Ragnar Relay ... CRUSHED IT!

Hello Again,

As most of you already know, I have spent the majority of 2010 attempting to Lay the Tracks, Stay the Course, and ultimately Weather the Storm. One of the first things I did was commit to a 185-mile 12-man relay race running from Woodstock, NY to Dobbs Ferry in Manhattan. It sounded like a great idea in January but not so much as the days crept up on the calendar. There was a lot of talk about THE PROGRAM and how much Protein intake was necessary for this grueling 24-hour test of endurance. Well here's how it all panned out this past weekend...

Thursday, May 13th:

Ragnar Relay Pasta Party

Our two team volunteers/coaches/drivers, Laura and Janal, were kind enough to throw a pasta party the night before the big race. About half the team made it to the party to watch the Cavaliers lose to the Celtics (more on that later) and CRUSH some pasta with grilled chicken. The food was delicious and we felt great about our chances of surviving the race, but it was still difficult watching my roommates go out for a night on the town without me. I could not rest until they returned home to the apartment later that night. My alarm was set for 5am and Little Selby Boy was fast asleep on the couch...

Friday, May 14th:

Race - Day 1

Selby and I picked up the team in our 15-passenger van at approximately 6am Friday morning. Not everyone is a morning person, but I did not hold back my excitement to hit the ground running in Woodstock, NY. Although my driving tenure would be short lived since I nearly drove into a 4ft ditch at the first runner exchange, I felt great behind the wheel. I guess getting maximum insurance can give you a false sense of security. Each one of the runners in our van absolutely CRUSHED their first leg of the race and we didn't think anyone could get in our way until ... we ran into FACTSET!

We were at the first major exchange when we first ran into Team FactSet. I failed to hold back my competitive juices when I Reverse Crushed one of their runners by saying, "See you at the finish line." Looking back, I think they deserved the verbal beating I unleashed upon them since they defined the term 'enginerds' and told us they were planning on going to the movies during their 'dark time'. I recommend they reach out to my Life Coach...

As the day ran on (pun intended), we were trying to pass the time until our second leg of the race Friday night. Our fearless driver pulled over at a Diner and we all got out to replenish our bodies and get out of the van that was slowly beginning to smell like a gym locker room. I took down a Root Beer Float, which may or may not have been a good idea. I told myself that it would give me the energy I needed to run 6 miles in the middle of the night and record a personal best time.

We completed our 2nd leg and 'dark time' was fast approaching. I was still feeling larger than life all hopped up on 5 Hour Energy when we got lost and all hell broke loose. Our once fearless driver was now ready to snap and our chief navigator was unable to read directions. I found myself in the front seat unable to offer any assistance and afraid to open my mouth. Several parties in the backseat began complaining as a clear result of sleep deprivation. The funny thing is that we are usually crushing the bar scene at this time of night, but tonight was a different animal.

Race Day 2

I remember resting my eyes at 1:30am and recording about 20 minutes of sleep between people constantly talking in the parking lot and Veltri continually confirming that the van lights were still on as a result of him opening the door. The phone rang at 2:45 and the second van was almost complete with their leg of the race. I was in shock that our first runner was about to run 7 miles at 3am EST. We managed to find 3 of our runners sleeping in the gymnasium amongst a couple hundred bodies and took off on the course that never seemed to end.

For some reason I thought it would be a good idea to take down another 5 Hour Energy at 4am. By the time I took off on my last leg, DOMS (Delayed Onset of Muscle Soreness) had already set in and I questioned my sanity. Luckily my girl Jerrica switched up the legs last minute and I only had 3.5 miles to run before I was finished. My flawless running form got me to the next exchange where my pops and teammeates were there to greet me with open arms. I was just about ready for the 'epic' party at the finish line...

Hours later we crushed another Diner and made our way to Dobbs Ferry. We threw down a beer at around 10:30am as we waiting for our team to finish. We met our runner and crossed the finish line as a team. Unfortunately, we have no idea how we fared against the competition since the start times are staggered but I'm pretty sure we turned some heads. The medals were unreal and there was already talk of running the show again next year. Vegas Baby!

Time to get back on THE PROGRAM...

Running at the Front of the Pack,

Romo