Rosswog Running Blog

I rode down to Las Vegas today with my friends from work, Sarah and Darrell (very fun ride down and great conversation) for the 2011 Ragnar Las Vegas Relay.  Even though I have lived in Utah my entire life, I have never been to Southern Utah, much less Las Vegas.  However, a race or relay is always a good excuse to Vegas.  Shortly after checking into our hotel, The Stratosphere, I hit the treadmill for 10.1 miles at a relatively easy, but increasing pace.  I'm so excited and ready to go for the race!  Now off to carb-load at a buffet.

My non-running workout consisted 300 sit-ups.

Five-Minute Plank Challenge: 30 second plank and side planks

Trying-To-Go-Out-Of-My-Way-To-Eat-Healthy Challenge:   a fat free yogurt

By 7:00 am this morning we were off to Echo Bay to start the Ragnar Las Vegas Relay,  I was Runner #1; therefore, starting things off for my team, Sweaty Or Not.  During the team Safety Meeting, I ran into Z and Matt (my Hood To Coast team captain and her husband) who were running their first Ragnar Relay.  It was great to see them and we'll hopefully run another relay one of these days together (maybe the 2012 HTC).  By the time we got situated, it was time for me to get our relay started.  At 10:00 am, my team and I were off.  I jumped out to a fast start with a 5:44 opening mile.  However, the reality of the hills and the 80-degree-plus temperatures started to sink in with the following splits over the next 3.5 miles:  6:38, 6:47, 6:39, and 3:02.  In short, I was hoping to run a 6:05 pace for this opening 4.5 miles, but I was glad to just make it to the exchange with a 6:22 pace.  Of course, I fumbled the exchange with Lindsey (a very fast runner) after a perfect walk through at the starting line.

I cannot complain because it just continued to get hotter and my teammates were fighting thorough extremely hot temperatures (i.e., it got as hot as 95) and some really challenging climbs.  Just after 7:00 pm, I jogged a quarter of a mile down to Exchange #12 where I noticed a group dancing around a fire near the shore of the Lake Las Vegas.  I thought they were just a bunch of crazies, then they called out my name and I realized that they were with me.  Yes, Van #2 had arrived at the exchange, but not our runner.  Taking the handoff from Lisa (our twelfth runner) at 7:55 pm I was off on leg #13.  Starting off from the Lowe's Lake Las Vegas Resort, I was initially able to keep a solid pace for this 3.5-mile leg that was a steady climb.  With that said, when we hit the gravel trail then paved bike path, things started to slow down for me again.  I was a little frustrated with it, but my quads were feeling heavy and I could not mentally change my focus from what seemed like the slow and tired legs I was running on.  Even though the temperatures were much cooler than my first run, it was a 6:23 pace (splits: 5:50, 6:07, 6:55, and 3:30) on a leg that I thought I could go sub-6:00 on.  With that said, my teammates were able to pick up the slack and keep us ahead of our projected pace by a good forty minutes.  Anyway, it was off to try to get some sleep in a dingy Vegas hotel known as The Gold Strike at Exchange #30 then to try to get some redemption on my third leg, which should start somewhere between 2:00-3:00 am.  You have to love these relays!

This morning started with a cannonball run to the exchange #24, for my third and final leg.  In short, at 2:05 am my alarm on my Garmin sounded and two minutes later Steve, my Team Captain, alerted us that our twelfth runner was around two miles from the exchange.  Crap, there was no way I was going to be late.  As a result, I quickly tossed on my running gear, asked my nice (and really sleepy) teammates to take my backpack and sleeping bag back out to the van.  I then bolted out of the room and down the fire escape (figuring the elevator would be too slow) and across the hotel's vast parking lot to the exchange.  Thankfully, I made it to the exchange approximately five minutes ahead of schedule.  At 2:25 am I was off on what was supposed to be a 6.9-mile climb that thankfully ended up being a 6.05-mile climb because it was the most brutal and dangerous run that I have ever completed in my life.  In short, the first three-fourths of a mile was on a nice paved road, then it when off on to a dirt ATV-road/trail that was highly technical (i.e., lots of dug out places and tons of rocks).  It would have been a really difficult trail to run during the daylight, much less during the wee morning hours where the only light was your lead lamp and the blinking lights of the runners and markers in front of you.  It was like running on a moonscape, absolutely crazy!!!  With that said, around mile 4, my teammates had pulled off into a field and were there to support me.  Even though I passed on the offer of water, their support greatly helped my confidence to finish this leg.  Thanks to the Simon Family and Eric!!!   Also, "Another One Bites the Dust" was blaring in the background from someone's speaker which was pretty humorous.   So I finished my 6.05 mile leg in a  time of 44.09 which equals a pace of 7:18.  My splits were as follows:  6:29, 7:10, 7:33, 7:27, 7:35, 7:32, and 0:24.

What followed were just some amazing finally leg performance by my teammates.  Lindsey, the fastest person that I have ever run a relay with (fastest this is saying a lot because there have been a number of solid runners on my teams), just cruised up and down a steep hill, Steve sucked it and kept a solid pace through his last legs, Eric in one of the best Ragnar performances ever ran his beyond dusty uphill leg almost completely unsupported (I jogged and even 2.0  miles down and up at the end just to find him him before the exchange), then Scott and Rebecca both showed a lot of heart in keeping up an ambitious pace over their dusty, dirt road legs.  Not only an exceptional job by Van #1, but Van #2 of Kevin, Darrell, Sarah, Ben, Scotty, and Lisa somehow fought through the brutal Saturday afternoon heat to keep ahead of their projected paces.  It's corny, but I could not be more proud of all my teammates. 

At Desert Breeze Park, while waiting for our final runner, FRB legend Burt (I am on his list!) spotted me and we had a quick conversation before my team finished.  Around 3:24 pm, team Sweaty or Not fished in a time of 29:22:04 at a 9:24 overall pace (the fastest relay team that I have been on).  Also, eight of us (Steve, Lindsey, Kevin, Darrell, Sarah, Ben, Lisa, and myself) all earned the Saints to Sinners medals!  Great job team and it was a very entertaining experience running with all of you!