Ragnar Adirondacks: The Run of a Lifetime

This is Part 2 of the RACKSMAN...and Friends adventures at the 2014 Ragnar in the Adirondacks.  Click here for Part 1.



As I stood there with the team waiting for Mandark to finish his leg, an anger started to brew. 



Mandark was trying everything in his power to make up time so we wouldn't have to run by ourselves in the middle of the night.


However, the damage was already done. 


We were 16 minutes behind the Canadian team and the odds were stacked against us.  We will be running along Lake George by ourselves as the Ragnar crew was cleaning up behind us. 



I stood there trying to control my anger. 


It may seem childish to get angry at something like this since we weren't technically competing against anyone but ourselves, yet all I felt was a building rage.



I was angry with Ragnar for scheduling the latest time possible for us when we didn't fit the bill.  The last wave is reserved for the best of the elite and that's something we were not.  We have good, solid, and hard working runners but nowhere the level to compete against the Saucony Elite Team (One of the teams in our heat and yes, that was their real team name).


I was angry with myself since this is the first Ragnar I put together.  Kaz and my good friend Al usually organizes the event but I decided to give them a break since it's a pain in the ass scheduling everything and Al couldn't join us. 



So, thinking I could be savvy and try and get the team some extra sleep, I told everyone to put down faster average paces to get a later start time. It never occurred to me we would get the 1:00 start. Now that we did, I felt partially responsible and it pissed me off.



Ragnar is a very rare experience and I always enjoy the cammaderie and friendships you develop with the other runners, but I put all of the newcomers in a bad position and possibly ruining their time.



I started to lament which only led to more anger. 



It started to become evident as I have the terrible ability of wearing my emotions on my sleeves. 

Everyone could see it.



It was so apparent that my good friend, Jordan (He was also our driver), pulled me aside to try and calm me down.  He simply stated that I know you are angry and you want to make up time but do not get yourself hurt.  You still have 9.5 miles after your 11.8 and the team needs you.  Don't do anything stupid.  Calm down and run intelligently.



I heard every word even though it was difficult to face.



He was right.



I wanted to make up the time immediately and it only pissed me off more knowing I didn't have the ability to do so. 



However, we could install a plan to make up the time so by the time Baron and Jason go, we will be in distance of passing people and putting Van 2 in a better position to take over and do some damage.



It started with Kaz.



I have been exposed to Kaz's natural ability to always to be in shape for so long now, I take it for granted.  The kid probably hasn't ran over 12 miles since we did the 14 mile trail run right outside Philadelphia 11 months ago, yet this kid wasn't only going to complete his double leg, he was going to make up time in the process.  I don't ever doubt him because he never disappoints.  I guarantee he probably didn't even do an 8 mile run before the Ragnar but here we are, relying on his ability to run 7:30s in his sleep.



So the plan was simple.  If Kaz can make up 5 minutes over his 12 miles and I can make up 7-10 minutes with my 11.8 double leg, Baron and Jason will definitely get us back in the mix and pass some people.



Challenge Accepted



Mandark comes charging in and passes the slap bracelet to Kaz.



It's on



Is it any shock that Kaz destroys his double leg?


Absolutely not.



He glides through his 12 miles at a blistering 7:40 pace making up five minutes and twenty-five seconds in the process.  He did better than expected but the craziest thing is that he would have made up more time if the second portion of his double leg wasn't against a very good runner in his own right.  Actually, they mirrored each other.  Kaz actually made up the 5 minutes in his first portion but the Canadian team was not going to go quietly in the night.  He was only able to gain twenty-five seconds on the second portion.  I was even timing them both at different checkpoints to see what the difference was.  There was barely any.



Nevertheless, Kaz more than did his part and now it's my time to contribute.



I had a brutal double leg containing the hardest hill in the course.


Here let me describe...actually, no, just look at the below maps.  You'll get the picture.

The first portion is pretty simple.  It's mostly downhill giving me the ability to move swiftly while saving energy for the second portion.  I need all the help I can get.

I told you the maps would paint a clearer picture.


This leg is titled "The Ragnar".  The name signifies the toughest, most daunting and hardest leg on the course.




I took the challenge on...topless...even though it was 45 degrees out.  I needed to stay as cool as long as possible since this course would definitely get my blood pumping.



I start the 5.8 mile leg fast and furious.  I try and hold back but too pissed off to listen to my brain telling me to slow down.  All I could think about is making up time and catching the Canadians.  It was like a poison.  Every downhill I hit,  I went at it hard but there was a problem. 


Every rise in elevation, I could feel it in my quads. 


Could I really be feeling the pain from the initial 10k I ran earlier in the day?  Maybe...however doubtful... but not entirely out of the realm of possibility. 


I know I felt like crap but I need my body to come through.  I was starting to get worried.



I still attacked the downhills with speed and a quick turnover rate, even more so now, since I started to get nervous about the 3 mile hill that was only miles before me. 



I figure if I do the entire 11.8 miles in an hour and a half, I will most likely catch up to the Canadian team and may even pass them.  At 1:30, that would put me at around a 7:38 pace which is more than asking a lot of myself considering the course and miles that lay before me in  my third run, but I don't care.  We need to catch some teams.  We need to get back in this. 



While Kaz was running and we were waiting at the exchange for Kaz to pass us, the Ragnar staff was waiting for us to get there so they could clean up.  It was humiliating.  At least to me it was.



Granted, it was pretty cool to talk to some of the volunteers and Ragnar organizers as we were giving them shit for a terrible start time and trying to get free stuff at the finish line(1).



(1)We did.  I have about a three month supply of Clif Bar in my basement.  Score



It still infuriated me to be in this position.



About half way through the first portion of the run, a car pulls next to me. 


Mind you, it's past midnight, pitch black (there are no street lights, just my head lamp providing about 50 feet of sight directly in front of me and that's it), and I'm running on the opposite side of the road.  I can only wonder what's this about.



It's one of the Ragnar organizers.  She gives me crap about going to slow and I am never going to catch the other team at that pace.



I deserve that for giving her crap about our start time.



The goal was to finish Leg 15 at exactly 40 minutes to give me 50 minutes to conquer the "Ragnar Leg".



I came into the exchange at 42 minutes



Shit



I am already behind.


Damnit



My team cheers me on and hands me a much needed Red Bull.



I need all the help I can get.



The Ragnar Leg begins.



It's approximately one mile from the start of Leg 16 to the base of the 3 mile hill and that hill was all I thought about. 



But then, something else entered my mind.



I destroy hills.  There is no way the other team can run up this hill like I can.  I have been training on inclines since High School Cross Country.  I am going to murder this.  I am to pissed off and motivated not to conquer this hill and pass anyone who shows an ounce of weakness.  We are going to get back into this race so we can start passing people.  I am tired of running by myself.  I could have done this at home.  It is dark.  There is too much ruffling of the trees for my liking.  This needs to stop.



At this time, I think of what Jordan told me before we started our set of legs and quickly put his calming advice to the back of my mind.  We didn't drive 5 hours to upstate New York to hang out with deer.  I can do that back  in South Plainfield.



Once I see the base of the hill, I go into attack mode.  I start moving up the mountain like I have never moved before.  I am light on my feet and every stride feels stronger than the last.  I start to build a cadence I am getting comfortable with. 



This is what this hill has to offer?



I am about halfway up the hill and I see our Black Van (2) and all I could think about is where the other team is.  I shout to Jordan "Where are they?  How close am I?"



This is Jordan's response:



"5 minutes........maybe 4...........or two............or......... I don't know."



Thanks Pal



(2) I am pretty sure we had the only black van in the entire Ragnar.



Like every mountain, the road bends and turns and after I just get the intel from Jordan, I see a blinking red light.



Not only do we have to wear a head lamp and high visibility vest, we also have to sport a rear blinking red light, so when I see this, it can only mean one thing.



It's hunting season.



Seeing the red, I become a bull.  All I can concentrate is on the red.  I stare at it.  It is my most prize possesion.  I pick up my pace even more.  This is it. 



We fucking did it.



Down 16 minutes, Kaz and I made up the time in 20.5 miles.  Never did I think I would be able to catch them, especially with 3+ miles still to go. 



Never have I felt so good on a run.  Even as I am typing this to you now, I do not remember one moment where I was in pain while traversing up the hill.  My adrenaline and competitive nature took my performance to a whole new level.  I felt fresh. I could've ran forever.  We pulled in the team that had a monstrous head start and now we can start catching other teams. We are back in the game and it felt so good. 



After I made the pass, I put another 4 minutes on the team since the runner was struggling to finish the hill. 


On the downhill, I was averaging sub six minutes.  Something I haven't done since high school.  I was having the run of a lifetime and I knew it.


It's a great feeling when you realize you still have the ability to surprise yourself.


About a half mile before the exchange, where Baron was waiting to start his 5.6 mile leg, I witnessed a thing of beauty.  It was a clear and beautiful night.  No clouds in the sky whatsoever and if you look at the leg map above, you can see how the roadway takes you into the mountain as you make your way uphill and away from the water but when you start the downhill, it takes you towards Lake George.  At that brief moment where there wasn't any trees in the way, I could see the lake.  The moon and stars reflected gorgeously off the calm lake and there it was.  The constellation Orion was clear as day.  I have never seen a constellation so bright and clear before.  It was incredibly picturesque sitting over the lake in perfect plain view.  I even slowed down a little bit to enjoy the view.  It was the perfect ending to a near perfect run. 


When I slapped the baton on Baron's right wrist, I shouted "Let's Go!"


I clocked in at 1:26.  4 minutes before my goal time.  I did the six mile leg in 44 minutes averaging a 7:20 pace with the hardest hill in the course and on borrowed muscles.


In total, I did the 11.8 miles in an hour and twenty-six minutes averaging a 7:17 pace.  Much faster than I could ever imagine. 


There are runs every runner will remember fondly during their career.  A run where they feel like they can go on forever.  Every stride feels light and strong.  A place where no pain is present.  The mind is jovial and free. 


This is one of them.




Part 3 to be completed

Ragnar Adirondacks 2014

The Ragnar Relay is a race RACKSMAN...and Friends have completed over the past four years.  We have traveled up and down the Northeast seeing different sights while we run and chase down other teams.  It's become a yearly tradition and a great bonding experience.  This is the latest one we have done.  I will be breaking this off in three parts.  If you need a more detailed explanation of what this event is and all about, click here.  Or watch the below video

Without further ado... RACKSMAN...and Friends takes on Ragnar Adirondacks 2014:

Most of the group came in together to meet at the Community Court of Something Garden (terrible name for a hotel, but it was cheap and less than a mile from the start of the Ragnar) to get comfortable, hang out a little bit and get to know each other a little more.  Not that it's necessary for us to get more acquainted since we have known each other for more than a decade but the uniqueness of the Ragnar brings people together more than most realize.

See, running gathers people together who share the same trials and tribulations of training and running with a full list of responsibilities.  That same connection is magnified exponentially when partaking in the Ragnar.

We have 11 people with us this go around (10 runners, 1 driver) for Ragnar Adirondacks and we will become roommates for the next 48 hours.

We did this race last year and it is by far, the toughest course we have done, so naturally, we had to do it again.  This is actually the first one we have repeated and the 6th total for RACKSMAN...and Friends.

The team has 5 new runners this time around, which is the most newcomers we've had since we all lost our virginity to Ragnar over 4 years ago in Washington D.C.  Needless to say, I am excited to see how they like it.

Two of the new runners, Chris "Mandark" Larson and Jon "LT" Lin, are friends from my close friend's engineering fraternity.  I stayed at home and attended the local community college so I needed somewhere to party.  A lot of my high school friends attended Rutgers and a few of them entered the engineering school.  After I found out my friend was in a fraternity, I had to party with him since I thought the parties would be accurate realizations of the countless movies I have seen depicted. 

Strangely enough, they weren't too far off and I got to meet a bunch of people due to the fraternity.  LT and Mandark were just a few of the guys I got to know.  However, I mostly hung out with them when we were under the influence, which doesn't represent any of us and who we really are.  So, I was excited to get to know them through this rare experience.

When we got together, we discussed our legs in our van, it became clearly apparent that this was not going to be easy.  Frankly, it's going to be our toughest challenge yet.  I would be lying to you if to say I wasn't nervous entering the event, but that's part of the lore of Ragnar. 

It's different.

It's relaxed.

It's enthralling.

Let's Go!

(Conflicting Ideologies, yes, but if you have done one of these, you would understand.)

When we arrived at Saratoga Springs State park, something was different.  Ragnar Village didn't have the same energy it usually provides.

In the past 5 Ragnars, we have started between 9:00-10:00 am.  The race directors staggers the time so everyone arrives at the finish line (Olympic Park in Lake Placid) in a relatively similar time zone, theoretically anyway. 

This year, we are the last wave to go off at 1:00 pm.  So when we arrived to Ragnar Village, over 275 teams have already started.

The way Ragnar sets up the waves is simple.  The slower you are, the earlier you start.  The faster you are, the later you start.

Not rocket science

With our collective group, we average 8:30 minute/miles, which is respectable in it's own right, especially with 5 new teammates, but we should not be starting in the last wave.  That wave is for teams that average a 7:30 min./mile or below.  That is a huge difference when spread out over 197 miles. 

We obviously do not fit the bill.

So right then and there, we knew this was going to be tough and the odds were stacked against us.  However, it did present a wonderful opportunity to pass people but this may be too late of a start to really do some damage.

The problem with our wave time was that they usually go off in 15 minute increments.  The first group went off at 5:00 in the morning and then every quarter hour, the next group of runners go.  Well, the last group to go off before we did went on our merry way was at noon, so the hour difference brought the following two issues up:

1. The beauty of the Ragnar is socializing with the other runners because you see a lot of the same people over and over again at the exchanges.  Exchanges is where you hand off the baton (the baton is a 90's style slap bracelet...cheesy...yes...but very effective) to the next runner, so naturally, they become little parties since every van has to meet there to get their next runner started or at least cheer for the runner if they are passing through for a double leg or more. 

When you meet the other runners, you easily build on a similar trait and start to support each other.  A very rare sight in this day and age.  With the later start and a big time gap to boot, it made that very difficult. 

Connecting with the other runners is awesome.  We all work countless hours at our respective jobs and running supplies us with the little reprieve from the daily monotony.  Trading running stories with the other runners is one of the biggest draws of the event and I was afraid the newcomers were not going to experience that so that really bothered me.

2.  I love passing people............that's it.

After we check in, attend the safety briefing, and gather our gear, we approach the starting line.  Kaz is the first person to go and their couldn't be a better individual to do so.  Kaz hits every leg he does out of the park and feasts on any prey along way.  He is a straight up beast.

                                                          
                                                       RACKSMAN...and Friends

The race starts and Kaz kills his first leg and ended up passing 8 people. 

This has to be noted though, the other vans are really talented.  It is immediately present this was going to be an arduous task.  Two of the runners ran a sub 6:30 mile, which is just insane. 

Challenge set and accepted.

Kaz slaps the bracelet on my wrist and I start my leg.  I immediately feel the 90 degree heat, which no one expected this weekend in upstate New York...in the fall... and in the mountains.  In a short amount of time, I become nauseous and never felt really comfortable.  It was miserable.  This was not a good start since I had over 20 miles still ahead of my 10k run.  And to add more pain, I was passed, easily may I add, halfway through the leg, so my kill total is a whopping -1 by the end of my first leg.

Lovely

Then, I pass the baton off to the surprise of the Ragnar.

Christopher J. Baron has been training for a half marathon but I did not expect the pace he was thrashing the course with.  He volunteered to start off the double legs by attacking the 9.2 mile layout.  To say he took it on with vigor and exuberance would be disrespecting the man. 

After watching him move through the streets of Saratoga Springs with swift joy, I feel embarrassed to admit I terribly underestimated his running acumen.  Baron cruised through the 9.2 miles at a blistering 7:27 pace.

Next was Jason, who was a week removed from destoying his personal record in the Half Ironman distance by over 18 minutes, setting a best time in each respective discipline to running our second double leg of 8.4 miles.  I was afraid to ask him initially because I know how long it takes to truly recover from an Ironman 70.3 and didn't want to pressure him.  He put that unease to rest quickly with a simple nod and then, he was on his way.

Jason cruised at a 7:20 pace.

He's an animal.

Jay handed the baton over to a Ragnar veteran, Brendan "Nanners" Cyrus.  Nanners comes to these events on minimal training and without a care in the world.  I envy his ability to do so.  He attacks every leg the same way: I am going to get it done my way and enjoy myself. 

He gave me a little shit for giving him a 9.4 mile leg, which I believe is a personal long for Nanners in the Ragnar, but we both knew he could handle it and he did not disappoint.

While we were enjoying ourselves in downtown Lake George, eating Pizza & Falafel (Holy Shit that was a good falafel...yes, I had to capitalize Shit as well as Holy...it was that good), playing some arcade hoops, and getting owned by Deal or No Deal (Yeah, Fuck You Howie Mandel), Van 2 was killing their legs.

                                                      I even went wine tasting....Yes!

John Andrae, who is an accomplished marathoner and triathlete, destroyed his run.  No surprise.

Kendall Green, LT, Katie Ackerman, and Mandark attacked their respective trots and held up really well for their first Ragnar.  It's an interesting ploy on one's mind when you are running while knowing you have to run at least two more times in the next 16 hours with minimal sleep in the back of your mind (Yeah, I know that is a run on sentence but I thought it was fitting due to the topic of the post).  Yet, all of the newcomers handled it with a calm zeal.

When we came back from our tomfoolery, something was odd at the exchange.  It was completely empty.  We were the only van left.  Besides the cars from the Ragnar and Volunteer staff, we were the only competitors left in the massive parking lot at Million Dollar Beach (not a misprint...that's the name of the beach).  The 1:00 start was literally killing us and altering our experience. 

The second to last van just left when Van 2 arrived giving themselves a 16 minute cushion on us. 

The odds were stacked against us. 

This was going to be tough.

Mind you, it's 10:30 pm, pitch black and we have our toughest set of legs right in front of us.  We are going to be running by ourselves in the middle of the night with zero to little van support.  Three of the legs we were going to have zero cell phone service.

We have some work to do.

Little did I know, this would be a night I will never forget...

Stay tune and thanks for reading.