Friday, September 21, 2012

Ragnar the (Not All That) Horrible

By the time you deskbound slackers (and Dave) read this, I'll be rolling across Interstate 68 on the way to Cumberland, Maryland and the start line for the 2012 running of Ragnar DC. For the uninitiated, the Ragnar is a 200-mile, 12-person relay (you can choose to do it with 6 people, but that's just stupid). Our version begins in Rocky Gap State Park and finishes at National Harbor near Washington, DC.

As cool as they are, I won't be wearing these glasses during Ragnar
I'll be running a total of 15.1 miles over three relay legs (I'm runner #5, in case you're scoring at home), which doesn't seem all that daunting, frankly. I'm told, though, that the combination of no sleep, cramped quarters (we're basically packed into a van when we're not running), and no sleep makes what would normally be an easy training run into a bit of an ordeal.

My first leg is 4.1 miles on a dirt road through the Green Ridge Forest. Given our 10:30 am start, I should take the baton at about 2:30 pm. Easy, peasy. Except for the 1.2 mile stretch where I climb 520 vertical feet.

I grab the baton again for a 7.3 mile jaunt near Fort Ritchie. At my current fitness level (fit! not strong!), I can do 7.3 miles in my sleep. The problem is that I may well be trying to do so, as I expect this leg to start at about 1:30 am.

Finally, I complete my portion of the race with an easy 3.7 miles on the Rock Creek Trail near the mean streets of Kensington. I'm hoping the hallucinations resulting from 24 straight waking hours, copious amounts of Gatorade, and fistfuls of trail mix will yield some deep life insights. Or at least a cool idea for a tattoo.

Our team name, Las Vacas Bravas, allegedly means 'The Mad Cows'. The team captain is Hispanic, so I trust his translation, though he grew up in Fairfax and doesn't, to my knowledge, speak Spanish. I don't have the foggiest idea where the name came from, though I do anticipate making a lot of jokes involving the words 'moo', 'bovine', and 'steak'. Please feel free to submit your ideas - we've got 30 hours of downtime to fill.

Follow me on Twitter, as I'll be trying to entertain myself while not pounding the pavement. And I expect you all to join me next year as we field Team G:TB in Ragnar DC 2013. 

42 comments:

Shlara said...

Good luck Rob!

Marls said...

Kick some ass Rob.

rob said...

is it a bad thing to call your 10 year-old an asshole?

Geoff said...

To her face, yes. Otherwise, its fine so long as its true.

zman said...

When you're done with the run you should watch channel 69.

Donna said...

Happy running, Rob!

Squeaky said...

Good luck and make sure you have new batteries in the flashlights. Paci has done the Reach the Beach (NH) relay probably 4-5 times. Every year he would ask me a month before if I was interested. Never could make it happen but I'd love to do a long relay at some point.

Clarence said...

Good luck, little buddy. Coincidentally, Marls and I are undertaking a similar relay in NYC. Springsteen at the Meadowlands tonight, the Mets at Citi Field tomorrow afternoon, and partying with the yacht rockers out in the Hamptons for the next two nights. Wish us luck.

rob said...

godspeed, marls and clarence

Professor G. Truck said...

good luck! i assume this is some weird community service sentencing for some crime you committed . . . because no one whould choose to do this of their own volition, right? in their "leisure" time? did you vandalize a state park, or what?

Jerry said...

Feels like a good time to use the word shirtless. It will result in a lot of google hits. shirtless. shirtless. shirtless.

rob said...

shirtless midgets is a sure-fire traffic enhancer

Jerry said...

Rob Ryan Rex Ryan Buddy Ryan shirtless.

Let's see if we get anything out of that.

T.J. said...

go git 'em, tiny

Geoff said...

Ann Romney bikini

Hello googlers.

Shlara said...

Clarence & Marls--I want a report on the Springsteen concert!

Danimal said...

Have fun rob...you know if you drink lots of water you CAN have a couple of brew dawgs...come on be fratty.

rob said...

drinking one now, danimal

Clarence said...

Rob, you should drink lots of beer now because your third leg is very short.

Marls said...

I hear it's tiny

rob said...

catching some zzzzmans at clear spring high school

Marls said...

Ah, the joys of nj transit.

Clarence said...

100,000 SprIngsteen fans can't be wrong. But they can smell like week-old pizza, day-old urine, and colon critters, and that, my friends, is very wrong.

Marls said...

I'm not sure what a Colon critter is, but it smells bad.

Danimal said...

I used to date a guy whose name was colon critter.

zman said...

Talk to Richard Gere.

zman said...

McNabb is an analyst on the NFL Network? He does a good technical job but he says "you know" at least once per sentence and he dresses terribly.

rob said...

Taking a crap in a porta john in the middle of nowhere - thought you'd wanna know.

Marls said...

Needless to say, having a better time in the meadowlands than Rob is having in the mud.

TR said...

Does Mayhugh live in Fairfax? A Skins fan named Mark M. From Fairfax had a question in the Sports Guy's mailbag.

rob said...

3 hours of sleep under the stars. must find caffeine.

rob said...

second porta john shit in two days. brave new world for me.

rob said...

and a fine happy birthday to clarence

TR said...

Rob - be careful what berries you eat. We saw how that turned out for Alexander McCandless.

zman said...

Don't eat the yellow snow. We know how that turned our for Frank Zappa.

Marls said...

Springsteen in New Jersey = Fantastic. Hanging out with Johnny G in manhattan until 3:30 = really great time. How I feel this morning = suboptimal.

Mark said...

Happy Birthday, Clarence!

Dan- Should I be thinking about betting on the Irish tonight?

rob said...

all done, bitches. last 3.7 miles at an 8:09 pace. free beer now.

Danimal said...

Mark - I can't advise that with nd giving 6. Nd's D pretty impressive thus far but Denard has carved them up like no one else.

Danimal said...

Nice job Rob.

Danimal said...

I like vatech today

Mark said...

New post up.