Open Letter to Ragnar

Dear Ragnar Ultra Relay, 

I love and hate you all at once. You gave me one of my biggest challenges in running yet.  You made me smile. You made me laugh. You made me sweat in the blistering sun. You made me cry in utter exhaustion. You're the first to make me consider quitting... but alas, our team of six chicks prevailed over your 198.2 miles. One in the hospital, one limping, four exhausted... but we did it.  We crossed your finish line, collected our medals and now swell with pride for conquering you.  But know this... we're not happy about how it all went down.  Revenge is on the radar.  I will be back.

Sincerely, 

Jess, Chick #4

Team #85 - You Just Got Chicked

Custom shirts supplied by Family Fan Club
Compression shorts supplied by Aspaeris Pivot Shorts
Headbands supplied by BondiBand

Official race recap is in the works as I try to sort through my feelings and the race happenings.  Thank you all for your support and encouragement on Twitter, Facebook, emails and texts.  It meant the world to us!  Team You Just Got Chicked officially finished in 34:22:08.  It's hard not to be disappointed with our time, but honestly, I'm just glad we finished. It was the hardest, most challenging thing I've ever done... and yet days later, also the most rewarding.  So proud of our team's finish!

The winner of my "Guess Our Finish Time" is ROYA, whose guess was 34:16, only six minutes off!  Congrats!!  Email me your mailing address and I'll get your prize pack out to you... an assortment of prizes from our great sponsors.

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LAST CHANCE FOR THIS WEEK'S RAFFLE

At the end of every Monday, I draw another winner from those who have donated to my USO team. Today's prize is a GU Energy Sample Pack!  For every dollar you donate, you will receive equivalent number of entries into the weekly raffle. Entries roll over from week to week. Winners are drawn each week until I reach my $1000 goal. Support our troops by donating to this great organization. They have so many great programs for our active and injured soldiers, as well as their families.

Please donate here.

Read more about the USO here.

The Road to Ragnar

I'm typically a pretty safe conservative kind of gal. The thought of Spartan and Tough Mudder races scare me - especially when my friend Crystal broke her arm in one!  I stick to paved surfaces for my running. Even at that, I've taken my falls and twisted ankles. I'm fairly careful about my mileage increases and implement lots of cross training to keep on the healthy side of running.

So what was I thinking when I set out to put together a Ragnar Relay team!?!?  Not only run Ragnar, but GO BIG as part of an Ultra team (only 6 runners rather than the standard 12). I've been in organizational mode for the past six months, checking off items on the to-do list for the team. Suddenly this past weekend, the task of Ragnar dawned on me... I'll be running 33 miles over a period of a day and a half, with no sleep, many miles in the dark, possibly by my lonesome at times. It's a tad bit intimidating to think about, even for me. Since the marathon, I've eased up a bit on training.  I'm not 100% ready for this kind of distance, but am giving it my best shot!





At 7:30am on Friday morning, my team (You Just Got) Chicked will be loading up a passenger van at the start line in Madison, Wisconsin. Together we'll be making the 200 mile journey to Montrose Beach in Chicago. Our team of six women (Kate, Tara, Lara, Julie, Joan and me) will alternate driving, navigating and running the 36 designated legs. The legs vary in length with the shortest being 3 miles and the longest one almost 11 miles.  I'm runner #4, so I will have the honor of bringing us across the state line into Illinois. In addition, we have 3 volunteers on our team (Pat working exchange 28; Kelly and Kate at the finish line). 

Putting a team together was not an easy task. Surprising for me... I mean, who wouldn't want to do this??  Amanda has been my "right-hand man" in securing sponsors and team organization.  Last weekend, she severely tore a ligament in her foot that put her on the DL for the next 12 weeks.  Boo-Hoo. Our run sincerely won't be the same without her.  We all scrambled and miraculously found a replacement - Joan, who has saved us some extra miles this weekend.

Tomorrow afternoon, we pick up our rented passenger van and hit the road to begin our crazy adventure. Needless to say, I'm frantically packing today and going over our lists like a madwoman.  Thankfully, we have some pretty great sponsors who have taken care of the essentials for us...  

Dressing the team with custom-printed tank tops is Family Fan Club.  One of the most common questions I hear is "Where can I get a custom shirt made for my upcoming race?"  This is a valid conern when it comes to your outfit for your first big race!  Look no further... Family Fan Club is your answer!!  They have an online store to order from directly, or they will work with you on a custom shirt printing.

On the lower half, our derrieres will be cozy and tight is a pair of Aspaeris Pivot Shorts.  These revolutionary shorts are specially designed to improve performance and recovery. Aspaeris Pivot Shorts are actually two pair of shorts bonded together.  The outer short is a high performance compression short designed to support your muscles.  The inner short features dual sensory compression bands that guide your muscles into proper position - improving your pivot performance, thus preventing ACL and hip injuries. Use discount code PC2012 to order yours today with 25% off the listed price!

Weather is looking good, but the afternoon legs are gonna get toasty. Keeping the sweat out of our eyes is BondiBand.  These stylish yet functionable headbands are an essential element of my running wardrobe.  They offer hundreds of colors and patterns to choose from, along with hats, sweat towels and more!  Check out their website here. And don't forget, I'm selling an assortment of patriotic BondiBands as part of my USO fundraiser here.

It’s going to be a long tiring race, but GU Energy will help keep our bodies energized and moving!  We're loaded up with GU gels, chomps and electrolyte tablets. The gels are by far the most popular on the market, providing a quick dose of carbs and calories into your body... high-quality, easily-digested and long-lasting energy.  The chomps provide the same optimized blend of carbs, but in a chewable form. The electrolyte tablets are light tasting and natural tablets that dissolve in your water.  They are invariably better than water alone and bring your system into balance more quickly by helping you retain more of the liquid you ingest.

Through the two day running adventure, Shower Pill is making sure we don't stink each other out of the van.  Seriously, thank you!  Shower Pill is a hygiene supplement that helps to keep you fresh and clean while on-the-go.  The large ultra thick antibacterial body wipe is individually packaged, versatile and big on performance. These will be key to cleaning up after a run - while still on the move in the van.  No B.O. for us Chicks!

If you'd like to follow along on our Ragnar adventure,

I'll be tweeting @RUNwJESS and dropping Facebook 

updates as we roll through the next couple days.  

I can't wait to report back after the trip... 

if and when we make it!  :)

HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE US??

In a comment below, take a stab at how long you think it will take (You Just Got) Chicked  to run the full 200 mile relay race? The person that comes closest to our official finish time will win a prize from one of our above-mentioned sponsors!  Please make your guess in hours:minutes.

My Ragnar Team Meet-Up!

Ever since I saw the movie Hood to Coast, an overnight relay race was on my bucket list.  So when I found out about Madison-to-Chicago Ragnar Race, I immediately started searching for teammates.  Initially, I was on a 12-member team, but the challenge of an Ultra team was calling me.  I wanted Ragnar to not only be a fun experience, but a challenge... an 'A' race if you will.

Finding five other women as crazy and adventurous as me was a challenge in itself.  But over the last couple months, the team has come together through a chain reaction, three of us from the Peoria area and the other half from the Chicago area.  A three hour drive separates us, but yesterday, we met each other (for the first time!) for a team meeting.   Team (You Just Got) Chicked is up and ready for action.   Meet my teammates here.

What better way to get to know your new teammates than go for a RUN?!  After a little research on TrailLink, we settled on the Illinois & Michigan Canal Trail.  The trailhead at Lock 14 in LaSalle was our meeting spot.

It was a beautiful sunny day, but true February temperatures in the low teens with the typical Midwest winter wind.  Bundling up for the cold was not first option... we first had to take some promotional photos for our sponsor Aspaeris Pivot Shorts  in our new compression shorts. It started our first team meeting off with lots of laughs, as we struggled to change in our cars and then stand out in the cold with bare legs.  Brrrrrr!

(You Just Got) Chicked - Sexy Legs, huh?
www.aspaerispivotshorts.com

We ran a 10 mile out and back on the trail.  Most of the run had beautiful views of water. I will definitely be returning here for a spring/summer/fall run.  It was breathtaking even in the cold.

After our run, we photo-opped some more...

From left to right:  Amanda, Kate, Lara (up in tree), Julie, Tara and me

And then we went for lunch!  We had a lot of logistical details to workout for our Ragnar race... vans, outfits, sponsors, runner routes, travel, volunteers and training.  Surprisingly for a group of women, we seemed to agree on everything and came to decisions fairly easy.  I'm so happy with this group. We've really got a great team of "ultra" women!  Ragnar is going to be a truly special running experience.

TEAM

(You Just Got) Chicked

Ragnar Ultra June 8-9, 2012

Have you ever run on a long-distance RELAY TEAM?

Have any great advice for us?