Ragnar Ponderosa Ultra

Team Trail-er Trash.  Ya thats about what I felt like when I got done.  Great run in the mountains of Zion, chills, and no sleep.  What else could you ask for in a weekend?

I have always approached Ragnars with some stress.  I traditionally don't do well when someone messes with my sleep schedule.  And if you have ever done a Ragnar, thats exactly it.  Unlike other Rangars this one is staged around a central area with three different loops that are ran in order.  And instead of a van, you got to camp out, which in my opinion was much better then riding in a van.

We headed down to the Ponderosa Ranch just outside of Zion N.P. on Friday morning.  When we reached the Ranch the parking situation was a bit of a mess.  According to rumor some people had been waiting for over an hour to shuttle to the race area.  Worrying that we wouldn't get a good spot to setup our campsite I jumped on a trailer and held on for dear life.  I did manage to get to the drop off spot with out falling off, but just barely. Most of the good camp spots were taken but we managed to find a spot with out too much slope, rocks and semi flat.  After setting up camp it was time to send Tim out on the first two loops.

Chris, Tim, Dennis, Me

My first loop on the Yellow trail felt fantastic.  I was eating up the hill and just bombing the down them.  I probably had a smile a mile wide.  I think that Yellow was by far my favorite loop.  The next loop was on Red and the longest of the three.  I pushed hard.  The sun was sinking fast so the temperature had started to drop and it was fantastic running weather. And the pines smelt wonderful, probable my favorite thing about running down south.  When I got back I gave our bib number to Dennis and he was off.  All in all not too eventful.   

This is where things started to head a bit south for me.  After grabbing a bite to eat I walked outside and was suddenly freezing to death.  I couldn't stop shivering.  I knew it wasn't that cold, the sun was still up, I had been taking in electrolytes, but I just couldn't stop.  I quickly jumped in my sleeping bad with, Two upper layers with long sleeves, thermals on the bottom with running tights, and another sleeping bag on top.  It took almost 2.5 hours before I felt somewhat normal.  I was miserable, I felt like I had been hit with a truck.  I was drinking and eating as much as possible but still felt like crap and as a result didn't sleep much.  

Once it was Chris's turn to head out I had to get out of my bag to support him while the others slept.  I stood by the fire trying to keep warm but was terrified out of my mind that I was going to get out on my run and just freeze to death and result to walking.  Gradually I began to feel better, but not 100%.  I felt confident enough that I could get out there and be ok.  Waiting for Chris to come in I began to want to really get out there.  I headed out around 2:50am on the Green loop first and headed toward the bottom of the canyon.  It got cold, really cold towards the bottom, but it didn't matter I was doing what I loved.  My reward came next when I got to hit Yellow for the last time.  Doing that trail at night was even more fun that during the day.  I just love night running, yelling and hollering in the woods and the glow of your head lamp. 

When I got back, I crashed and crashed hard.  I think I got around 2 hours of sleep, but it was the best sleep I have ever had.  When your body just soaks up every ounce.  Dennis and I headed off for the fundraiser breakfast.  All we knew is that there was supposed to be pancakes.  Yup, there was pancakes and that was it! Really expensive pancakes, butter and syrup.  Of well, I was hoping for some sausage or something else to go with it.  

I started my last two loops (Red and Green) around 10:40am.  Lack of sleep and the chills from the night before had really caught up with me, but I decided that I was going to give it all.  Even if that meant crawling back to the finish line.  The sun did get to me, my last loop I just dumped all the water I had in my handheld on my hat.  There were ton's of people walking, it felt great to still have that forward momentum.  I promised myself I wouldn't walk unless it was a steep hill.  Promise kept. 

Coming into the finish on my last loop.

Team 7 - Trail-er Trash completed our first Ultra Ragnar in 23:56:16.  I think it was a good accomplishment.  We felt good, each of us did a fantastic job.  Driving home might have been harder than the actual race.  I zonked out twice, once before Beaver and the other right after.  I like doing these runs because they are different from everything else.  You also get to hang out with a great group of people and see how they really act at 3 in the morning.  But every time I get done I wonder why do I do them because it kills me on sleep.

Oh well I guess I can't complain too much because I probably will end up doing one again.  Now I get to focus on my training for Squaw Peak.  Needless to say I am terrified.  My body is feeling ready, its mostly the mental aspect that I am worrying about.  Hopefully the next couple of weeks will really go well for training.