Go, you chicken fat, go away!

I finally had a run this morning that didn't feel too miserable.  I was out running by 5:30am.  The sun was just barely coming up when I finished.  I braved to run along the streets.  I saw two other runners.  One lady was wearing a Ragnar shirt.  I told her I liked her shirt.  Other than that, it was kind of boring.  So let me tell you some more boring things about my run on Saturday.  As I was running down hill one of the cyclists gave me a hoo-ah!  Thank you for thinking I was a marine.  Also, I saw some sort of animal scat all over the place.  I did not know from what kind of animal it was.  I wish I was better versed in the science of animal scat.  You'd think I would be.  I thought about taking a picture and posting it on the blog to see if anyone else knew what type of animal it came from, but then I thought, "even I'm not THAT gross.  Quiet Pirate, maybe.  But not me."
 

I didn't want to get up this morning, but I forced myself.  My side work is getting out of control busy.  But I managed to sweet talk some clients into pushing their deadlines back a few days. 

So, you know those window stickers of Calvin peeing on stuff?  Usually it's Obama, or Ford, or Oprah.  But today I saw one of Lowe's.  You know, the home improvement store?  Who hates Lowe's that much?  Probably a Home Depot associate looking to become a manager.

I took Ginger again.  She was so excited she could hardly contain herself.  Meow.  When I got to Harmony Park I let go of the leash and let her run wherever she wanted.  For the most part she stayed with me.  She gets nervous running across streets.  My legs weren't feeling all that peppy yesterday, but today they feel great.  It's gonna be a great day.  Happy birthday Bonnie and Lily.

My right shin really tightened up during this run.  I mean really tightened up.  I hope my leg's not broken.

This morning was the first time I listened to Pandora while I was running.  I don't have headphones.  I just cranked it up in my pocket.  The selection she picked out for me was: Def Leppard, Miss You in a Heartbeat - Rush, Half the World - Phil Collins, Easy Lover - Cinderella, Somebody Save Me - Metallica, Killing Time - Bon Jovi, I'll Be There For You.  That last song is where I lost my man card.

I saw a hobo sleeping on the bench by the MWF.  He had a white sheet propped over him like a tent.  Today's playlist: Bryan Adams; Summer of 69, Nameless Band; Bed of Roses, Guns N' Roses; Knockin' on Heaven's Door, 3 Doors Down; Here With You, Joan Jett; I Love Rock N' Roll, Nameless Band; Have a Nice Day, Aerosmith; Angel.  Looks like I'm down another two man cards.

This was my first Ragnar Trail race.  The way it works is all the teams set up their tents at a base camp.  There are 8 people on a regular team.  Start times are staggered throughout the day.  We started at 2pm.  I was runner #1.  I ran the green loop.  When I finish I hand off the race bib which is attached to a belt, to runner #2, and runner #2 runs the yellow loop.  Then runner #3 runs the red loop.  Then runner #4 runs the green loop.  You continue in that order until everyone on the team has run all three loops.

My first loop was pretty tough because of how hot it was.  And that set the tone for my remaining loops.  The green loop was 4.6 miles with lots of up and down hills.  I knew it was hot so I decided to take it very easy because I didn't want to carry any water with me.  I had just drunk a full Gatorade so I figured I wouldn't dehydrate.  I was right, but I probably should have brought some water just to dump on my head.  The hills were really working me because I hadn't really trained for them and I was using muscles that I don't really need to running on the road.  After a while I could feel the cotton mouth coming on.  I knew I was going to be quite a bit slower than what I'd hoped for.  Oh well.  All the time I kept thinking about when I ran Ragnar So Cal in 107° heat and wondering how I would be able to complete my next two legs, but then it was much cooler and they were no problem.  So I figured I'd be ok.

My next loop was the red loop.  It was 7.6 miles and had the most elevation change.  But the nice thing was that it wasn't as much up and down all the time.  It was just a gradual climb up and then back down.  By this time it was 11pm.  It had cooled off considerably.  I was still recovering from my first loop, but I had no problem running the whole way.  This time I carried water with me and my phone so I could use Endomondo to know how far I'd gone.  After about 1/2 mile I took my headlamp off and put it in my pocket and ran by the light of the moon.  It was a risky maneuver, but I enjoyed it.  I didn't fall at all like 90% of the runners out there.  Probably because I was going slow.  I did have a couple times where I would step in a depression and jar my back, but it was a pretty good run.  They had the course well marked with colored lights on the markers.  After I finished I pretty much slept until my final leg.

The last loop, the yellow loop, was the shortest distance, 4.3 miles, but everyone said it was the hardest.  They were right.  It had the toughest hill and the most rollers.  I was pooped.  But I kept a pretty steady pace.  Steady and slow, don't you know.  I forgot to put Body Glide on this time and started feeling my sensitive areas getting uncomfortable, so I took my shirt off.  At one point a girl passed me and I apologized for what she had to see.  She laughed.  Hard.  Despite how hard it was I managed to finish strong.  The nice thing was that the sun had just come up and it wasn't too hot.  Unfortunately for the rest of my team they had to run in the heat again.  We ended up being 5.5 hours behind our projection time.  Little Old Lady!

Most of the people I talked to said they preferred the trail relay to the road relays.  You don't have to worry about driving all over the place.  You get more sleep.  You get to hang out with the whole team all the time.  I still think I prefer the road races just because I much prefer running on the road.  Trails are tough. 

Well, in two weeks I'm running the Vegas Ragnar.  I have one leg that will be 10 miles with 828 feet of elevation gain.  So this morning I decided to mimick that by running 10 miles up and down Usery Pass.  The elevation gain on this run was 860 feet.  It was a beautiful morning, but it was starting to warm up.  I took no water with me on the run, just a chocolate Gu.  Once I got to the top after 3.7 miles I took the Gu.  I ate a banana before I left.  From then on all my burps tasted like chocolate banana cream pie.  Yummy!  I saw a penny on the side of the road.  I remember when I first started running again over 6 years ago and anytime I saw money I would think that it was a good luck charm.  There were a lot of cyclists out as usual.  I must admit, I was digging all the looks of amazement and envy I was getting from them.  One guy said, "You're really getting it this morning.  Go get it!"  It would have been cool, but he looked like a douche.  After about 8 miles I was really wishing I was done, but I just kept going because my water was in my truck.  Near the top I did see a brand new gallon of water that someone had stashed, but I left it alone.  Anyway, I made it, but I had to run two laps around the parking lot to get an even 10 in.  There was another guy there putting his bike together.  He probably thought I was weird.  I'm glad my truck was still there.  I left my keys inside hidden.  At one point during the run I saw a white GMC Sonoma coming towards me.  I had to turn and look to make sure there weren't any Ragnar stickers in the back window.  So I texted my wife and told her I made it.  I asked if she could make me a cold drink.  She said sure, but when I got home, there was nothing.  So I made myself a milkshake with two packets of P90X Recovery drink mix (orange flavor.)  Then I took a shower.  Once I was done washing myself I turned the water all the way on cold and stood there for about a minute.  I asked my wife if she cared to join me.  So when she got in she got a cold surprise.  That's what she gets.