Running in the Dark: Why I'm Terrified and Excited About My First Relay Race

What happens when a control-loving, routine-dependent runner signs up for a 200-mile relay race with strangers, unpredictable running times, and sleeping in vans? That's exactly what I'm about to find out.

The Ragnar relay represents everything outside my comfort zone as a runner. As someone who meticulously plans her morning coffee time, enjoys solo runs, and has mastered the half-marathon distance, I'm now preparing for middle-of-the-night legs, team dynamics with people I've never met, and the challenge of covering 32 miles over a sleep-deprived 48 hours. This isn't just about physical endurance; it's about breaking through self-imposed limitations and arbitrary rules I've created for myself.

My journey toward this New Hampshire relay race reflects a deeper personal shift. After a challenging year that's shown me just how strong I can be when facing discomfort, I'm channeling that newfound resilience into adventures I previously deemed "not for me." While researching how experienced runners should train for these unique events (hint: there's surprisingly little guidance out there!), I'm discovering that preparation goes beyond physical training to embrace flexibility, unpredictability, and even unconventional fueling strategies like midnight Pop-Tarts. Will I become one of those Ragnar enthusiasts who can't stop talking about their relay experiences, or will I complete this once and never look back? Either outcome is perfectly fine because "you won't know if you hate it until you actually fucking do it."

Ready to challenge your own running comfort zone or curious about how this control freak handles her first Ragnar experience? Subscribe now and follow along as I document my training journey and preparation for running legs at all hours with strangers in New England. What limitations have you placed on yourself that might be ready for reconsideration?

Chat with Coach Bridget

HIGH FIVES, RUNNER! 🙌

Before you hit the showers, let's make sure you're part of our running pack:

📱 FOLLOW ALONG
Track my daily dogs per mile count and running adventures:
Instagram: @DogsPerMilePod
TikTok: @DogsPerMilePod
👉🏻 Sign up for my weekly newsletter

🎉 JOIN THE COMMUNITY
Subscribe to never miss an episode
Share your DPM count using #DogsPerMile
Tag me in your run photos - I love celebrating your victories!

💫 WANT MORE?
Email your running questions: [e-mail]

Until our next run together, remember: every step forward is progress, and every dog you see is bonus motivation. Keep running, keep smiling, and keep counting those dogs!

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
You won't know if you hate it until you actually
fucking do it.
And I'm actually fucking doingit and I am really scared.
Hey runners, you're listeningto Dogs Per Mile, where we're
making running work for yourlife, not the other way around.
I'm Bridget, with over 13 yearsof running experience and
approximately 4,892 dogs seen onmy run.

(00:23):
I'm now here to help you findyour own path to running
happiness.
Ready to run on your own terms.
Let's get going.
Hey everyone, welcome back tothe Dogs Per Mile podcast.
I'm your host, bridget, andhere we talk about dogs, running
and everything in between.

(00:44):
I have done something I deem tobe a little bit crazy, very much
out of my comfort zone as arunner and as a human, and it is
signing up for my first Ragnarrelay race, and I am in a phase

(01:04):
of my life where I am pushingmyself out of my comfort zone,
doing things that are out of theordinary for me and allowing
myself to say yes to things thatI deemed not for me for
whatever illogical reason, andso I kind of want to talk about

(01:27):
why this is a big deal for me,kind of what a Ragnar relay is
if you've never heard of it, andjust kind of talk to you guys
as if we are sitting, notsitting, kind of talk to y'all
like we are taking a runtogether and we're just
chit-chatting and gossiping andI'm telling you about this.
So imagine we're next to eachother on a treadmill, on a trail

(01:51):
, on a road, wherever you run,and I hope you enjoy hearing me
talk about my decision to run aRagnar relay race and if I will
even survive it.
I think the first, mostimportant thing is to kind of
explain to you what a Ragnarrelay is, and it's basically.
It's a relay race that this onehas about 12 people in it and

(02:16):
you're kind of split into twovans and basically it's a point
to point relay race, and so youget to tag people on your team.
There's different legs that yourun.
You run usually three legsthroughout the 48 to 36 hours 36
to 48 hours or so, or 24 to 36hours of running and your goal

(02:37):
is to get from the point A tothe point B as a team.
And so there's some other onesthat are similar to a Ragnar
relay.
There's Hood to Coast, which isout in Oregon.
That's always been on my bucketlist but I've just as the type
of runner that I am.
If you didn't already know, Iam a very type A.
I like to run at my certaintime.

(02:59):
I love my routine, I love theroutes that I run.
I like, I'm a creature of habit.
I want to get up, I want tohave my coffee for X amount of
time and I want to have my RiceKrispie squares, or, if I'm
doing a long run, my extra carbsand my Rice Krispies.
I want to run at the hour andthe temperature I want to.
I want to be able to have fullcontrol over my run and a Ragnar

(03:21):
relay, oh, and I'm a solorunner most of the time beside
my run club.
I like to run by myself in arace alone.
I'm not doing a lot of groupruns and so with a Ragnar, I'm
part of a team.
That's already out of mycomfort zone.
Your legs are at a variety oftime of day and night, so there

(03:42):
is a chance that I might berunning in the evening, in the
middle of the night.
I could be running at midnighttill three in the morning, and
you're also not able to sleeplike I normally do, so I'm not
going to be able to do my runand then go to a hotel, you're
in a van with other people andthis group is going to be people

(04:04):
I don't know.
So that's just another personalout of my comfort zone.
I got this opportunity throughmy husband's work, where they
have a team that they're doing,and somebody dropped out and of
course he dropped my name,saying, oh, this is way more her
jam, she will love this.
So he's also doing it.
But this is my story and thisis about why I'm doing it.

(04:26):
And so this one is the Ragnarin New Hampshire.
So we're going to start in NewHampshire and make our way to
the ocean.
It's 200 something miles.
I have honestly done very littleresearch beside allowing myself
to sign up for it, and I amvery excited, but I'm very

(04:47):
terrified.
So if you are like me andyou've signed up for what you
deem a scary race, this isprobably the first time in a
long time that I've signed upfor a scary race, since at least
I signed up for a marathon ortriathlon.
So I'm excited to go throughthis process with you guys and
talk about how the training isgoing, how it's different than

(05:10):
any other training I've done,because I am a strictly a half
marathon girl.
I don't train for 10Ks, I don'ttrain for 5Ks, I don't do
marathons, I do the halfmarathon, but that is doing 13
miles at once.
That's not doing 32 miles over24 or 48 hours at night or in
the hot and the elevation andeverything.

(05:31):
So it's going to be probably oneof my more mentally, physically
challenging races and I'mexcited and I'm terrified and
I'm scared shitless because Ilove my routines and I have been
trying to do research on howdoes one train for one of these,
and most of the informationthat I've been able to find is

(05:57):
geared toward people who are newto running very, very new and
they are giving tips like makesure you don't wear anything new
and make sure you test yourfueling and just practice your
endurance, and I'm not findingany content out there for people
who are established or alreadyhave been running for a while,

(06:19):
or people who do road races andhave signed up for their first
one.
So that's what I want to create.
I want to talk about what it'slike to train for something when
you've never trained for one ofthese before, and how that is
different for someone who doesunderstand their fueling

(06:39):
strategy.
But how does that change whenyou're sleeping is completely
different and what you know?
How am I going to incorporatestrength training into this in
order to be able to run onfatigued legs and tired legs and
run all that sort of stuff, andI had mentioned that this is
kind of like the big thing.
That's like driving me andexciting me is being in a season

(07:02):
of doing things that challengeme and saying yes to things that
I deemed that were not for mebecause of whatever rules that I
put on myself, because I amvery good at putting rules and
regulations on myself that onlyapply to me.
I was talking about this on arun the other day, which was

(07:22):
grace is reserved for otherpeople, not for me, and that
hits really deep close, becauseif I'm doing a training run with
a friend and they are running aeasier pace than I usually do,
they may feel bad or they maysay, oh, I'm sorry, I'm so much
slower than you are, or whateverbullshit thing they say.

(07:44):
I would never say that to them,but at the same time, if I was
by myself and I was having ahard day, I would deem that
grace was for them and not forme, and so I'm kind of really
just fucking tired of saying nothings or not doing things
because of whatever reason thingI came up with, and so this is

(08:06):
a big race that I'm going to bedoing after Brooklyn, which is
in May, and I'm kind of scaredon how to create my own training
plan that pairs well with aRagnar race but still also
allows me to enjoy all the otherelements, and I'm also excited
to see how many dogs or how muchfun that I can really throw

(08:30):
into this race, because I thinkthat's the other now that I'm
live thinking about this.
So enjoy.
This is how my brain works.
One of the other things that'sdrawing me to it is they seem to
be a very joyful and fun run.
There are teams that are veryfast, take it very seriously,
and I'm excited to cheer onother people.

(08:51):
I'm excited to find fun in thisand enjoy the silliness or the
weird moments of trying to get atwo hour nap and eating food
that is not a traditionalnutrition gel.
I'm excited to eat Pop-Tarts asmy fuel, or Skittles or gummy

(09:13):
worms or anything.
So I'm excited to see if thisis something that can open up a
new world of running, a newworld of fitness for me, and
just see what they're all about,because people who do Ragnars
fucking love them and I want toknow why.
I want to see if this issomething that is for me,
because I've tried some thingsand they're for me.
And there's some things that Itried and they aren't.

(09:34):
And I just never tried thisbecause of fear, because I
didn't think I'd be good enough,because I didn't want to be
uncomfortable.
And if the start in the middleof this year have taught me
anything is that I'm muchfucking stronger than I realized
.
I can handle a lot more and Ican be uncomfortable way more

(09:56):
than I realized.
And I want to take that.
I want to pivot that pain andanger and everything that I've
been going through this year andknow that I'm fucking strong
and I'm going to be able totrain for this and I'm going to
be a really valuable member ofthis team.

(10:17):
That doesn't know me.
And I'm excited to do everythingthat steps me out of my comfort
zone, of being around people Idon't know, not worrying about
what the fuck they're thinkingabout me running my own race,
but also, at the same time,cheering everyone on and being
just having the most fun.
That is what I'm really excitedfor and doing it in New England

(10:39):
, which is very special, verymeaningful to me.
It's where I'm from, so I ameven more excited to be there in
the fall and I'm really hopefulthat it's going to be a good
time.
And if it's not, that's fuckingfine.
If I never do one again afterthis, that's fine.
But at least I tried and that'swhat I hope you learn from this
.
I hope what you take away fromthis.
You won't know if you hate ituntil you actually fucking do it

(11:03):
, and I'm actually fucking doingit and I am really scared.
I hope you enjoyed this littleshort catch up, quick little run
with me and thank you so much.
I appreciate you all,appreciate everything and
everyone, and I'm so excited tocreate some new content and some

(11:24):
new ideas and show you mytraining and figure out how you
can train for this.
Until the next one, I will seeyou out there on the run.
Thanks for sharing another milewith me today.
Before you cool down, here arethree quick ways to stay

(11:45):
connected with our runningcommunity.
First, hit subscribe whereveryou're listening to this right
now.
It's the best way to make sureyou never miss an episode.
Second, if today's show helpedyou or inspired you.
Please leave a review.
Your words help other runnersfind their way to our community.
Lastly, want more runningadventures?
Follow at dogs per mile pod onInstagram, where I share daily

(12:06):
motivation, behind the scenesmoments and plenty of pictures
of my two running coaches, yogiand Maple.
Be sure to tag me in your runphotos and use hashtag dogs per
mile to share your own dogspotting stats.
I love celebrating yourvictories, big and small, and
thank you for being a part ofthis journey.
Until our next run together,remember every step forward is
progress and every dog you seeis bonus motivation.

(12:28):
Keep running, keep smiling andkeep counting those dogs.