26.2

Maybe it's bragging, but I'm going to post it anyway... Pat and I ran a marathon this morning!!!! Well, not exactly, but if you combine our miles, we did 26.2, and that's pretty amazing to me! I'm always grateful to have Pat in my life, and I'll tell you, when he emerged running toward me at my mile 9 waving a water bottle in the air, he reached a new level of hero in my book! :)

I didn't think it was possible, but I have even more respect for all you runners out there after today. I'm pretty sure that running 10 (.2!) miles (yes, that means Patrick ran SIXTEEN!) was one of the hardest physical challenges I've ever faced, and I am well aware that that's just a fraction of what many of you have accomplished!! So I am very proud of us today, and even more proud to be a part of such a strong group of people. 7 weeks to go!!!!

How It Works

So, we have a tentative set of leg assignments now. To refresh anyone's memory, if you forgot/didn't get them they are:
1- Mike, 2- Allison, 3- Carrie, 4- Laura, 5- Pat, 6- Josh, 7- Kat, 8- Kristi, 9- Judy, 10- Kristin, 11- Dave, 12- Heather

And in case anyone was unclear on how the whole relay will work, I will use those assignments to try to explain it. So at about 10am on Friday, September 26, Mike will be at the starting line, Allison, Carrie, Laura, Josh and I will be with our van in that area, and everyone else can either be there, or can be at Exchange Point #6.

Mike will start running, and the rest of the members of Van 1 will get in the van and drive up ahead, either to somewhere further along the course to cheer him on or directly to 7.7 miles further along the course ahead where his leg ends. Allison will eventually be there waiting, warmed up and ready to go, and he will hand off the wrist strap (I think it is like a slap bracelet, or at least it looks that way in the videos) and she will take off and do her 9.2 miles. (Longest leg!) In the same way, Carrie will get the handoff and do her leg, then hand off to Laura, then she will give it to me, and I will to Josh. At the end of his first leg, Josh will hand off to Kat, and Van 1 is done for a little while while Van 2 does just what Van 1 did with its 6 people.

Van 1 can then drive ahead to points on the course and cheer, but people that have done it before recommend going to your next start point and getting some rest, food, a shower and such. Remember, you have been in a van for a good 6-7 hours other than when you were running, plus you are up for another leg in 6-7 more hours... and then again. The whole thing is probably going to be about 30 hours if we do our estimated 10min/mi pace based off of the estimates everyone sent me.

So, Kat goes, then Kristi, Judy, Kristin, Dave and then Heather hands off to Mike at exchange #12, Van 1 is back in, Van 2 can go rest up, and we do it all over again. There are three full rotations, and then we are in DC and done!
I hope that made sense, and if you have any more questions, just post a comment and maybe someone who does not suck at explaining as much as I can tag in to clarify this whole dealie.

Natural Bridge

Wow! Thank you to everyone that sent in mileage. With all of your additions, we just increased our total from 157 mi to 244 mi which takes us from Harrisonburg all the way past Roanoke. Along the way, we passed over Natural Bridge, which according to its own website, is one of the 7 Natural Wonders of the World. Impressive, no? Ah the scenery we are running by- quite like Forrest Gump. I can almost hear the Bob Seger playing in the background.
Thanks again, and good luck with your training this week!
-Pat

Accomplishments

A lot has happened in the last couple weeks, and I only know about the highlights for a few of our team members. Please add your stories too!!

First of all, Pat and Allison ran the Marine Corps Historic Half in Fredericksburg, VA on May 18th!! This was Pat's longest race to date, and the second time Allison has completed a 1/2 marathon. They were AWESOME!! The weather cooperated nicely for running, with even a slight drizzle as they climbed the huge hill around mile 11. I thoroughly enjoyed watching and cheering with the crowds of people and marveling at the incredible endurance of the runners. They may not like the fact that I'm posting this, but I'm just really proud of them... so here's a video that I accidentally shot instead of taking a still photo.

As for me, I ran my first official 5K on May 25th, and think that I've officially caught the running bug. I actually heard myself tell someone yesterday that I'm starting to like running... gasp! I never would have thought I'd see the day!

Group Goal

Pat has sent out really helpful training schedules, so I know many of us have a personal training goal. I also thought it might be fun to set a group training goal. There are 18 full weeks left before Ragnar, which means that if all 12 of us ran 10 miles per week, we would run 2,160 miles as a team. If we all ran 15 miles per week, we would run 3,240 miles as a team. Clearly, not all of us will run the same number of miles... some will run more and some less. SO, I thought it would be fun to pick a "destination"... as if we're running across the country. Los Angeles is 2,675 miles from DC, so we could set that as our goal and try to "get there" by the time the race comes around by each logging our miles/week and combining them for our team.

Here's how it will work (Directions via Pat):

From the White House to Hollywood, it is just about 2600 miles. The blue line is our Forrest Gump-esqe route, and the red is how far we have already come.


View Larger Map

Here is a closeup of what we have already done, but you can click on "View Larger Map" on either one, and it will take you to the actual Google map.



View Larger Map

Also, if we want, as we go along we can make a little note when we hit 1000 miles as a team, or when we cross the Mississippi or something. For updating the map, either Carrie can add you as a collaborator so you can put your own on or you can just tell her or me and we will add them in.

Welcome!

For those of you who don't know me, my name is Carrie, and I am probably the least experienced runner on our team. Before April, I don't think I had ever run more than a mile in my life!

So, based on the fact that it took a 182 mile relay to inspire me to start running, I've discovered that I am motivated by somewhat crazy, off-the-wall challenges where I can have fun along the way. (You'd think that by this point in my life, I would have already come to that realization...) Anyway, I know that signing up for the team was just the first step, so I've been trying to think of some ways to encourage myself to train.

Running with other people has been helpful (I'm excited for our team to start getting together for some group runs!), and I know that this will be easier for some than others (you know, like if you live in Alaska, for example...). In order to keep us connected, I've started this blog where we can record any notable milestones along our training journey. That way, even if we can't train together in the same physical location, we are connected as a team.

Here's a copy of my 100 mile chart, which is hanging on my freezer. Each day that I run, I highlight the miles in a different color. It's a great visual reminder, plus I'm rewarding myself along the way when I hit personal goals. Just email me if you want the excel sheet to alter it for yourself.

Have fun, and I hope you find this blog a worthwhile place to share our experiences!