The Ragnar Relay is almost upon us, and I am… apprehensive.

Less than two weeks after the Trails4Tails ultra, I’m embarking on another adventure. Don’t get me wrong– I’m all for adventures. I just need longer to recover afterward.

Of particular concern is my IT band. The last time I tried running on it, it was painful and stiff after 3 miles– well short of the 5-9 mile legs I’ll be doing as part of my relay team.

But I’m not hopeless. My last run was three days ago. Six days ago I couldn’t walk without a limp, let alone run. If I’ve been healing at the same rate over these last three days, running my legs should be feasible.

Right? Perhaps borderline-feasible?

Norse tradition immortalized Ragnar Lodbrok as a conquering hero, a wild man who raided France and England and laughed as he lay dying in a pit of snakes.

Pretty hardcore. So when I was asked to participate in a relay named after the guy, I was pretty excited. What challenges would be associated with our viking hero?

The race, it turns out, is somewhat less impressive. The Pennsylvania version is 187 miles split between 12 people. That’s a huge team, and everyone only ends up running, at most, 24 miles. And even that is split up into 3 legs.

I don’t mean to imply that the number of miles alone determine the difficulty of a race. I’ve struggled more in 5k’s than at Broadstreet. I suppose that I’m really only disappointed by the short distance because I’ve been itching for another ultra.

And let’s not forget the best part of this kind of race. Joining 11 other nuts on a running pilgrimage… well, what could be more fun?