The bare doldrums of a blog… The times when the owner gets too busy to tell everyone what he’s doing!

A pretty thin excuse. I have an action-packed update!

In September, I ran a Ragnar relay race, which was an exceptional experience. I’ve never spent 34 hours in a van before, but I can say with certainty that, at the end, I smelled worse than I’ve ever smelled, ever, but wow… Running through farmland, in the pitch dark, with nothing but my headlamp and my thoughts was an experience I’ll not soon forget. At one point, I felt eyes on me… And I swung my head to the right, and there was a field full of cows staring at me. It was very unsettling, in an odd way.

One thing that I was wholly not-in-any-way-prepared-for was the amount of hills in a Ragnar. We started in Cumberland, which is not classically known for its even and flat terrain. I ran leg 3 (which was deemed difficult enough to award me a belt buckle for accomplishing), and then 17 and 18 (the latter of which I liken to running up a mountain), followed by a bit of sleep, and then a 4.2 mile leg (leg 25) and an easy 2.8 miles (leg 26). Leg 25 felt reasonable… Leg 26 was torture. Not as bad as 18, mind you.

I have never actually felt, during any exercise, that I would be physically unable to carry on, not just with the exercise, mind you… But like death. Climbing the mountain in leg 18 was the closest I’ve been, in my life, to “NOPE”.

Washington DC Ragnar Relay Series

That arrow points at a 500 foot elevation gain in less than a single mile. You might be better at hills than me, but I nearly died after already putting in ~16 miles. And this was in the dark, so, essentially… You can’t see the top of the hill. It was crazy, it was a test of my personal fortitude. I’ve never been happier to see a creamery (the end station), and that says a lot. Those of you that knew me when I was a bigger guy know I could knock over some ice cream.

I ran the Baltimore Half Marathon, which I’ve a storied and miserable history with; mostly bad things, of course. In 2012, I ran the race with little training, with a big tear in my left meniscus (which I would later undergo a medical procedure to fix), and because of the lack of training, and the injury, I clocked in a 2:49-ish . In 2013, I registered, but hurt my neck pretty badly (so badly that I couldn’t move for a few days!), and it was too late to defer. This year, with no training (again), I ran this race, and 13.1 didn’t feel that long. It was probably ragnar and the eternal night-run that made it that way. I clocked in at 2:32, which I’m not PROUD OMG of, but its not that bad, all considered. Corrigan Sports puts on an awful post-race food area. Bananas, gross protein bars, bagels, and chips. Thats it! When Richmond has huge amounts of pizza, you roll into Baltimore’s sad food area and feel REALLY bad for the people who ran the full. Here’s the badge dealie:

NewImage

The Bay Bridge 10k is coming up, in November, and its been a disaster. They’re not providing cups, they’ve added a parking charge… Its pretty ridiculous. The whole thing smacks of a cash-grab, which is fine… I’m just upset I didn’t notice it earlier. Oh well… I’ll know to avoid that race promoter in the future.