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2019 Ragnar AZ Trail

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Location:

Mesa,AZ,USA

Member Since:

May 12, 2008

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Other

Running Accomplishments:

I started running again in 2007 after 14 years of not running.

Mile - 4:59 (high school 1992), 5:57 (9/21/2010 ARR Open Mile)

2 mile - 11:10 (high school 1992)

5k - 21:54 (11/18/2010 Tempe Road Runners 5k)

10k - 48:29 (5/9/2009 Race for Hospice)

Unofficial 10k - 47:11 (1/27/2011 Red Mountain Park)

1/2 marathon - 1:49:00 (4/4/2009 Havasu Half)

Marathon - 4:33:09 (11/21/2009 Mesquite Marathon)

Short-Term Running Goals:

Run a half marathon in under two hours.

Run a marathon in close to 4 hours.

Long-Term Running Goals:

Stay healthy long enough to live through the millenium.

Personal:

I am married and have six kids. 

Blog title explanation

Bloggers I've met in real life: 1MileToGo, Aaron Kennard, Andrea North, Arizona Desert Monsoon, auntieem, Bec, Ben, Benjamin, Bonnie, Camille, Cari, Collin Anderson, David Holt, DooneEight Kid Mom, Erico, Flatlander, Gary, Jake Krong, JamesW, Jose, Josse, Julieesplin, JunKelli, Kerri, KP, Kyle Dion, Lightitup, Little Bad Legs, Lybi, Marthon Dreamer, M, Mary Ann Schauerhamer, Misty, Nan, Peds Endo Doc, Rachelle, RADRhett, Riley Cook, Rossy, runningafterbabies, Sasha, Scott Hughes, Scott (Kelli's husband), Scott Wesemann, Slow Joe, Spencer Simpson, Stephen, Steve Piccolo, Susie, The Rookie, Toby, Tracy, Twinkies, TylerS, Walter

Favorite Blogs:

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Miles:This week: 0.00 Month: 0.00 Year: 0.00
Mizuno Wave Inspire 7 Lifetime Miles: 803.99
Asics Gel 3030 Lifetime Miles: 204.85
Saucony Hurricane 13 Lifetime Miles: 149.22
Asics Gel DS Trainer 17 Lifetime Miles: 87.49
Mizuno Wave Inspire 9 Lifetime Miles: 800.59
Brooks Ravenna 4 Lifetime Miles: 88.83
Mizuno X10 Trail Lifetime Miles: 180.06
Mizuno Wave Inspire 10 Lifetime Miles: 802.77
Asics Gel Kayano 21 Lifetime Miles: 56.47
Mizuno Wave Inspire 11 (blue) Lifetime Miles: 800.75
New Balance 1260v5 Lifetime Miles: 9.19
Reebok Floatride Lifetime Miles: 8.23
Total Distance
20.00
Mizuno X10 Trail Miles: 17.43Mizuno Wave Inspire 11 (blue) Miles: 2.57
Weight: 0.00
Total Distance
1.70

Seems like every time I do Hilltop my Strava glitches.  It's weird.  Anyway, I had a sore throat yesterday, so I didn't run.  I still feel a little sick today, but if I'm going to be able to run this weekend, I need to get a few more runs in.  I have been going to Hilltop on Thursdays, but I didn't want to do it the day before the race, so I did it today.  I brought my inhaler with me and ended up taking two puffs of it while running, both on the first ascent.  I ran as far as I could until I had to catch my breath.  Both times I stopped three times on the way up probably about the same place each time.  Hilltop is pretty steep.  Much steeper I think than even the yellow loop of the McDowell Trail race.  Even though I haven't been able to run all the way up to the top without stopping, I still feel confident.  We'll see how it goes.

Mizuno X10 Trail Miles: 1.70
Weight: 0.00
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Total Distance
2.57

My sore throat is pretty much gone, but now my lungs are starting to gunk up.  I hoped that if I tried to run faster today, it would help clear some of it out.  Also, I am hoping that some speed work will do good for my race this weekend.  I'm going to skip out on a spooky run tomorrow so that I'm fresh for Friday.  I actually felt decent while running faster than I have in a long while. 

It was quite cold for me this morning.  My phone said it was 51º.  I almost thought about going back inside and putting on a warmer outfit than the shorts and T-shirt I was wearing.  But I did not think about it.  :)  I know that I warm up pretty quick once I start running, but I wondered if I actually would today.  I did.  I was looking for coyotes, but I didn't see any.  When I was heading south down the RWCD road, I saw someone walking toward me.  Then I was like, "Hey, I know her."  It was my wife.  We kissed.  Then I got to Adobe and thought I saw a coyote, but it was a dog.  When I got to University I saw a lady walking her dog.  I was going to step off the sidewalk and run in the street, but she did it first.  As I was running by her dog wanted to play with me so she kneed it in the face.  Then I headed north on the Floodway path and saw a homeless guy sleeping in a sleeping bag.  It's the same guy I see from time to time.  Then I saw two more homeless people laying/sitting up against the wall.  I'm pretty sure it was a guy and a lady, but the lady had her head covered with a coat.  Then I saw Jeff in his usual spot.  He had his head covered with his jacket and was sleeping.  I hope.

Mizuno Wave Inspire 11 (blue) Miles: 2.57
Weight: 0.00
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Race: 2019 Ragnar AZ Trail (15.73 Miles) 03:08:16, Place overall: 237, Place in age division: 119
Total Distance
15.73

Ragnar #32

Last year I jumped on a team last minute-ish to run this relay.  I had missed it the two previous years, but was feeling pretty good last year, and didn't want to miss it again.  The team that I joined was an RWB team out of Sierra Vista.  They actually had three teams, and this year they put together four teams.  Scott, Victor, and Joshua, were returning from last year.  Theresa from last year was on another one of the teams.  The other three didn't come.  In their place was Victor's wife, Brenda, newcomers Lulu and Jackie, and returning from last year, but on a different team, Katherine.

The order we ran in was Brenda, Joshua, Chris, Lulu, Jackie, me, Katherine, and Victor.  Everyone was able to run all of their legs without a problem.  Joshua even picked up an additional leg from one of the other teams.  Joshua was our fastest runner, followed shortly by Victor.  But Victor was having stomach issues, so he struggled on one of his legs, but still ran faster than me.  Being runner #6 means I started with the red loop, then the yellow loop, and finally the green loop.

My boys had a survey Friday morning, so I had them drop me off on their way.  I saw Rae checking in the vehicles and charging everyone the park entrance fee of $10.  The line was a little longer than I though it would be, but we finally got to the gear drop and it ended up being right in front of our campsite.  Lucky.  I took my gear to camp and was surprised that I actually got there in time to see Brenda start us out. 

I did a lot of sleeping.  I took about an hour nap before my first run.  I ate a light lunch around 11am.  I don't like running with a lot of food in my belly, but you need to eat something.  I finally started my red loop at 2:39pm.  It was warm.  Probably about 80º.  I'm used to that kind of heat, even though it's cooling down here, so it wasn't too bad, but I believe it did slow me down some.  The red loop is the longest loop.  6.73 miles.  I ran it 46 seconds slower per mile than last year.  I felt strong going up the hill, but just like last year, when I reached the water station around mile 4.3, it was hard to start running again.  I finally convinced myself that I could do it, but I had to take off my shirt because I felt like my nipple was going to explode soon if I didn't.  There's a hairpin turn around mile 5.5.  I had to walk some of that briefly, but after that I had no problem finishing up.  I put my shirt back on about a quarter mile from the finish line.  I saw my friend Josh (a different Josh, from the Adventure Run) while he was running the green loop.  I gave him a fist bump as he passed me.  When I finished and handed the bib off to Katherine, I apologized.  She thought I was apologizing for being slow, but it was for sweating all over the bib.

I decided it would be a good idea to eat dinner as soon as possible right after running.  There were food trucks of all kinds and we got a dinner included with our race entry.  I wanted to get a gyro sandwich, but the line was real long, so I ended up getting a Sicilian mac 'n cheese bowl.  It has Italian sausage, grilled onions, and tomatoes.  It was delicious, but 6.7 miles in the heat wiped me out, and I couldn't finish it for lack of appetite.  But one of my favorite parts of the race happened during dinner.  I met another blogger in real life.  And yes, nobody blogs anymore, but it still counts whether they actively blog, quit blogging, or even just created a blog and never made an entry.  If there's anyone I'd really like to meet in real life that I haven't yet other than allie, it would be this guy.  Twinkies!!!

I also got to meet his lovely wife, Susie, who was once upon a time a blogger herself.  Apparently I passed Susie on my first loop.  She remembered my orange outfit.

After dinner I took another nap.  It started getting cold when the sun went down so I put my sweats and sweat shirt on.  About an hour before it was my turn to run again I rolled out of my sleeping bag and got ready.  I took off my sweats and sweat shirt and found that I was actually hot even though it was cold.  Menopause, I guess.  On my way to the transition tent, I saw Kelli.  I can't hyperlink her anymore because she's deactivated her blog, but I gave her a side hug and talked to her for a few minutes.  Now it was time for the yellow loop.  Jackie handed off to me and I started my night run.  It was 11:23pm.  I wore my headlamp.  There was no moonlight.  It wasn't too long into my run that I noticed my headlamp wasn't shining as bright as it normally does.  Rookie mistake not to change the batteries before the race.  I ended up having to take it off my head and hold it in my hand so I could see.  Running the yellow loop at night is no fun.  Actually running the yellow loop in the day is no fun, but at night it's very difficult.  I slipped, stumbled, and tripped, but never fell down, thank goodness.  I only stopped briefly to text Kathy that I had one mile left.  Yellow loop really works your muscles.  There's lots of ups and downs.  Even though it's 4.72 miles and doesn't go as high up as the red loop, there is more overall elevation gain because of all the ups and downs.  Kelli says it's her favorite loop.  I remember thinking, despite the imminent danger, it wasn't too bad.  But then there were a couple of places where it was just up, down, up, down, and I thought, "This isn't cool." I was 77 seconds per mile slower than last year.

After finishing yellow I went back to camp and slept some more.  (Actually, before that I saw Kelli again.  I told her no more hugs for her because I was dripping wet with sweat.  Her friend that she was with gasped in horror with the amount of sweat that I had produced.)  When the morning came, it felt even colder.  And of course, the wind picks up once the sun comes out.  Still, the high was supposed to be 85º.  It was 9:05am when it was my turn to run again.  Now was the green loop.  The green loop is by far the easiest.  The climb is very moderate, almost unnoticeable.  There is one quick steep climb right before the street, but that's it.  I remember wishing I had run this leg last year during the day where I could see better, because I believed I could have run it real fast.  So I was excited to be able to run it this year in the daylight.  And I didn't feel to bad before running it, but as I got going, I realized I didn't have much left in my tank.  I ran it 61 seconds per mile slower than last year.  Oh well.  What I remember most was a kid passing me real fast about half a mile in.  He was running the red loop.  The green loop is a loop within the red loop.  They share the same path for the first three quarters of a mile.  Then red turns and makes the big climb up the mountain while green continues forward on the gradual incline.  The meet back up at the two mile mark and diverge again at the 2.4 mile.  Then they meet back up for the final quarter mile right before the timing pad.  The kid was wearing a black T-shirt with a giant middle finger on it.  I was like, "That's kind of rude."  But at the same time, it's kinda funny.  Cuz really, what am I gonna do about it?  I can't catch him.  Anyway, I saw him charge up the mountain and we parted ways.  But of course right before the finish line he caught me again for one last you know what.  Ha!  As I was making my way into the chute someone was cheering for me.  I looked and saw it was my friend Ricci, Josh's girlfriend.  Josh was there, too.  Then I heard other people saying, "Great job, Burt!", but I didn't know who they were because I was focused on that final hill and not falling.  Maybe it was Twinkies and Susie?

So, I finished another Ragnar.  I was still a little sick, but was grateful that I was able to run at a decent pace the entire time.  I had a fun team and had a good time.  My wife picked me up and we went to Baskin Robbins to get a Rocky Road milkshake.

Mizuno X10 Trail Miles: 15.73
Weight: 0.00
Add Comment
Total Distance
20.00
Mizuno X10 Trail Miles: 17.43Mizuno Wave Inspire 11 (blue) Miles: 2.57
Weight: 0.00
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