Ragnar SoCal Recap Pt 4

     Those of us in Van 2 headed back to John and Ric’s house for the after party.  When we got there,  I got a quick change of clothes and headed to the back yard.  Everyone's jaws hit the floor when they stepped into the back yard and saw what Ric had put together.  It rivaled some of the best wedding receptions I have been to.  Satin covered chairs, LED mood lighting, fully stocked bar with all the trimmings, propane heaters to keep us warm on a cool night, fine china and flatware, stainless steal buffet style food trays and large umbrellas floating above us.  

John’s Aunt Sue prepared a wonderful spegetti dinner with your choice of a vegetarian or a meat sauce, garlic bread and salad. 

The Ragnaholics joined us as well and I couldn’t ask for a more wonderful way to wind down and celebrate, than with my new running family.

     The next morning John, Susan and myself returned the vans and met the team at Baja Betty's, John’s favorite hangout, for a mimosa brunch.  I of course stayed away from the mimosas but the spread was fantastic and the food was wonderful.  I also partook in the “cheese crack”, which is a homemade cheese dipping sauce that I thought was going to be to spicy for me by the looks of it, but it was not at all.  

     We reminisced about our adventures and took a few picture, then John awarded Tay, who was unanimously voted by van 2 has our All-star of the Van.  Tay is such a wonderful person and totally deserved it.  With her new job and having to move, she had the least amount of time to train and she rocked her three legs, all while having a constant smile!  Cat had the great idea to have everyone sign her BIB but all I had was my medal so I asked everyone to sign the back of mine. 

     After brunch most of the team headed to the world famous San Diego Zoo.  My overall impression was it was a nice facility and had a lot of interesting designed exhibits, but even with a $5 off coupon it was $41 dollars a person.  Once we got into the place we hit the Skyfari chair lifts that took us to the back of the park and gave us a nice birds eye view of the place.  We made our way around the main exhibits, checking out the polar bears, pandas, monkeys and others.  The park is very hilly, and all of our legs were so tired and hurting so we hopped on the double-decker tour bus to get a tour of the rest of the park.  

     We were all pretty exhausted and getting hungry so Hillary’s boyfriend suggested a great fish place on the water called The Fish Market.  The restaurant was literally right on the water of the bay, right next to the USS Midway museum.  I ended up getting the fish & chips mostly because there was not much else that interested me and my basic palate.  It was so nice just to sit and talk with everyone.  I learned so much about their backgrounds and why they are who they are, which is what makes them so great!  The sun set over the bay as we were finishing dinner and we said our sad goodbyes to Caitlin who had to change her flight and get home early for a family emergency.      
      Thomas and I made plans to visit the USS Midway while the ladies made plans to head to Mission beach.  The Midway was amazing!  Its sheer size alone makes you stand in awe of how it can stay afloat.  They offered a free audio tour with your admission so, we made our rounds from the lower decks all the way top side on the flight deck.  The one thing that stood out to me was how the higher in rank you got the nicer the accommodations would get.   Unfortunately we were running short on time so we were not able to make it to the tower tour of the ship.  

     Thomas’s flight was leaving at 5pm and all of us wanted to get together for lunch before I took him to the airport.  We met at a cool little restaurant called Fat Fish in Mission Beach and hung out on the patio.  Again, I got the fish & chips platter, it is my weakness when it comes to seafood.  After a wonderful lunch we had another round of sad goodbyes with Thomas leaving.  After I dropped him off I headed back to Mission beach to check out a huge souvenir shop.  Being that close to the Pacific I told the ladies I couldn’t be this close and not get my feet wet, so we walked to the beach and hung out and took a few pictures.

     We dropped Martha off at her sister’s place, hugged and said our final goodbyes, because her sister was taking here to the airport.  Cat, Bonnie, Katie and I headed straight to the airport to drop Colleen off and say our goodbyes.  The four of us met John and is Aunt Sue at another local favorite of John’s, Gossip Grill.  We grabbed a table on the patio and the ladies ordered some drinks while we waited for John and Sue to arrive.  I was a perfect relaxing end to a long week.  I ordered myself a bacon bbq burger and fries which was really good.  The menu was quite interesting with their choice of words for some of the items.   

     When we finished John took Katie back to the hotel, since it was going to be the last time he would see her.  Cat, Bonnie and I headed back to John’s to pack.  When John got back we sat around and talked for a little while longer before we all crashed for the night.

     Katie, Bonnie, Sue and my flights all left around the same time, so it was quite interesting getting us all to the airport.  John let us use his Jeep Compass to get to the airport, which we filled the entire back cargo area with luggage, we had bags between our legs, on our laps and squeezed 5 people in. 

     Cat’s flight was at 2pm so she dropped us off and John was going to take her back later.  It was hard to say the final goodbyes with everyone, but I was ready to get back home and see Mandy, I had been missing her terribly. 

     My first flight went pretty well, I had an isle seat but this time had someone right next to me.  I was able to get a good bit of reading done but I dozed off for a little while, which was unusual for me.  We landed in Chicago where I had an hour layover.  It seemed to go by pretty quick, because before I new it I was in my window seat taxiing to the runway.  The second flight, a lady that was on my last flight and I shared a row with no middle passenger which was nice.  Once we hit cruising altitude the started passing out drinks and snacks.  I didn’t even have half my drink down when we made a sharp turn and the pilot came on stating we were on final approach and to prepare for landing.  Once off the plane, grabbed my luggage and headed to the door to meet Mandy.

      I have said this is was a once in a lifetime experience that I will never forget.  Its true that I will never forget, and have made 11 new life long friends, but the adventure was so fun I know other Ragnars are in my future.  If you asked me if I would recommend doing a Ragnar, I would say HELL YES you should. 
     Till next time, thank you Strangers to Solemates for such a wonderful adventure!!!

 

Ragnar SoCal Recap Pt 3

     Leg two started around 12:30am Saturday morning at this cool little amphitheater right on the ocean.  Ragnar requires everyone to wear a reflective safety vest at night and all the runners are also required to have a headlamp or flashlight and a tail lamp illuminated at all times, which made it a little tough to see during the exchange with all those lights in my eyes.  Anyway, Paige gave me a hug and passed off the slap bracelet and I was off and running my second leg of 5.9 miles. 

      It was pitch black running along the ocean till I made a left and headed back inland running through town.  I couldn’t believe how good my legs felt, I was flying doing a solid 8:40 – 9:00 minute mile avg till I started getting caught at the crosswalks.  Nothing kills your average like waiting at crosswalks.  This leg was up hill as well but there were more long rolling hills with not a ton of elevation change till the end.  I was feeling great the whole way despite it really cooling down.  At times it got kind of hard to see, because when I would exhale my headlamp with reflect on the condensation of my breath and kind of blinded me. 

     When I rolled into the exchange and passed off to Tay I was very happy to see an avg mile time of 9:34 despite having to stop for the crosswalks.  We were running low on water and Powerade so while Tay was running her leg we quick stopped at a Walgreens to pick some up and I grabbed a nutritious turkey Lunchable!   When we got to the exchange to get Tay and let Martha loose, we noticed it starting to sprinkle a little bit.  Martha also had a short leg so we headed right to the next exchange and halfway there it just poured, but a mile down the road no rain at all.  Must be that crazy California weather.  Luckily Martha somehow managed to miss the rain and made it to the exchange no problem despite a car almost hitting another runner right in front of her.

      We met up with van 1 at the next major exchange and caught up on all their adventures from earlier.  Once Colleen made it in, we headed straight back to the hotel for another round of showers and we managed to get a couple solid hours of sleep before we had to head out for our final leg.

     The alarm came way to early but the sun was up and it was looking to be an awesome day.  We headed out to the final major exchange using the GPS to guide us to where we needed to be.  When we arrived at our destination there was not a Ragnar van or participant in sight.  What happened was there were several roads with the same name but different sub names like road, way, lane etc…  We finally figured out the error and got to were we needed to be.

    The exchange was at the top of a hill on a cliff over looking the ocean.  This leg was a pretty brutal one for Paige, as far as elevation change goes, which I found out later that she did an incredible job tackling it.  As for me the first 3 miles was all a steep down hill. 

      When Paige came in I gave her a congratulatory hug for finishing her 3 legs and headed out on my way.  The first mile was a slight up hill grade, but was enough to make my legs feel heavy.  That all changed when I hit the turn and headed down hill.  As this leg progressed the views just continued to get better and better and I stopped a few times for a quick picture. 

     Out of the blue van 1 came by honking and cheering me on.  They stopped almost every quarter mile or so and made human tunnels and giving me high fives.  It was so nice of them to do that and it made me so happy that I couldn’t wipe the huge smile off my face. 

      Once I hit the steepest part I was pretty much running out of control.  I was going so fast that I was either going to make it to the bottom or roll to the bottom.  I managed to pull off a 7:33 mile, my fastest ever.  Once I got to the bottom though my quad muscles were trashed and I pretty much had to grind my way through the last 3 or 4 miles.  I cannot complain though because it was all worth it, considering I had some of the most breathe taking views of the trip.  I ran along the beach, then started a uphill climb that took me to another cliff were seals and sea lions were sunbathing.  I then was put on a walking path that I had to stop and take a panorama photo of, it was just to amazing to not stop and take it all in. 

     Once I hit the one mile to go sign I took a quick picture with it and started toward my finish line.  Whoever designed the course really new how to torture us, the last quarter mile was all up hill!  I made the exchange with Tay and almost collapsed from exhaustion.  I guzzled down Colleen's Powerade, sorry Colleen, and never felt more satisfied to finish something in my life.  The day got much warmer as it went on but our spirits were high knowing we were in the home stretch.  Bonnie had a good size leg as well so we met her halfway to form a human tunnel and cheer her on.  Once we picked up Cat and Colleen headed out for the finish line, we high tailed it over to meet the rest of the team.  When Colleen showed up we fell in behind her running the last 10^th of a mile and crossing the finish line as a team.  It was an incredible moment for all of us.  Hugs, smiles and tears of joy flowed as we received our medals.

Team Co-Captains John & Katie!

After pictures, a little shopping at the vendors and a few beers for the members drink we headed back to John’s for the after party celebration with the Ragnaholics team.

To be continued…

Ragnar SoCal Recap Pt 2

     Van 1 consisted of Thomas, Katie, John, Caitlin, Hillary and Paige while Van 2’s line up was myself, Tay, Martha, Bonnie, Cat and Colleen.  After we arrived back at the hotel we worked out a plan of when we would meet back at the van to decorate it, get some food and make our way to the first major exchange. 

     Once we finished the decorating we grabbed a bite to eat at a local chain place that I can’t remember the name of, but it reminded me of Panera Bread.  

     With full bellies we started toward what we all thought was the first exchange but what we really did was start a tradition of going to the wrong place.  We were ten minutes from major exchange 2 NOT 1 when Martha realized the mistake.  We got our shit together and with the help of Tay and GPS we were headed to the right spot.  We were now in a time crunch as we needed to get there, check in, go through the safety briefing and I had to be ready to meet Paige as she came into the exchange.  The only road we could take was a 4 lane road that narrowed down to a 2 lane and to top it off there was an accident there to slow us down.  Just past the accident we were at a light and in the wrong lane so when the light turned green I mashed the gas, squealing the tires and basically drag raced the car next to us, with our mini van to get in the left lane. It freakin' was fun!!!  We ended up making it to the exchange with plenty of time to check in and get ready.

     We got a text from Van 1 they were pulling in and with the crazy sea of vans there was little chance they would find us but Colleen did her best to signal them!!

     I waited at the exchange shoot for Paige, the whole area was electric!  DJ spinning some great tunes, runners in cute and funny costumes were everywhere cheering on every runner that came in and out of the exchange. 

     I saw Paige coming at me with her tutu on, the whole team formed a tunnel for her to run through.  When she reached me we gave each other a hug and off I went, back through the team tunnel. 

     This was my longest leg at 9.8 miles and I was dreading it due to the elevation climb I was going to have.  My legs felt a little stiff but they seemed to get better a couple of miles into the run.  I got to the first turn where I was supposed to cross traffic and then turn but the volunteer said to just turn.  I went about 2 blocks then there was a sign to cross traffic and continue so I did.  Then 2 blocks later I was to make a right turn, crossing back to the other side and continue running.  It was so frustrating going back and forth but because you were at intersections and you had to wait for the lights to cross and that just killed my avg pace.  The next 5 or 6 miles weren’t that bad, no major turns and mostly flat with a few rolling hills.  After that though, holly shit was it a climb.  Don’t get me wrong it was steep but not as steep as I thought it would be, but it just kept going up with one small flat spot in the middle.  I got to just under a mile, my legs were on fire and I realized my power walk would be faster than my running.  After my legs cooled down a bit I could see the exchange and my adrenaline kicked in and I ran it out to the finish. 

     Tay took over at that point and Cat took over driving so I could recuperate.  We cycled through most of our van with no major issues till we headed to exchange 11.  There was a major traffic jam getting into the parking lot and the volunteers they had didn’t know what the heck they were doing.  We were still sitting in traffic when I had Martha help Colleen get ready and the two of them jumped out of the van and headed on foot to the exchange.  They just made it as Cat was coming in and we finally got into the parking lot.  We collected Cat and headed to the halfway point for Colleen’s leg to cheer her on...

...which was good in theory, except Colleen is freakin’ fast and got there before we did.  Once we realized she was past us we burned rubber to get to the major exchange point to meet up with van 1.  We were waiting in the turn lane at the park when we saw Colleen cruise by us.  Unfortunately there was another traffic jam and it was much easier for van 1 to collect Colleen and meet us just down the street.  We talked with van 1 for a few minutes and made our way to the mid-point hotel to relax.  By this time my little headache had turned into a full blown migraine and I was feeling like shit.

After we checked in we went across the street to a wanna be Denny’s that had horrible service.  We waited almost 20 minutes to be seated and another 20 before I decided to just head back to the hotel, take some meds and try and kick the migraine. 

     Once we all cycled through showers we really only had about an hour or so to rest, which led to one of the funniest parts of the trip.  Not long after we crashed, I started to hear through the wall a couple having a pretty good time, well she sounded like she was enjoying it anyway.  The funny part was that no one else heard it and it became a running joke the rest of the trip!

To be continued…

Ragnar SoCal Recap Pt 1

     After months of preparation, worry, excitement and getting to know 11 strangers on Facebook, Ragnar SoCal is officially over.  Looking back, this has been one of the greatest, most exciting adventures of my life, short of meeting and marrying my wife.

     Heading into it was one of the most stressful few days I have had in a long time.  My anxiety was starting to kick in as I was starting to get nervous about the trip, my work was having our huge 3 day spring kick off event and to top it all off my wife’s grandfather was admitted to the hospital where sadly he later past away.  I was so heart broken that I was leaving on this trip while my wife had to deal with the loss and I even was considering canceling to be with her, but she said no.  She knew how much the trip had meant to me and of course the money we invested for me to go, there was no way she wanted me to miss it. 

     Packing for this was crazy.  I had an idea of what I needed from our team captains and what I found online, but my need to be prepared and not being 100% sure of what I wanted to run in caused me to over pack a little.  My flight was scheduled to leave at 6:35am so with the hour and fifteen minute drive to the airport and the need to get there early to check bags and get through security; we headed out about 3:30am.  My flight was actually pretty good, I had an hour and a half layover in Phoenix and I didn’t have a person in the middle seat on either flight.

view as I landed in San Diego

  
    One of my teammates, Bonnie, was also flying in at about the same time so after she landed, Ric picked us up and took us to his and John’s house.  We met John at a cool little place called the Wolf’s Head Pub for lunch.  They had some amazing food, I got the meatloaf sliders, and they were amazing.  I will defiantly be going back there next time I am in San Diego. 

     Bonnie and I were both pretty tired from early flights so she crashed for a while and I hung out in their cabana watching TV the rest of the day till dinner.  After dinner, we stayed up till midnight chatting and getting to know one another.  We finally decided to go to bed, once we realized that I had been up for almost 24 hours due to the time change.

     We got up around 8 and Ric had eggs Benedict waiting for us, that was a first for me and damn they were good.  John, Bonnie and I headed out to rent van one and start picking up the rest of the team that was flying in.  Once Cat, Martha and Colleen all got in, we chatted for a few minutes then Colleen and I dropped Martha and Cat of to rent Van 2, Bonnie and John picked up Katie, Caitlin and Paige and we all met back at John’s house.  When we got back to the house Tay was already there waiting for us.  It was hugs all around as these Facebook picture became real.  Paige brought out our team sweatshirts, Caitlin surprised us with T-Shirts she had made, Bonnie made little swag bags with hand made gourd ornaments and Martha had little sunscreen kits for everyone.  John and Katie left to pick up Thomas, whose plane was running late.  For a bunch of people that had never officially met we got along like we had known each other for years.  When Thomas showed up, everyone was excited to get there doughnut from Portland's own Voodoo Doughnuts.  Somehow he packed a dozen large doughnuts into his carry on and without a hassle from the TSA.  I got the "Dirt Doughnut" which was a large yeast doughnut with vanilla frosting and Oreo cookie crumble on top, believe me when I say it was so worth it.

     After enjoying our doughnuts we all piled in the vans and headed to the hotel we booked at the starting line where Hillary was waiting for us.  The whole way there we kept saying wow we are going to be running this tomorrow.  Once we got checked in, we headed out for a team dinner at a nice little place called the Stone Fire Grill.  As the bonding continued at dinner, John gave us all some great tips and “team rules” to help make the event go smoothly for all of us newbies.  We then did a little grocery shopping to stock up on supplies and then made our way to the Party Store where things quickly spiraled out of control :) 

     Van 1 had a start time of 5am and they were required to be there at least an hour early for check-in and a safety briefing, so we all hit the sack around 10ish.  Van 2 headed to the start line at 4:30am to help cheer Thomas (runner 1) off.  It was just a sea of vans and runners.  I was also freezing.  I had no idea how cold California could be in the early morning hours.  The start was just off the beach and a breeze was coming in off the ocean which was causing the cooler temperatures.

     Once the runners took off, van 2 headed right to the van to warm up and head back to the hotel to relax.  We knew it was going to be a long couple of days!

To be continued…

Wednesday Weigh In

Hello All,
     Sorry for the lack of posts for the last week or so, life has be so crazy.  April 2nd I flew to sunny San Diego for Ragnar Relay SoCal edition.  I will be posting my race recap soon but I wanted to at least get my weigh in posted tonight. 
     I weighed in last Wednesday before heading to the airport so I would have my final Ragnar weight for our teams weight loss challenge.  My goal several months ago was to hit 199 by Ragnar, a 26 pound drop.  It was a big goal at the time but it really motivated me to do it.  So that morning the scale read 196.6lbs.

4/2/14 official weigh in

196.5 lbs

Change -.5 lbs

Total loss from heaviest: 120.5lbs

Current BMI 30.7

Change: -.1

 

     Now to be totally honest, I will say why I was gone I gave myself a "break" from my daily nutritional routine knowing it would be tough to stay on track.  I really wanted to enjoy my vacation without obsessing over every little calorie, plus my teammate Thomas (click here for his blog), who is from Portland, was bringing everyone a doughnut from the world famous Voodoo Doughnuts.  All I have to say is I am glad I don't live in Portland or this would be really tough, I don't know how Thomas does it.  Anyway, I hopped on the scale this morning and despite having a gain, which was totally worth it, I would say I was pleased to see 198.4 between my feet.

   4/9/14 official weigh in

198.5 lbs

Change +2 lbs

Total loss from heaviest: 118.5 lbs

Current BMI 31.0

Change: +.3