T Shirt Logo

While I loved the super nerds idea, Hell will freeze over before my father wears a cape.  And I am not sure who is going to have the time to construct this cape.  Also, I wanted to get the NER logo more involved so I quickly came up with a t shirt design

FRONT

BACK

I emailed this to everyone but thought I would throw it here too, let me know what you think!

TIPS

Hello Everyone!  I see this post is SUPER popular!  Check out my most recent post with Tips as well! I wrote this set of tips after running the Ragnar and included some great additional tips!
http://runningaragnar.blogspot.com/2012/02/top-ten-tips-for-running-ragnar-take.html


We still have about 2.5- 3 months until the race.  I have been looking up some tips online from runners who have participated in the Ragnar, here is some advice I found online at www.UtahAdventurer.com: This was for a different race but the tips are still pretty good.

 Register early. Registration will fill up fast. Most 2010 teams pre-registered for 2011 at the Canyons resort finish line and after-party in Park City. New teams interested in registering for next year's Utah race can visit www.ragnarrelay.com on July 3.   (CHECK!)

* Train Smart. I didn't train well, which left me less prepared for my middle-of-the-day, uphill run. Standard Ragnar prep advice always includes running hills and running two-a-days (morning run and evening run), but next year I'll practice running during warmer weather in the middle of the day and practice running with a better food and water schedule.

* Bring plenty of clothing changes and Ziploc bags. Luckily, we got this advice before the race. You'll be glad to change into clean running clothes after each run. And, your van will smell much nicer if you zip up your sweaty gear in Ziploc bags (wet wipes and bath-and-body sprays are great for freshening up, too).

* Bring plenty of food. And not just energy bars and Gu. We were glad to have fresh fruit, plenty of water, bagels, sandwich meats, veggies and trail mix.

* Bring extra toilet paper. Port-a-Potty lines get L-O-N-G and occasionally, just when you get your moment in the outhouse, it runs out of toilet paper. Overall, staff were great to keep the "honebuckets" stocked and clean, but, I was glad on two occasions to have brought toilet paper! (I'm an expert now on Ragnar Port-a-Potties -- I think I found every single one from Logan to Park City!)

* Pack Immodium AD. "AD" stands for "advanced" -- trust me, someone is going to need it!

* Have a "designated" driver. We were VERY glad to have a non-runner driver. Our driver could focus on supporting the runners without getting too exhausted and stressed. Our driver's enthusiasm energized the rest of us runners and allowed us to focus on the race!
(not sure if this is a good idea- thats another body in an already crowded van)

* Take advantage of the school resting exchanges. Our second exchange took place at about 1 a.m. near North Summit High School (Coalville) where for $2 we got to take a warm shower and rest in sleeping bags on the band-room floor. The room was dark and quiet (except for one snorer), and the accommodations were much nicer than sleeping in a parking lot or in the van.

* Plan to have fun. Although the runs are hard and sometimes stressful, the exchange points are happy, and the energy of runners is contagious. You can count every year on a dude in a Speedo, someone running in a tutu, the van of ladies running in pleather and at least a handful of people running with purple hair!

* Finally, enjoy the scenery! Several of our van runners commented that one of the best parts of the run is the beautiful scenery. 

Weekly run

Hello all
What an awful rainy Monday. I want to get out there and run 6 miles today but the weather is not cooperating.  Does anyone want to post their training schedule this  past week?  Email it to me or comment and I will add it on.  I am hoping that seeing other training schedules gets everyone motivated!

Katie
Sunday: 4 miles track
Monday: 2 miles treadmill
Tuesday: 4 miles treadmill
Wednesday: 2 miles track
Thursday: 9.5 miles road
Saturday: 4 miles track ( with Mackey !)

Stay Dry and Happy Running!
Katie

SUPER NERds

I really liked Jeff's idea of NERds.  I was talking to Liz about the possibility of some dweeby tall socks, maybe even a cape, and she suggested SUPER NERds.  Brilliant.  We could put some "nerdy" things on the cape, a wrench here and there, could be fun.  Thoughts?

At the Finish Line

I would love to get all of our friends down to the finish line, sporting our new T shirts (we have yet to design) and cheering us on.  Ragnar puts on a fun event at the start and finish line, and we will be ending the race in Harvard Square Boston, MA.  After the race lets get everyone together and grab drinks and grub in Boston. We can even consider getting a few hotel rooms if any one wants to spend the night in the city.  If we can get a bunch of friends down at the finish line, we will have plenty of transportation options of those who want to head back home and those who want to hang out in Boston.   Im sure Kristen, Coco, Thatcher, Ryan, Jayme, Eric, and others would be willing to meet us in Boston and I am sure we can find many more.  Once again these are just ideas, let me know your thoughts.

T Shirt and Team Name

SO:  We need a team name and T shirt idea - if we can all brainstorm some cool ideas involving NER somehow, maybe Frank can use his BAD ASS graphic design skills to whip up an awesome design for a T Shirt.  Here is NER's website for some background on the company : http://www.nerconstruction.com/
Since NER is sporting the bill I really want to get the name as many places as we can, T Shirt, Van, ETC.  As I previously mentioned, NER has two offices, located right near Boston and in West Haven so NER sponsoring our race has worked out great.  You are all creative so throw some ideas around and we will send some shirts to the press.  

Log It

How do you guys feel about sharing our runs for the week?  Everyone can email me their run schedule for that previous week Monday and I will post it on the blog every Monday night.  Seeing your run and everyone else's run could be huge motivation and inspiration.  SO we can start fresh this coming week- Track Monday to  Sunday and Sunday night or Monday morning send me your schedule and ill post it.
For Example: This week:
Katie Week 1
Sunday: 5 track , Monday: 2 treadmill, Wednesday: 4 treadmill, Thursday: 9.5 Outside/hills     TOT: 20.5

Weekend Motivation

As we all know, the hardest part about running can be the motivation to get off the couch and onto the track.  I was thinking about planning days where we do group runs.  I know we are split up geographically but we can work around that.  Liz, Rommel, Jeff, Frank.... you are all in NYC- you should get together and set up a day to run once a week- your all on the same van together- could be fun - DARE YA!  Chris, Rob, Mackey, we are all in the Old Lyme area- lets start planning some runs.

Welcome Runners

Hello all!
Liz and I were talking about starting a blog- somewhere we can toss around ideas, inspiration, etc.  So here it is.  The email chains were getting slightly tedious so here is a good spot to check in for updates, ideas etc.  If anyone wants to add a post I will give you the password and have at it :)
 Happy Running,
Katie