After three years trying to get into Bourbon Chase via the lottery, we finally got in this past February. After seven months of planning and getting pumped about finally having a relay where I knew all 12 team members, was captaining the team myself, and was in good enough shape to actually push my pace on each of my legs... I found myself like this on the morning of our departure:
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| trying really hard to keep a good attitude and exude some serious team spirit when all I really wanted to do was kick something because I couldn't run a step and couldn't even WALK my legs |
Within two weeks of the relay, we had gone from having twelve healthy, well-trained teammates, all assigned under 20 miles for the weekend, to having two teammates in walking boots, one teammate unable to run (but capable of walking), and a couple other teammates who, for a variety of reasons, weren't really confident about taking on more than their previously assigned mileage.
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| injured elephants |
Instead of doing the fun captain stuff that I should have been able to do the week of the relay (buying goodies for my team, planning van decorations, ensuring my relay newbies knew what to expect regarding van duties and food, and following up with the RD on a few unanswered questions), I spent my time desperately searching for any additional capable bodies who could walk 13+ miles and trying to reassign legs so that the two walking boot runners' legs were covered while not overextending any of my runners or complicating van logistics more than necessary.
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| ALL THE SPREADSHEETS |
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| AND ALL THE GOOGLEMAPS |
The worst part was not being able to step in and "play the hero" for my team in any way. I had been hoping to at least be able to walk one of the 3mi legs in my walking boot, but my doctor's appointment the day before we packed up left me unable to do so. So, I had to just "sit back" and assign even more mileage to everyone else while I planned to watch 200mi of running from the van.
...and then, when I finally thought we had everything planned out, more wrenches were thrown into the mix when we arrived at the start and I learned I needed to accommodate more night pacing than I had originally planned for. :P
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| it's like my weather app KNOWS me |
Before the Race
I did my best to keep a positive attitude while preparing for the race. Honestly, I probably put more effort into the pre-race stuff than I would have had I not been injured. I used cutting out construction paper elephants and making van books as a way to feel like I was still part of the team, despite not doing any of the running.
Van rental went much smoother than years past, thanks to Ragnar having an "entertainment account" with a car rental agency. We were able to reserve vans very easily six months ago that met all our requirements: pick-up/drop-off near home, 12+ passenger vans, able to drive across state lines, unlimited mileage, and free additional drivers (well, up to four per van). However, we still had some constraints (all drivers had to have their physical license present at the time of pickup AND we had 1-2 people in each van that were not able to drive). They also only had one van there a half hour AFTER our designated pick-up time... but we did have both of them in our driveway eventually (only an hour too late).
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| decorating |
We split ourselves 4 and 4 in each van (had 2 teammates driving in from SC and one flying in later), and enjoyed a traffic-ful drive up to Louisville, arriving about an hour later than planned.
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| "Peop", our team mascot, is happy to have arrived |
We finally got our whole team together at the kickoff reception, at Angel's Envy Distillery in downtown Louisville. It was humbling to see a few other injured runners at the kickoff, several in boots like mine (but not nearly as awesomely decorated), and a handful on crutches (a good reminder that "it could be worse"). We bonded over bourbon and stories of how much we'd been looking forward to this. It was nice to see others in the same boat as me, and also nice to be at a team event where I was able to do all the same things as the rest of my teammates.
We hit up a nearby restaurant, Against the Grain, for some more team bonding, and much-needed dinner, and then settled into our hotel for a good night of sleep in a warm, cozy bed before the relay began.
Day 1
The race started at Jim Beam. Van 1 arrived a little earlier than Van 2 for check-in. While I was still booted and very obviously not going to be running at all (considered I struggled walking up the hill from the parking lot), it felt good to be able to tell the volunteers I was the captain, and be able to lead the first half of my team through the maze of check-in stations. Half of my van was completely new to relays, and it was great to see them start to get excited about everything.
Because the vans are constantly leap-frogging in the relay, you don't have much time to hang with the second van during the race. We got a little time to hang out with our Van 2 crew before our first runner, Jody, went out, and got an awesome team picture to start things off.
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| wooo, team! |
...and then the relay began, and I almost cried about four times before our next major exchange. Because my injury is on my right foot, even "just being a driver" required some serious effort. Every time I'd get into the car to drive, I'd have to spend a few minutes deflating and removing my walking boot, storing it behind me, removing my sock, finding my "driving shoe", putting my driving shoe on... and then undoing all of this stuff when we parked again in 10-15 minutes, while my teammates were all able to agile-ly hop out of the van and saunter down to the exchanges.
But I had some good vanmates who helped out by driving some of the shorter legs, stepping in to navigate, and helping me carry tailgate chairs or providing an arm to steady myself with while we walked up and down the grassy hills.
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| just camping out in someone's front yard, waiting for our runner |
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| gorgeous exchange zone |
Our first major van-to-van exchange was at Maker's Mark Distillery, which was epic. Being able to hang out with our whole team here, enjoy some bourbon, and tour the grounds was great, and I think this was my favorite part of the entire trip. You can read more about this handoff from Jerry's blog (see end of post for links).
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| Woooo, Van 2 friends! |
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| van decorations (yes, the "Angelina" elephant has a walking boot) |
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| part of #10KTuesday and bourbon barrels |
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| strawberry lemonade drink |
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| Peop indulging in a tasty beverage |
Night Legs
We pulled into Danville around 5pm and scouted out a tasty BBQ place to eat before the next major exchange would occur. Walking the half mile there (and back) was really tough. My foot felt fine, but my hip was absolutely aching. Good thing the ribs were worth it! When we got back to the van, I spent awhile on the asphalt, rolling my hip out with a tennis ball. Despite the pain, this was another time where I felt like a "real" team member, since there were other runners all around us rolling out with foam rollers, sticks, or stretching.
Night legs brought their own fun. We got to drive some pretty unaccommodating roads that I was almost glad not to be running on myself. Driving a 12 passenger van on dark, windy roads with runners on one side and a SHARP drop-off on the other was not much fun, especially after Van 2 had told us they saw another van nearly tip over one... and especially not when there was on-coming traffic.
We got a liiiiitle sleep in the parking lot of a local high school between shift 2 and shift 3. In the past, we've been able to sleep inside the schools, on carpet, or, at least, wrestling mats. This one had a hardwood gym floor available. That was it. Knowing I would NEVER be able to sleep on that, I opted to stay in the van and had a very uncomfortable 2-3 hours of attempting to sleep first in the front seat, and then, when that wasn't working for me, along the footwell on the rear passenger doors. This was slightly better. lol
Despite not running myself, the night legs did get a little more fun for me. I feel like the night legs are really where the "team" part of this comes in. Everyone's tired. Everyone's cranky. And, yet, everyone's still out there, supporting one another... or brushing their teeth in the middle of a cow pasture. 'cause, y'know, it's all the same.
I also stopped wearing my boot for outside-the-van time during this set of legs. My hip was hurting a LOT. Since my PT was cool with me going bootless indoors around my house, I figured it would be okay to go without the boot for short periods outside, provided that I was super slow and cautious. This was definitely the right call, as my hip got a TON better over the next eight hours.
Day 2
By far the best part of this race was watching my teammates conquer new things. I was so proud to have played a role in introducing this type of event to them, and even prouder when all of them exceeded their own expectations of what they could do with distance, pace, and all of the other challenges that come with a Ragnar-esque relay.
My van finished up just before noon, as it was starting to get REALLY hot. While our Van 2 runners fought the heat and sun, my van snuck in a quick meal and some showers before returning to the finish line to cheer our last runner in and celebrate.
Thoughts
While I'm still healing, I'm constantly reminded that it could be much worse than it is. This could have happened last year, right before Chicago. It could have happened the day before the relay. I could still be on crutches. I could have completely ruptured my plantar fascia. I could have a broken bone. I could have a career-ending injury. I could, well, just about anything else. The list goes on...
Not running a relay I'd planned, captained, and trained for was really, really hard. Still I'm proud of our team, and proud of what we accomplished by working together. Knowing all of the team members personally is something I haven't had in a relay before, and it made a huge difference for me with this one. There were some really great moments during this trip, and I'm so glad I was still able to go and be as involved as I was. In some ways, I think it was also good prep for eventual elementary school field trips or kids' sports teams: having to plan everything, do everything, not enjoy it yourself, but get all your reward from the enjoyment your labor enables your kid to have. lol
That said, I don't really relish the idea of being that selfless full-time, and am already planning how to focus on myself and train the best I can so I'm in good shape whenever I'm able to return to running. I'm going back to bootcamp tomorrow, have a friend who's volunteered to teach me to swim in the mornings, and I just bought a used bike trailer to take the munchkin on some long rides this weekend with. Here's to refocusing my efforts on cross-training my way through this injury without going crazy. :)
Other Teammates' Blogs:
may or may not have Bourbon Chase related entries coming up this week
Beth (Van 1, Runner 5): http://littlechemistruns.blogspot.com
Jerry (Van 2, Runner 1): http://gazelleintraining.blogspot.com
Michele (Van 1, Runner 3- did not run/come; broken foot): http://1lranthere.blogspot.com
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| Exchange 12 (and 18) |
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| partial team photo |
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| that's right, I brought my poms my main role on this team WAS cheerleader, after all |
Night legs brought their own fun. We got to drive some pretty unaccommodating roads that I was almost glad not to be running on myself. Driving a 12 passenger van on dark, windy roads with runners on one side and a SHARP drop-off on the other was not much fun, especially after Van 2 had told us they saw another van nearly tip over one... and especially not when there was on-coming traffic.
We got a liiiiitle sleep in the parking lot of a local high school between shift 2 and shift 3. In the past, we've been able to sleep inside the schools, on carpet, or, at least, wrestling mats. This one had a hardwood gym floor available. That was it. Knowing I would NEVER be able to sleep on that, I opted to stay in the van and had a very uncomfortable 2-3 hours of attempting to sleep first in the front seat, and then, when that wasn't working for me, along the footwell on the rear passenger doors. This was slightly better. lol
Despite not running myself, the night legs did get a little more fun for me. I feel like the night legs are really where the "team" part of this comes in. Everyone's tired. Everyone's cranky. And, yet, everyone's still out there, supporting one another... or brushing their teeth in the middle of a cow pasture. 'cause, y'know, it's all the same.
I also stopped wearing my boot for outside-the-van time during this set of legs. My hip was hurting a LOT. Since my PT was cool with me going bootless indoors around my house, I figured it would be okay to go without the boot for short periods outside, provided that I was super slow and cautious. This was definitely the right call, as my hip got a TON better over the next eight hours.
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| night legs! wooo! |
Day 2
By far the best part of this race was watching my teammates conquer new things. I was so proud to have played a role in introducing this type of event to them, and even prouder when all of them exceeded their own expectations of what they could do with distance, pace, and all of the other challenges that come with a Ragnar-esque relay.
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| marking down some more "kills" (relay speak for "people you passed on a run") |
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| stretching in Starbucks |
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| team! |
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| beautiful country views |
My van finished up just before noon, as it was starting to get REALLY hot. While our Van 2 runners fought the heat and sun, my van snuck in a quick meal and some showers before returning to the finish line to cheer our last runner in and celebrate.
Finish
I don't have a picture of our finish, but I'm really, really hoping that someone from Bourbon Chase does, and posts it in the next few days, because it was the best moment of the entire trip.
It's a tradition for Ragnar teams to finish the relay together, joining their 12th runner to run the last 100 or so meters to the finish line as a team. I wasn't particularly looking forward to this because I couldn't run. Despite the fact that none of them would do so intentionally, I was so scared of our whole team getting caught up in the moment and all running, or even jogging lightly, across the line, leaving me to hobble in behind them.
Instead, I found myself being literally lifted up and carried across the finish line by the team. <3 <3 <3
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| Pink Elephants on Parade Törööö! (it's the sound an elephant makes in German) |
Thoughts
While I'm still healing, I'm constantly reminded that it could be much worse than it is. This could have happened last year, right before Chicago. It could have happened the day before the relay. I could still be on crutches. I could have completely ruptured my plantar fascia. I could have a broken bone. I could have a career-ending injury. I could, well, just about anything else. The list goes on...
Not running a relay I'd planned, captained, and trained for was really, really hard. Still I'm proud of our team, and proud of what we accomplished by working together. Knowing all of the team members personally is something I haven't had in a relay before, and it made a huge difference for me with this one. There were some really great moments during this trip, and I'm so glad I was still able to go and be as involved as I was. In some ways, I think it was also good prep for eventual elementary school field trips or kids' sports teams: having to plan everything, do everything, not enjoy it yourself, but get all your reward from the enjoyment your labor enables your kid to have. lol
That said, I don't really relish the idea of being that selfless full-time, and am already planning how to focus on myself and train the best I can so I'm in good shape whenever I'm able to return to running. I'm going back to bootcamp tomorrow, have a friend who's volunteered to teach me to swim in the mornings, and I just bought a used bike trailer to take the munchkin on some long rides this weekend with. Here's to refocusing my efforts on cross-training my way through this injury without going crazy. :)
Other Teammates' Blogs:
may or may not have Bourbon Chase related entries coming up this week
Beth (Van 1, Runner 5): http://littlechemistruns.blogspot.com
Jerry (Van 2, Runner 1): http://gazelleintraining.blogspot.com
Michele (Van 1, Runner 3- did not run/come; broken foot): http://1lranthere.blogspot.com
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