Last summer, post-surgery, I optimistically sat and wrote trainings plans and race schedules to include all of the things I wanted to do last fall, winter, and for 2011. Most of those plans were quickly squashed by a long-slow recovery and a cautious physical therapist.
Needless to say, my plans to coordinate a RAGNAR team for the Chicago relay in June (and the Great River relay in August) went right out the window along with everything else. For those of you living under the proverbial rock, the short of RAGNAR is that it's a series of 2-day, ~200mile, 12 -person relay races. Pretty sick, if I do say so myself.
Wellll, I never got around to putting together a team. BUT yesterday I stumbled across a team of Twitteratti looking for a 12th team member. It sounds like 11 running gals from around the Midwest (and beyond) created a team and plan to run together. How friggin' cool is that?! Did I mention my love of the Twitter? Because I pretty much want to send it flowers and chocolates and maybe even ask it to marry me. But I digress. So this group of runners, the majority of whom only know each other through Twitter have made a team and are looking for a 12th.
How perfect is that?!
But...
The downside to running with a group of people I don't know is that I feel like I would be the weakest link and that relative strangers (who haven't been through the last almost 2yrs of injury with me) may not understand my weaknesses and woes. I truly believe I can be trained and ready to the relay, albeit slowly, but is that enough? Granted, the runner they are looking for has 3 moderately easy legs, all in the 5 mile range. I know I will be able to run more than 5 miles in one go, because shit, I can just about do that now. But is 3-5mile legs in 24hrs? Will that be too much? Will I re-injure myself? Will I let my team down?
I *really* want to do this. I have even written up a very doable, but conservative, training plan to get me to the relay. But I just can't keep the self-doubt from creeping in...
8 comments:
I say DO IT. Ragnar isn't about winning, it's about the adventure. You won't be a letdown. WILL NOT. You'll have a blast and likely get to know some great people. Don't feel stressed or pressured. Run your legs, take your time, enjoy it. Bam. Done.
This team is all about fun. No one cares how fast we go. Coming back from injury sucks and I can totally commiserate with that. Just take it easy and have fun.
IT'S RENEE'S TEAM!? Awwwwww. Then YES. Do it! #jealous
Katie!! I joined a random team of people I didn't know last year for that same race (then called MC200) and had an INCREDIBLE time. It was really tough, and I was exhausted at the end since I had to pick up extra legs for injured people but Krista is right, the adventure is phenomenal. Obviously let your body dictate what you can handle, but it would be a pity if fear were the only thing to hold you back :)
Sounds awesome, I say DO IT!!
You should do it. It's not about speed - it's about the experience.
Do it!!!! The course is gorgeous (I volunteered for it last year when it was still called MC200) and if all the runs are moderately easy and you're already running at least that mileage then you have plenty of time to build up to more. (And with that being the easier of the legs, a training plan for that would be as simple as running a double one day and an early morning run the following day, all within 24 hours, once a week leading up) DO IT! You will have so much fun!!! Don't let your ghosts stop you from having some fun! You deserve this!
Awesome opportunity! I have this one on my list of to-dos in the future. It seems pretty sweet, and quite the experience. Best of luck to you!
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