Van 1 or Van 2: That is the Question

Van 1?

We are getting to that time (actually, we're there) when we need to finalize our team and select which van we want to ride and with whom we want to ride with. Each member of our team needs to be registered online by May 15th. The selection of the vans and which legs you're running can be done much later. However, I have found that much of my physical and mental preparation is based on the legs that I will be running. So for training purposes, we should at least preliminarily select a van and leg for each runner as soon as possible.

Since the initial onslaught of participants, our numbers have dwindled. At the moment, the need for two additional runners is highly likely. According to my records, the following are the 100% committed runners on our team:

Pat, Julie, Melissa, Shalise, Allison, Teresa, Ray, Lori, Mike M., and Bryan.

Trent may be able to step in if our needs become dire. And depending on which statistics you rely on, Erin chances of running are 40%-50%. So please start thinking about possible substitutes now. Again, we need a full team of twelve runners registered by May 15th. As soon as we have registered our twelve team members, we'll schedule a meeting/BBQ to discuss the van arrangements and leg assignments. Plan on the middle of May.

Assuming we have twelve runners, we need to decide how to divide us into two vans of six. Because of wedding on Friday morning, Ray, Lori, and Mike M. must be placed in Van 2. Other than that, there are no other needs. One option might be to have an all-girls Van and an all-boys (with the exception of Lori) Van. Please comment on your preferences. We'll finalize the van arrangements at our meeting, if not before.

For registration purposes, I need some specific information from each of the runners before May 15th. More specifically, I need the following information: (1) Full address; (2) Phone number; (3) E-mail address; (4) Your average min/mile pace (e.g., in 10k race) (if you don't know, 9-12 is a fair estimate) (for purposes of the Wasatch Back, the more conservative the estimate the better); (5) Birth date; and (6) Shirt size. You can e-mail me your digits at massey@kunzlerip.com.


Van 2? (I know a guy that could paint a sweet wolfscape on our van should we so desire)

Choose Your Route...

...But choose wisely

It is never too early to begin the difficult process of selecting which set of legs you want to run in the Back. [Insert funny leg joke here. E.g., "my own legs of course" or "an Ethiopian's legs"]. Legs in this context refers to the three seperate routes you will run during the back. The 36 legs of the Back are divided into twelve groups of three. Our chore is to pick which group of three legs we each want to run. This exercise is largely based on which of two "vans" we want to be in. Obviously each van includes 6 of the 12 runners. The van selection is fairly critical as you seldom see or spend time with occupants of the opposing van during the race. So, at this early stage in the planning process, the best thing to do is to think about who you want (or do not want) in the van with you and glance over the legs and get a feel for which ones you would like to run, aren't opposed to running, and/or will not run.

Mike Morgan mentioned to me that we either let him run this leg or he's quitting the team.

I think we can accomodate Mike's request. For the rest of you, take a look at the legs and provide us with your feelings/demands. By the way, Runner #7's legs are reserved for Wasatch Back blog creators. Oh wait, I'm a Wasatch Back blog creator. Fine, I'll take them.

Lace 'Em Up Folks

Don't let this be you.

Many of you are concerned about how to train for the Wasatch Back. The answer is simple: there is nothing you can do to fully prepare for the Back. However, if you don't want to end up like the guy above, you can follow the training schedule provided by our dear friends at Ragnar (the organizers of the race). This may disturb some of you, so read ahead with caution, but the training schedule officially begins February 1st. Sorry Trent. There are actually two training schedules, one for Patrick Newman and one for everyone else. I didn't list the schedule here because I could not find a non-tedious way to transfer the schedule from the Ragnar site to this post. However, here are the links: Patrick Newman Training Schedule and Non-Patrick Newman Training Schedule.

Except for Trent, don't worry about religiously sticking to the training schedules. If you do your best, you'll be fine. If you don't, well, falling across the finish line isn't that embarrassing.