banana and granola.  I took a gu every 4 miles (which I've been told is a lot, like every 50 minutes) and 2 gus at mile 12.  (I barely got down the gu at mile 16 without gagging.)  I had a total freak out about running out of water so I filled my bladder again around mile 15 (and barely drank any of that stuff).

Timing - I ran this route in about 4:40 (which I know is slow) but there is a nature break in that time, time for getting lost and what I think is a lot of time for stop lights.  I'm not sure how I feel about this time.  I mean, at mile 3.5 I was already at 48 minutes which is ridiculous.  Who knows what I actually did.  Here's what Nike thinks, but they also think this was 24 miles which is crap.

Music - The transition to running without music has been so much less painful than I ever would have expected.  I had my tunes with me but kept the earbuds out until about mile 7.  I wanted to have no music for anything in the dark and anything without sidewalks.  Once I started going up hill I wanted something to distract me.  I'm pretty sure I took the earbuds out in one other place along the run but I can't remember now.

Other stuff -

• Running downtown was a blast but I think the novelty would wear off if I had to do it again.
• The "Ohio River Bike Trail" is not complete.  That's how I got lost.
• What's up with all those water fountains not being turned on?  Rude.
• So much fun to be in Eden Park and running into downtown.  Gorgeous.
• The river was amazing.  It looked high to me but I know it's not.  (Who can say drought?)
• I should find a new route for every 20-miler I do to make them less awful.
• No ice bath but I did stretch a lot and kept moving throughout the day, especially when I made dinner for all those people.
• I found myself not caring about this run which was mostly hormonal (awesome) but about two hours later was all "oh awesome, now I get to taper"
• Still trying to decide on which shoes to wear on Marathon Sunday.  The ones today are slightly more shoe but I also had a big blood spot on one sock when I took them off.

Heirloom Tomatoes

I'm not sure if my distaste for raw tomatoes has been adequately described on this blog.  If I have to eat a raw tomato or even smell one, my face curls up worse than this:

Source.

 Tonight the conversation went like this:

Him: Have you tried heirloom tomatoes?
Me *Makes face* Yes.  I don't like raw tomatoes.
Him But heirloom tomatoes...
Me Trust me, I don't like raw tomatoes.  I like them roasted.  Or in soup.  Or in tomato sauce.
Him But they're so good, you don't need to cook them.  Would you just try one for me?

To be fair - yes, I will try one for you because I've been down this road before and it's the easiest thing.  Why does everyone think they have special powers that can make an heirloom tomato taste and smell different than all the other times I've tried them?  Save your heirloom tomatoes for people who will enjoy them as much as you do folks.

How to do a stair running workout

My advice on a stair running workout is Don't.  Ever.  See if you can not do it on a day when it's 95* and humid.  Through a cruel twist of fate, that's how all my stair workouts have been.  I'm not sure if I'd hate them less if I did them in better weather.  I am sure that these workouts were helpful in climbing mountains and sand dunes in Colorado and being able to run that extra leg and super big hill at Ragnar this year, so I grudgingly keep doing the work.

Stair workouts:
Step 1 - find a big stair case.  Big.
Step 2 - welcome to hell.

No, seriously, our trainer has us do a few different things, and works the exercises into a few different workouts. 

• Box Jumps - the goal is to land in the middle of the step, and to just keep jumping all the way up the stair case.  When I first tried it, I'd do 10 or 15 steps in a row but be absolutely dying by the top of the stairs.  Tonight I'd do about 7 in a row, take a breath or two and keep going and had much better luck with my endurance.  Jumps go up the stairs only, run back down them.
• One legged hops - five on one foot and then five on the other, all the way up.  I am a freak of nature because my left leg is much stronger and more balanced than my right side, the opposite of everyone else.  I am also left eye dominant and play tennis left handed.
• Sprint up and down - run up and down the steps, pretend someone is chasing you if it helps.  This is the only one that can be done up and down the staircase.

Tonight our workout was sprint up and down the staircase then a full minute of jumping jacks, then recover and do it 3 times.  I was the only person who made all three times.  One runner has asthma and her heart rate got too high, and the other two had run to the park from 3 miles away and were super hot already so they get a pass.

Above: The view from the top - Sears Building on the left and downtown Minneapolis on the right.  This on the "high side" of the park.  Below: the pond at Powderhorn Park.  This is one of the few bodies of water in the city that is never referred to as a lake.  It's too small.  The staircase is in between these two sites.

 

Spork. Not a spork.

An important distinction needed to be made today.  Spot the differences:
 

This is a spork.

Image from here

This is a grapefruit spoon.

Image from here.

 

Long Run Fridy - Lucky 14

I felt like garbage when I woke up.  Awesome.  I forced down a Luna Bar (the raspberry icing so did not help) and got myself together for a run.  It was about 60* and super humid when I left.  There were on and off sprinkles, mostly off, but it was humid pretty much all day.

14 Miles were on the calendar for today *Monday*, but I deferred to today becuase of weather.  I'm still following this training program, and modified it only slightly to allow a 3 week taper instead of 4.  For my 14, I hit Lake Nokomis and Ft Snelling, and caught a glimpse of the improved Coldwater Spring National Park.  I ran with and without music, just alternating based on how I felt and how much motivation I needed.  Here's what it was like:

The Nike+ kit seems to work much more accurately if I turn it on when I've already started to run instead of in my warm up run.  It's nice and somewhat reassuring to have actual data about a run.

• Mile 1 and 2 - running in the neighborhood on my way to the Lake.  I was trying to decide if it was raining or if the wind was blowing water out of the leaves most of the way.  Also, I felt like garbage.
• Miles 3, 4 and most of 5 - running at Lake Nokomis.  Sunrise was gorgeous.  There were a lot of clouds so it really added to the drama.  Some of those miles are slower because I got caught at stop lights twice.
• Mile 6 - Minnehaha Parkway.  I have a love/hate relationship with this street.
• Miles 7 and 8 - one of those miles is slow for potty stop reasons.  Don't panic.  Thank goodness I'm near the falls and Ft Snelling because this is my favorite part of the run.
• Mile 9 - up that damn hill.  I think I took it faster than normal but I can't remember.  I was so out of breath at the top I nearly blacked out.
• Miles 10 and 11 - back through Minnehaha Falls, and caught my glimpse of Coldwater Spring.  (There's some controversy over this park, like nobody wanted it until they threatened to build a road over top of it or something?  Also, it's sacred to the tribes here.)  The parking lot is not paved.  Is this on purpose or not finished?  Also, took my last bit of food and my last salt tab.
• Miles 12 and 13 - Minnehaha Creek running trail and Lake Hiawatha.  Slow and steady wins the race.  But I was basically still moving at a respectable pace.  Is it possible I stopped listening to music on this stretch?  Just being entertained by the sound of my own feet.
• Mile 14 - I hate this stupid hill.  I'm sure it's good practice but whatever.

When I logged on to Nike to see my run data, I told me I sped up at the end (ha!).  That can't be right.

Nike also told me it's my five year anniversary?!?  There have been some extended absences from using this thing, but I have stuck with it an impressively long time I think. 

  

I'm trying another new thing in training called "eat right away after a long run" because of all the things out there to tell runners we should.  I made a smoothie and hit the ice bath.  Ugh.

 

I just gave someone a goat - review update

A while ago I wrote about an exercise incentive site that had a few bugs.  EarndIt and Nike have made friends since then and things seem to be working out, so I have an update.  I'd earned almost 2,000 points and decided it was time to spend. I'm actually not in a buying mood so I gave 500 of my points to Heifer International to buy a goat for a poor farmer in Africa.  500 points didn't buy the whole goat.  Turns out 1200 people need to donate 500 points for the goat, but I was part of the solution.  Here's the update:

Things you'll like when you try the site:

• I actually track my exercise much more than in the past.  Even now if it's a short run or a run with friends, I'm totally using my Nike+ kit, just because I want the points.  (This run could give someone a goat!)
• The Nike+ information syncs perfectly now.  (Thanks for working that out.)
• The website is quite user friendly.  Both the workout section that lists points and the 'redeem' section where I can get stuff are straight forward .
• Totally not required to log in thrugh Facebook.  (Am I the only person annoyed by that trend?)
• I like the 'challenges' don't use points to determine an outright winner (whom I imagine would be some crazy person who did nothing but work out and brag on facebook) but are more "if you get this many points you'll be entered for this level of drawing..."

Things that can get better - Redeeming points for charity:

• The FAQ section should address how this works, becuase my 500 points would've turned into about a $50 gift certificate to one of the vendors but my 500 points turned into about fifty cents when I donated them to a charity.  I'm okay with this (what other place can my slow ass running help so many charities?), but the site should explain how it works.
• The site should list when the number of goats/camels/flu shots/care packages/whatever that have already been given to these charities.  Most of the comments on the Heifer International page are all "dude, do they ever really give anyone a goat?"  Brag about what you've done so far.
• Send an email or give me a trophy or a notification or something when someone gets the goat I made a donation for.  (I don't know if this happens.  Maybe my goat just hasn't been given yet?) I just need to be patient.

Things that can get better - other stuff

• Please, for goodness sake, start to sync with Endomondo and its apps.. Done. Thank you!
• When users 'accept a challenge' - the site should automatically credit points earned from the first day of the challenge, no matter when the invitation was accepted.  You know I gave your site a junk email address I check like once a week right?  I tried to accept a challenge some time after it started and got zero points because of when I'd accepted versus synced my data to the site.
• The vendors that offer deals seem to have interesting stuff but are all little unknown.  (I understand Reebok and Adidas might not have a lot of incentive to offer deals on this site.)  I'm not super excited about buying from a company I don't know just because I get a deal.  (This is a great site for all you impulse shoppers out there though.)
• In addition to energy bars and workout clothing, get some tech vendors for gift certificates and deals.  I know this is an exercise site but by definition, everyone using the site has a computer and some pretty sophisticated equipment to track workouts.  There's got to be some weird brand of headphones or bike computer or something that would love to get business from the site.

Stuff I have yet to do on the site

• Refer a friend - I've never referred anyone.  If you want a referral and some free points, drop me a line with your email and I'll shoot you a link.  In real life I don't know any other runners who are as manic about tracking workouts as me.
• Redeem points for a gift certificate - I actually haven't done it yet.  Those make your own granola bars are still looking good but the timing has never worked out with vacations and stuff.  I do have a Christmas gift planned for one of you though.  Pooky Bear, it's not you, but you can let me know if you see something you like.
• Accept a challenge - I've kind of blown those off so far because of the experience above and because I estimate that so many people enter them I'm just as likely to win the lottery as one of these

New Running Soundtrack - the sound of my own awesomeness

Summer came back to Minnesota with a vengeance this week.  Sunday I took a 3 mile walk with a friend and was drenched with sweat by the end.  It was pretty to walk along the river.

Monday I woke up to run my long run of the week (14 miles).  At 545am I checked the weather in order to make final preparations.  It was 75* and a billion percent humidity.  I went back to bed.  I woke up later and hit the elliptical at the gym for "6 miles" and then the rowing machine for 30 minutes.  I'll do the long run on Friday when it cools down.

Today (Tuesday) I knew I had to get in a good run.  I left when it was dark so I was all decked out in my safety gear.  Or my runners suspenders as Jarrod calls them.

The weather was definitely better than on Monday, but only just barely.  The air was basically supersaturated with water, to the point there was fog everywhere.  It was gorgeous but it was hot.

I did something new on this run.  I ran without music for the first 2.5 miles or so.  (I had a landmark in my head that I wanted to get to.)  I started thinking about running sans headphones when I read this blog post.  I'd been toying with the idea for a while.  When I started off this morning and it was dark.  For safety reasons, it felt like the perfect time to give it a try.  I had my headphones with me and music playing, I just kept them in my pocket for a while and listened to the sound of my own greatness.  (There's a running joke on the internet that runners don't need music because they have the sound of their own awesomeness to entertain them.)

Around mile 2.5 or so, I put in my headphones, after the sun came up and I was on a trail away from the road.  I also took a few pictures since my iPod was in my hand.  Did I mention the fog? And the humidity?

All in all, this was a much faster run than I was expecting (for me).  I took the beginning too fast and kind of bonked at the end.  (There's this really steep hill...)  But I was still pretty satisfied with how it turned out.  This run just felt good.  Until that hill.  Also, according to Nike, I couldn't run a consistent pace if my life depended on it.  I must've really worked it because it took me forever to recover when I got home. 

I also tried a new breakfast smoothie (based partly on some fruits I needed to use up).  The ingredients were a super ripe nectarine, sans skin; vanilla yogurt (I hate plain); one kiwi.  I thought I'd need to throw in a liquid to make it more 'smoothie' like, but it turned out great as it was.

How to care for your running clothes and make them last forever

Also titled: I just paid an arm and a leg for this.  Now what?

I just went to REI for one simple thing and walked out $75 lighter.  Woops.  It turns out that it's REIs big labor day sale.  I sort of knew that in the back of my mind but walked in unprepared for the grandeur of it all.    (Did you know REI is a Co Op you can join?)  The prices I paid for my gear, on sale, got me thinking about the price of running clothes, and why I'm always willing to pay it.  (Because I take care of my clothes and make them last forever.)

What I came out with:

• Salt Sticks which is what I went in for, becuase Run N Fun was out of them.
• A little travel pill container to put the salt sticks in for carrying on runs, otherwise they'd be loose in my pocket.
• EZ Racerback Tank - I don't know why google could only find Canadian stores when I scanned the bar code.  I have tons of race shirts, but very few tanks that I like for running so I was willing to part with the cash.  Plus I love Brooks shoes and am hopeful their shirts are just as great.
• Nike Women's Running Capris Mom got me a pair of these for Christmas and they are my favorite running pants ever.  I love the Nike DriFit material and I like they have a drawstring in the waist.  And they were a great price at REI.

How to care for running clothes - because they're expensive as heck and I want them to last forever:

• I hang up my gear on hangers in the bathroom after a run, just to let the funk dry out. (I sweat a lot.) Once its dry, it can sit in the laundry basket for a week or two, no worries.
• I wash everything in the normal cycle of the washer.  This may sound insane.  I don't even know if our washers have a gentle cycle.  (I live in a Condo with a laundry room.  It's very much like Big Bang Theory.)
• No fabric softener.  The tags all warn it can destroy the fabric's ability to wick sweat away.
• I hang absolutely everything to dry.  Smart wool socks - air dry; Sports bras - air dry; Nike running sweat pants - air dry; compression shorts - air dry; technical race shirts - air dry; winter gear - air dry.  My winter hat - air dry.  All of it.  Heat from the dryer destroys the elastic/compression quality of your clothes.
• Do not let your dog eat your pants.  You know who you are.

Some of my other favorite items for running:

• Every lady needs a sports bra, and maybe a second style for good measure.
• Cold weather gear - Underarmour is my favorite for cold weather tops.  I like the bottoms but they lack a draw string.  Boo.
• My favorite cold weather bottoms are Nike Cold Weather Running Pants.
• For mild weather, the stuff Target sells by Champion is actually pretty good.  I got three pairs of pairs of these pants when I started running and I still have two pairs in good condition.  I also have the original black biker shorts I used to start running in reasonable shape, all by Champion.
• Socks: I have some Smartwool socks for winter but don't by fancy socks for summer.  Sorry.

Sprint Workouts - Getting Faster

I meant to get up and run this morning but I was tired and grumpy.  I found the option of running in 95* at 6pm not so appealing so I hit the gym instead.  I did two workouts together, for a long fun time. 
 
Workout 1 - Pyramid workout.  When this is usually written for track workouts it's like "run this distance and then rest this long".  I just changed the rests to walking because it suits this situation much better.

• Run 1 lap, walk 1
• Run 2 laps, walk 1
• Run 3 laps, walk 1
• Run 4 laps, walk 1
• Run 3 laps, walk 1
• Run 2 laps, walk 1
• Run 1 lap, walk 1

Workout 2 - Drills.  The point of drills is to make me stronger.  I do them in the opposite order of how much I like them, which means the ones I hate the most I do first so I can look forward to the fun ones later.

• Box jumps on the short end of the track, run the long sides
• Lunges on the short end, run the long sides
• High knees on the short end, run the long sides
• Kick butts on the short end, run the long sides
• Cross overs on the short end, run the long sides
• Run backwards on the short end, run the long sides

Things I noticed:

• I would time the last lap of each step of the pyramid workout, they started at a 9:00 pace but sped up to somewhere in the 8:00s.  That's fast for me.
• Where is everyone?  The gym is empty.
• I focused a lot on cadence tonight, getting my feet to turn over more times per minute, which was a new exercise and I liked it.

Music that helped me make it through:

• Fall Out Boy - Thanks for the Memories
• Rizzle Kicks - Mama Do The Hump
• Jai Ho - A H Raman, also of Slumdog Millionaire fame.
• F.U.N. - Some Nights.

Long Run Monday - Panic!

Panic is exactly how I felt for my first 20-miler of the season.  I actually made myself meditate on Sunday, just so I'd be calm enough to get to sleep.  Oy.  It was a wild run and I keep telling myself it was actually pretty good, especially the strength of the last 10K, but the self talk only goes so far before I descend back into panic.  (Stay tuned for a post on self talk and how to make it work for you.  As soon as I get it all figured out.)

This is the second time I've used this route.  The first time was training for last year's Twin Cities. I had some pretty specific criteria for this run and this route met all of them.

• I am so over the lakes.  Go elsewhere.
• No way in the world will I be running any part of Summit Ave on a long run.
• There must be facilities.  Just in case.

Apparently, though, I am a little too good at pacing.  I was trying to run 12:00-12:30s but somehow magically ran closer to 13:00s.  Oy.  That caused the most panic throughout the run.  What will I do on Marathon day?  What is wrong with me?  Again, somewhere deep inside I know it was just a pacing and judgement issue becuase I just ran an 11:29 paced half marathon and I'll have a pacer with me on Marathon Sunday.  I keep trying to hang onto that positive self talk as much as possible.  Here's what my pacing looked like.  The dip around mile 15 is that really big hill at Ft Snelling and the dip at the end was after I was done running and left my iPod going to walk and stretch the last couple blocks home.

 
Things of note good, bad and ugly:

• Zero 'sick' issues and I was totally un-medicated.  There's one thing that pace is good for.
• Hilarious reading about last year's run - the same port a pots with the same padlocks were on today's route.  Yo - Minneapolis!  What is the deal?
• First long run where I've used salt tabs.  Either I liked them or couldn't tell a difference.  Not sure.
• I used gels every four miles.  Gels are fewer calories than some of the other stuff I eat on runs, so if that's all I have on Marathon Sunday, I need to take them every 3.5 miles at least.
• Eating a second gel a few minutes after the first one did not bomb out my stomach which was awesome.
• I "hit the wall" on the downhill section of the Ft Snelling run which is ironic because that's my favorite part of that run, and Ft Snelling is my favorite route.  I never feel bad there.
• I used a run/walk interval for the last two miles.  Trying to build up miles quickly and follow the 10% rule doesn't always work so compromises have to be made.  It was a good interval and really kept me moving.
• My feet hurt so bad at the end of this run.  Not like blisters, more like "your shoes are awesome until you stop moving and they have no support".  Whatever, I love my shoes.
• After the run, I forgot to eat breakfast.  Awesome.

Worldess Weekends - Chilling at Lake Nokomis

  

Holy Goblet Squats - I am so sore

This week was a step back week in marathon training so the "seven miles" I did Wednesday night on the elliptical should have been the hardest workout.  Oops.  Thursday was a long day, followed by workouts on Friday and Saturday.

Thursday - Run I did a quick four miler on Thursday morning.  Sometimes it's just better to run before going in to work.  Thursday was no exception.  I went out sort of fast.  So miles 1-3 were like "wow, this is fun, I don't normally go this fast" and mile 4 was all "don't poop your pants".  Awesome.  It looked like this:

When I got home and uploaded the workout I had a special treat.  Nike thinks I've earned 1,000,000 NikeFuel points.  (I still don't know what that is.)  The robot did a little dance and a backflip for me though, so that was cute.

Thursday - Circuit  Circuit was partly The Spartacus Workout.  The parts that were from Spartacus were Double Medicine Ball Push Ups and Goblet Squats.  As a result, I cannot do anything with my arms, including scoop ice cream.  And my inner legs hate me.  The rest of circuit was really fun, especially when the teacher came over to tell me how much I'd improved since I started their class.  Nice.

Thursday - Zumba  I love Zumba.  It's a great way to end the work week.

Friday - Bonus Zumba with Jenna which was hilarious because there were a couple songs where I was doing the wrong routine.  My Zumba teacher would be so proud.  Jenna had an hilarious set of circumstances going on that day with some other stuff, including a computer being taken apart, and no printer.  Also she has a new dog.

Saturday - Run with Beth  We agreed it was quite muggy.  It's hard to run in the muggy.  Luckily we got a break in the middle when I saw a guy from another Ragnar team and we stopped to chat.  Really I just wanted to see Beth because I wanted to hear more about her new job.  Then Beth tried to kill me at the end because she is very speedy.  It's good for me to run with her.  Saturday's run looked like this:

 

Ragnar Great River: How to Recover from Ragnar

Saturday after the race, my race gear and house exploded into a giant mess.  For a while, I am the opposite of a girl and totally don't care.  Only one science experiment resulted from not rinsing out and unpacking sooner. Although nothing could really top this experience.

 Sunday Go to the Farmer's Market for eggs and bacon.  Exercise is neither allowed nor advisable.  Beer would've been good but I had a 'liquor stores are closed on Sunday' issue.  Minnesota, that is a stupid rule.  The farmer's market was packed.  I got one of the last packages of bacon.

Monday Wake up and go for a short run.  Sleep in and go for a hill run after work.  I didn't mean to run so hard.  This is kind of a 'pound the crap out of your legs' route.  But it's so much fun.  It ends with a big down hill section.  Running down hill is pretty much my favorite thing in the world.  Around mile 2 of the run:

  


Tuesday be sick for stupid girl reasons.  Take all morning to figure out it's stupid girl reasons making me hurt and so tired I could sleep for a week.  Oy.

Wednesday Have no choice but to go to work.  Have basically an okay day, although still hurting a lot.  Make best friends with ibuprofen.  Hit the gym at the end of the day.  The gym where no one is.  This may have been my first time on an elliptical (not pictured) in August.  I've been trying to avoid them but between Ragnar and the Monday hill run, my legs needed a break.

After Ragnar and feeling like crap, exercise gave me enough energy to finally care about the mess in my house and clean it up.  All better.

Smile and be happy.  Start picking out legs for next year's Ragnar!

 

16.9 Miles of Running and 198 Miles of Fun

It's race season and this weekend was one of my favorite races, the Great River Ragnar Relay.  For the history, check out what happened in 2009, 2010, and 2011.  This year I was on a new team, one of the charity teams for Bolder Options.  (There's still time to make a donation to support my fundraising goal.) My old team is heading out to do the Vegas course in November and I can't make the trip.  I just couldn't stand not to do a Ragnar.

Through a series of mishaps and misunderstandings, we wound up with one completely injured runner and one runner who could only run one of this three legs but did a lot of driving for us.  Five of us ran a fourth leg, including me.

These overnight relay races on super long courses really bring out the crazy.  Andy set up donation jars at his work and people made donations based on whether they wanted him to shave his head or his legs or both.  He made a lot of money with that tactic.  He also wore a hat to prevent sunburn.  Good choice.

I was mostly runner number three this year.  I was always jealous of Ryan who took this leg in the past.  It's an early leg so it's done sooner in the race, and it's the lowest mileage of all the options.  The first of my three runs was a 5 mile "Corn run" on paved country roads.  I was so excited to get going that pacing was a bit of an issue.  I was only passed by a few people.  A couple people who passed me early slowed way down on the course and I passed them right back.  Jerks.  This graph is my speed, not the elevation profile.  I started off too fast but came to my senses and tried to manage pace better for the second half of the run.  The best thing about being runner 3 is running early and then getting a while to wait and cheer on everyone else. 

Even better, the weather was the opposite of last year's 95* bake fest.  It was in the low 70's and gorgeous.  There was quite a headwind, especially for the first few legs, but later on we were happy it was blowing all the bugs away from us.  Below - vans lining up to cheer on our runners.

  
This was the first time since 2009 I did a Ragnar on a team with two vans.  Our van had time to stop for dinner which was nice.  Mercifully the hamburger did not make a repeat performance, although it was touch and go for a while.  We also had time to stop and look around at the small towns.  Exchange 12 is on Lake Peppin.  Mother nature put on quite a show for us there.

After sunset, it was my turn to run again.  I picked up my extra leg here.  Runner 2 was supposed to run this first leg up this hill, and I was the lucky slacker who was supposed to run back down it.  In years past, this had all been one long leg so I knew it was possible to run that way.  Runner 2 was our guy who did his first leg and then drove so I told him I'd do his leg and mine together.  He gave me some salt tabs which I'd never tried before and some shot blocks (apparently Gu is not the sponsor this year?) and sent me on my way up the hill.  Here's the elevation profiles for both runs.

Now, my team was supposed to meet me in the middle, at the exchange where we would've changed runners.  My team failed miserably.  I got to the top of the hill and they were nowhere around.  The volunteers were all "are you running two legs?" and I explained my team was supposed to meet me with water and nutrition.  The volunteer handed me a water bottle and I kept going.  I was pissed.  It really came out in my running because I took the last three miles at a much faster speed than the first five.  I finished strong and had run off most of my aggravation.  The graph below is my speed, slow and steady for a long time and then boom off I go down the hill.

Shortly after I got done running I changed into clean running gear (finally), put on my sweats over it and crawled in the back of the van and went to bed.  I was so cold that one of the other runners gave me his blanket in addition to my own.  When all six of our runners had gone, we drove to the next big exchange to sleep and wait for our teammates.  This may have been my best Ragnar ever for actual sleep.

Around 5:30am I woke up and began to shovel food in my mouth because I knew I had one more run.  Eating sucked.  I could barely get the peanut butter down.  (Who knew I had a gag reflex?)  My last run was a true 5K that was both more awesome and more awful than I expected.  2.9 miles were on a running/bike trail in a suburb of the cities.  I'd actually run a section of this leg on my third run last year.  I went harder than I expected to be able to.  And then I turned off the trail to where the parking lot and exchange were.  And I saw the hill.  It was a short but brutal hill that took everything I had.  I was going so slow I was afraid I was going backwards.  The hill was that steep, even though you can't tell from the elevation profile. Good thing I did all those hill runs in training.

After my last run, I was so happy to be done.  The last legs are always interesting because once people are done, they sort of lose their minds.  And all the people who still have to run are a little grumpy and impatient.  True.  Andy had fun with his second to last and last runs and really dressed the part.  He did his run and then picked up the last leg of the injured runner.

Once our van was done, we stayed with the other van for a few exchanges to congratulate runners as they finished.  The last ten or eleven legs of the race were very different from the past year's course.  I liked most of the changes they made, particularly that runners were on running trails almost the entire time we were in Minnesota.  We saw this at the last exchange before the finish (which had been the second to last exchange the last three years). 

Like last year, the course finished at the River Flats which has a view of downtown similar to this one.  This was taken a few days earlier from a different building on the U of M campus.  After the race we had a beer, cleaned out the vans and headed home, already talking about next year.