Relay Race Tips: Part Two

Someone told us not to bring a whole lot of food in the car, as there would be food along the race course and you get tired of snacky foods. We listened to this advice and most everyone in my van brought snack foods and yogurt, etc. At the last minute I decided to make myself some ham and cheese rolls. I think I made 6 or 7 of them and individually wrapped them in plastic wrap and put them all in a ziplock bag for the cooler. I am so grateful that I did this. Those rolls saved me! I had two real meals the entire time. One after we finished our first legs and one after we had finished all of our legs. The other people in my car had breakfast right before we started our third legs, but I had to run and was worried about how it would affect me, so I didn't eat. When I was finished with my runs, I was tired and hungry. I would eat a ham & cheese roll and drink a chocolate milk (I brought 6 small ones). I had brought yogurt, but never ate them. I lived on those ham & cheese rolls! I have to be careful what I eat before I run. My body acts so weird sometimes. One good thing is that there were port-a-potties at every exchange, so plenty of bathroom access. Of course, there were lines, but only once were the lines out-of-control long. I think each person has to know their own body and how they react to eating and running. Definitely experiment before a race. You do not want to try new things on a race! When I am running, I do not eat beforehand. I drink water or gatorade or emergen-C during the race and swallow GU energy gels or Accel gels. That is it. I can eat when I am finished running. Even on my half marathons this is how I have to do it.

My friends also brought chocolate milk and yogurts. Some brought protein drinks. Everyone brought their favorite candy. Some brought crackers. One friend brought a loaf of bread, peanut butter and jam. Next time I will probably bring bagels and cream cheese. We saw another team eating cut up watermelon out of a plastic container and we were all so jealous! We were all wanting fruits and veggies by the end of the race. Next year I will bring watermelon and apples and maybe some carrot sticks, etc.

There wasn't really food available along the way. And at the places where they were having free food or fundraiser food were all out of food when we got there. We were busy following our runners and couldn't really hunt down food. And when we finished a set of legs, we all wanted to find somewhere to rest or shower. The food thing just didn't work out quite like we thought it was going to. Next time I will be better prepared. Food is really important on a big race like this.

Our van brought 4 cases of water and I think 2 cases of gatorade (bringing a Sharpie marker to label everyone's drinks would be good--we changed seats between runners and were always saying, "Who's water is this?"). We had two coolers (one for drinks and one for food and some drinks). That seemed to work out really well. We all bought various things to make it fair and shared with each other.

Some teams have spray bottles to spray the runners when they get too hot. We didn't really do this. I think a wet wash cloth or dumping a water bottle on the head can work just as well. It gets really crazy in the van with stuff every where and it is not fun hunting down particular things for people, so the less things to hunt for, the better.

One of my friends brought a rolling pin to massage our muscles and that was a hit with everyone! You don't really have time to do your stretching routine after you run your legs. You finish your leg, pass off to the runner behind you and hop in the van to follow them. You might have a few minutes to use the bathroom and try to stretch while you are standing in line, but it is not optimal. My muscles were really tight and I kind of think my left leg problems were exacerbated from not stretching properly after my Ragnar legs (and sitting in a car for two days). It would probably be good to have some ice packs handy for injuries or sore muscles, though we did not do this.

We had a first aid kit in the car, but didn't need it.

We had to buy tissue at a gas station and we used it a lot.

I was lucky to be with 5 awesome ladies in my van. We got along well. I think it is smart to be as laid-back as possible in this environment. Everyone is exhausted from lack of sleep and running hard. It would be so easy to get on each other's nerves. I think you have to constantly be aware of that--in the respect of not taking things personally, realizing you are not the only tired one, being super patient and very supportive, etc. It was just a load of fun, but I think that is because my van mates were some of my really good friends.

We had a notebook with everyone on the team's cell phone numbers (and other information---medical, etc). You want to be able to have contact with the other van. Meeting up at exchanges can be tricky. We had a list with everyone's legs and their estimated times per leg, so that we knew approximately what time we should be at an exchange. This helped a lot with the transition from one van to the next, though it was still pretty chaotic. We had an idea of how long the whole race would take us and we were two hours later when all was said and done. You have to be flexible. You cannot control most of what happens. It will be so much more fun if you are there for the whole experience and not trying to beat a time. That is just my personal opinion, of course.

We had printed out each leg's map, so we knew where to go and could remind ourselves of difficulty, etc. We looked at those "maps" often. We also referred to our team's estimated times (each leg had the person's guesstimate on how long it would take them to run it and what time the next leg would approx. start) frequently. It was very handy to have.

We shared the cost of a hotel room after our last legs were completed. That was a luxury and so lovely to relax in the room and shower, etc. We also shared the cost of gas.

We had a teammate design a shirt so we all had matching shirts to run through the finish together in. That was a lot of fun and unified our team. Since we were split into two vans, it felt like we were two teams working toward the same goal. We hardly ever saw each other other than at the major exchanges. That was not what I expected and I missed not spending time with the rest of our team. We had planned to meet for dinner after the race, but by that time everyone was too tired and just wanted to go home. It took us a long time to do the race and so it was late when we finished. None of us had expected that. I guess that is a big tip--nothing will go as planned. It will still work out and be fun and worth it. But do not worry about things getting off track a little.

We had a hard time getting the first couple of exchanges smooth. We didn't know what to expect since we were all newbies. We found that by leaving our runner when they were about 15-20 minutes from the exchange chute to prepare the next runner for the exchange worked well. We'd make sure our runner was OK and then head to the exchange. We'd make sure our next runner was ready for the exchange and there waiting for our runner to come in. It is no fun to be the finishing runner, standing in the chute and wondering where your next runner is. So we wanted time for our next runner to get their gear on, tie shoes and use the bathroom if necessary, etc. and then be waiting at the chute. This is especially helpful when you exchange with the other van. You really, really need to be there and ready to go. It bugs people to be waiting for the next runner.

There is a lot of down time. You are sitting in the car while the other 5 runners run. You are sitting in the car or laying on a gym floor or whatever while you wait for the other van to run their six legs. It feels like you are always waiting. If you have fun friends in your van, then it is mostly enjoyable. Sometimes you feel too tired and you just want to sleep, so you might feel a little irritated or bored. I personally did not mind all of the waiting around. I liked being the first runner and just vegging while everyone else ran. Maybe if I was another runner and had to wait for people to run before I could, I would get a little bugged. I'm not sure. I'll let you know next year. ;-) I am not being runner 1 next year.

OK, I need to go to bed. I will share more as I think of it.