Ragnar So Cal Race Report Part 2: Midnight Running and Along the Sea

So, let’s pick up from where we left off last week!. We’ve completed leg one of Ragnar So Cal, it’s getting dark, I’m still a little off from falling and giving myself a shiner. We had just picked up Jenn, our last runner, up at the virtual exchange. On we go to Leg Two!

But first, don’t miss Part One:

Ragnar So Cal Race Report: Meet Team Skirts Go Commando + the First Leg (and a Shiner)

Ragnar So Cal Race Report Part 2: Midnight Running and Along the Sea

Here is part 2 of Coach Debbie's @Ragnar Relay So Cal Ultra Race Report: Midnight Running and Along the Sea! Follow along with team #SkirtsGoCommando on legs 2 and 3 at #RagnarSoCal! #runningClick To Tweet

The sun had just set when we picked up Jenn (at Doheny State Beach which always makes me want to sing Surfer Joe) and headed toward our next exchange point. Jenn finished at Exchange 12A and we had to drive to Exchange 12B. These were called Virtual Exchange Points.

What’s a Virtual Exchange?

So when our last runner Jenn finished her leg in Dana Point we had to pick her up and drive to Carlsbad, where our next runner, Allison, would begin her leg. The reason for this is Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, which is huge and mostly desolate through the miles south of Orange County all the way down to Oceanside. Not ideal for running night relay legs even if we were allowed on base.

So instead, we were detoured around it, traveling south to Carlsbad by van. For regular 12-person relay teams, it’s pretty simple. Van one goes ahead to Carlsbad, while Van two stays to pick up their last runner. They communicate when one runner finishes, then the next runners takes off. For Ultra teams it’s a little more complicated. When Jenn finished, we picked up a time card, then drove the 30 minutes or so to the Carlsbad Mall, then turned in the card before Allison took off on her leg. They then subtract our drive time from our total time.

Midnight Running

It was about 9:00 or so when Allison finally got going on her next legs. This would be our teams’ third and fourth legs, since, as you’ll recall, we were combining our ultra legs. Allison’s hamstrings were bothering her, but she decided to give it a go since these legs were shorter than her previous one. Still, she had a total of eight miles to run in the dark.

While Allison was running, Brooke and Siri decided to “Buddy Up” for the next leg. Ragnar allows this Buddy system for the nighttime legs so that runners who don’t want to don’t have to run alone. Doing this though takes away your official time (so we couldn’t win 🙂 ). We would still earn finisher’s medals, of course, which was all we wanted anyway.

So when Allison finished, Brooke and Siri took off for their 8.7 mile leg. Because they were buddying up, Siri, who would usually run after me, would skip her next leg and we would drive ahead to the next exchange, maybe even giving us a little time to sleep!

At this point, I wasn’t even sure exactly where we were. Somewhere in the Carlsbad/Oceanside/Vista area, I presume, since I knew that my two midnight running legs would be inland, in Vista.

And midnight running it was, almost exactly 12:00 am when Brooke and Siri came into the exchange, passed the baton bracelet, and I was off. About 10 hours since I finished my first run (and almost that long since I fell and hit my eye).

I’ll tell you right up front. I love midnight running! I loved it in my first Ragnar, I loved it at Ragnar Trail last year, and I loved it once again in this event. I’m not sure why exactly because in regular life I don’t even want to be awake at midnight! Nor do I love running in the dark early in the morning. Whatever the case, I do love the middle of the night legs at Ragnar Relays.

There is just something special about being out there with very few people around. Yes, there are other runners, but they are a bit sparse. The traffic is light. You really are alone out there, which could be a scary feeling, so I stay alert, don’t wear my headphones, and run fast. Well, all but the last. 

Actually, my running stride felt a bit choppy. Partly from running in the dark on sidewalks I’d never run on before. Partly from my fall earlier in the day. But the weather was cool, I was feeling good, and I really enjoyed my midnight running. 

My first leg was about five miles and the time went quickly, though I needed to stop at the bathroom at the first exchange. The second leg was only 2.8 miles, for a total of 7.5 miles. I needed this run. I may have acted blasé about my dizziness and fall earlier in the day, but it did worry me. No concerns here, though, I felt great during and after my run.

When I finished my leg we had planned to hop in the van and skip forward a couple of exchanges because Siri and Brooke had buddied up. I guess there was a miscommunication, though because Candi was waiting for me at the exchange. She took off and after some discussion, it was decided that she would do her legs and we would skip forward when she was done. Those plans changed again when Jenn decided to take the next legs because she wanted some extra mileage (like 30 isn’t enough!).

At some point, we skipped ahead. It may be a little confusing around this time because, sleep (or lack thereof). I do know that we skipped two legs to make up for Siri’s legs, then since Allison’s hamstrings were really bothering her, we skipped her final leg too. That brought us through to almost daylight and Brooke’s last leg which started at Moonlight Beach in Encinitas. I must have been sleeping though because even though Moonlight is my favorite beach I don’t remember this at all!

Along the Sea

Finally, around 9:00 on Saturday morning, it was time for my final legs. These were definitely the hardest. Not only was this my longest run at 11.6 miles, it was also the most challenging, with almost 1,000 feet of climbing in the two legs. But in spite of that, this was the leg I’d been looking forward to throughout the relay because I’d be running along the coast. Finally!

After Jenn’s pic with her fireman, I felt a need to compete with two police officers!

The leg started in Solana Beach and headed south towards Del Mar. There are just gently rolling hills through this part of the course. As we headed into Del Mar, I assumed that the anticipated climbing in the first part of the leg would be the hill heading up to Torrey Pines. Alan and I have run in many times so I know what I was in store for. But I was wrong!

Instead, we were turned up a side street, heading west toward the freeway. It was basically straight up! And about a half mile long! And it was followed by a long and steep downhill, which I think was almost as hard as the uphill. The first part of my leg was 7.3 miles and as I headed into exchange I could still see Torrey Pines in front of me. I guessed (correctly) that I’d be tackling that hill in the next part of my leg.

And so it was, Just one mile or so into my 4.6-mile leg I started to climb. And climb. And climb. Seriously, this is a long hill, about a mile and a half. I’ll tell you, it seemed longer. I’ll also tell you that I walked most of it. I was pretty tired and I decided that my health (though I was feeling fine at that point) was more important than my pace.

When the hill finally peaked I began running again. Fortunately, there was no steep downhill here, just some more gentle rolling. Ironically, when I stopped for a moment to text that I was a mile out from the exchange I got dizzy again. It was weird. I looked down at my phone, looked up and felt dizzy. So I walked some more until it passed and was able to finish the last half mile at a strong pace. And Siri was off!

As the rest of our runners finished of their legs, I had a chance to rest and relax in the van. I was feeling pretty good and proud of myself for finishing. We worked our way down the coast as Siri, Candi, and Jenn finished their runs. Finally, we were nearing the finish line at Embarcadero Park in San Diego. We parked the van and headed to the finish line so that we could run across the finish line with Jenn.

Jenn’s Ragnar Leg medal on the right. Pretty snazzy!

Shortly after she texted she was a mile out we saw her. Either she was running a four-minute mile or (as she confirmed) the mile marker was missing and she just guessed. In any case, Jenn finished her final miles, which included the Ragnar Leg, the leg that is so hard that they give you a special medal for it!. And just like that, we were done.

After photos, we were walking back toward the food area when Jenn saw that there were some massage therapists offering free massage to competitors and wanted to stop. I figured that I might as well try it too, so I had a great 10-minute massage that focused on my hips, quads (oh those hills), hamstrings, and calves. I felt better as soon as I got up and felt even better the next morning. Seriously, I felt like I could go for a run (but I didn’t).

I am so grateful that I had an opportunity to participate in this event. I never would have thought to sign up for an Ultra team. In fact, after the first time I expressed an interest and the slot filled up, I decided that was probably a good thing. Thirty miles? I didn’t think I was ready for that! Still, when MC messaged and said she was injured and couldn’t run I jumped right on it.

I am also grateful that MC, our captain, traveled to California to keep us in line (GET IN THE VAN!) and to share her husband Matt, our driver, who was amazing (and I felt took special care of me after my fall).

Ragnar medals are designed to fit together with your team members. Sadly, Allison flew home before we created our Ragnar puzzle but she was there in spirit!

Most of all, I’m grateful for yet another amazing Ragnar team. Everyone was supportive, fun, honest, and non-bitchy, in spite of lack of sleep and too many miles in such a short period of time. There was no whining! Believe me, we saw the opposite in a van that was parked next to us at one of the exchanges and it did not look fun. I think I said it best in this Instagram post:

 

 

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Every time I’ve done a @ragnarrelay I always say that I had the best team ever. I’ll say it again. Team Skirts Go Commando was the best team ever! 🏃‍♀️🏃‍♀️🏃‍♀️🏃‍♀️🏃‍♀️🏃‍♀️ Six women I’d never met before (though bonded through our love of @skirtsports), from all over the country, trapped in a van together without much sleep for two days, could be a disaster. Instead it was the beginning of a friendship based in our love of running, challenging ourselves, and generally our mutual badass-ness. We shared our 200ish miles (that’s about 30 each, btw), 🏃‍♀️ a lot of Mexican food, 🌮 🌯 gallons of coffee ☕, as well as our awesome driver, who kept us rolling even though he hadn’t had any sleep either. 😴 I was so lucky to have the chance to join this team, though so sad it had to be because our awesome Captain, our spirit runner, went down with a broken foot. 😔❤️ . . I’m tired, a little sore, and I have a shiner. Would I do it again? You betcha. Well, except the black eye part. 😜 . . . . #running #ragnarsocal #ragnarrelay #skirtsports #skirtambassador #womenwhomove #runtoinspire #procompression #procompressionambassador #keepittight #runhundredambassadors #nuunlife #teamnuun #roadid #teamroadid #goodr #womensrunning #womensrunningcommunity #fitover50 #fitbloggroup #healthylivingcommunity

A post shared by Debbie Woodruff (@coachdebbieruns) on Apr 14, 2019 at 11:30am PDT

And lastly, I’m grateful that this 61-year-old body held up throughout (with just one little blip). Though I’ve run 38 marathons, this was a first. I ran 29.3 miles altogether, ate weird food, too much coffee, and had very little sleep. And had an amazing time!

Would I do it again? Another Ultra? In a New York minute. Or should I say, a So Cal minute?

Oh, and the eye?

This is four days after I fell. It’s very, um, colorful. For two days I wore a hat to work. I must have told the story 50 times to my clients, my students, and my co-workers. Today as I write this, 11 days after my fall my eye is still bruised, though it is finally getting smaller and less noticeable. Everyone still exclaims, “what happened?” when they see me though.

Have you run a relay race, Ragnar or other? What are your thoughts on midnight running?

 

 

And Now It’s Time for the Running Coaches’ Corner!

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