Ragnar Ready

It is now time to get ready for my next Ragnar Race.  It is a 200 mile relay with a team of 12 runners, each completing 3 legs. Maybe you know this already.  If you do then let the fun memories fill your head.  If not, open a new tab and Google Ragnar. It is a race and a blast.

   

Part of my training includes training runs separated by short intervals.  I do this by doing a morning run, an evening run, and the next day doing an afternoon run.  These are various lengths based on how much time I have to run.  This helps me to get ready for the turnaround of the legs that I need to run for the race.  I try to work these in in the weeks before the race. This time I have had to substitute an upper body work out at the gym for one of the events in the sequence (also quite exhausting).  All Ragnarians say you can train for the turnaround but not for the lack of sleep.

This one is the Tennessee Ragnar from Chattanooga to Nashville.  Tennessee is a beautiful state and weather wise it is such a good time of year to run in Tennessee. It is my 5^th Ragnar. I find marathons to be a bit boring (sorry marathoners, I still respect you) but a Ragnar is definitely not boring.  There is plenty of running; I usually log around 20 miles, and also plenty of time to socialize.  There are many things going on along with the running that add to the experience; such as road kills, van decorating, and mixing with runners from all over the country.

All of my Ragnar races have been run with strangers.  That is teams of strangers that have come together with the Digital Running Club (open another tab right now and Google Digital Running).  They take care of all the organization and planning and it takes a lot of planning and organization to make your team be ready and enjoy the race.  Because of their great planning and execution all you have to do is get yourself to the race and run and enjoy. It is fun to come together with the new teammates and over the course of 200 miles you form a great bond. Everyone is there to support each other and cheer you on.  With each race I run into some team members that I have run with in other races along with the new faces.

You must give it a try no matter what your level of running is.  These teams (they are from Digital Running but all have a unique and clever name) are not concerned about your time or winning the race.  The completion is left to each individual runner and what they want to accomplish.  I really think that is really one of those (cliché alert) that everyone that participates is a winner.  You gotta do one of these.

This team is called The Power Strangers. So, you have 12 individual runners, from all over the country, going through their own training and preparations for this right now.  Very exciting!

I will keep you posted with my postings.

What do you think?

Zippy