Notes
This was my first 2 legs of Ragnar. It was beautiful weather starting at 9:30. The first leg was a really nice but technical trail around the leg. I was feeling great of course because I was fresh and had tapered well the past week. You can see in the 2nd through 4th miles how slow my pace was. If it was flat, I would have been in the low 8s for sure as you could see in the 5th mile which I think still had some trail in it.
Then it was on to the 2nd leg. This started with a serious climb that I was not prepared for. I was pushing hard just to get that 10 minute pace. I was already thinking that if mine was bad, the next legs for the rest of the team were going to be really hard, AND in the heat!
After that it was all down hill for the next 4 miles without interruption. I really tried hard to hold back and just cruise which is why I hovered just over 8 minute pace. The 4 miles of down hill was rough and I was hoping to see a break of at least a little bit of flat or uphill. It made me realize that I never train anywhere like that. It's always rolling hills. It also made me realize how a really prolonged down hill can really kill your quads and Western States must be insane in that regard.
When I cam to the finish of this one, I felt really good and like I held back plenty. I felt like I was playing it safe, and that was the right choice. I ended up going just 6 seconds faster than my predicted pace, although I was not aware of how the technical the first leg, or how steep the second one would be.