Thursday Ragged (beginner/slow) Trail Run + Polar Plunge

OVERVIEW

Picture this:
You run the 5.9mi ragged mountain reservoir loop counterclockwise. Your palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy. There’s dirt on your sweater already. Sophia Benmhend and Lila Fenner show up to ragged with their polar plunge crew. You join them. The sweat is gone now, you probably shouldn’t use it as a substitute for a shower but you just might do it anyway. This is ragged trail run + polar plunge.

Here’s the plan:
– 3:20 meet at echols dorm
– 3:45 get to ragged and stretch / warm up
– 3:55 start running
– 5:15ish finish running and join with Sophia, Lila and their crew on their polar plunge
– 5:30 head back to grounds (unless everyone wants to stay longer, that’s okay too)

What to bring:
– water, especially in a bottle you can carry with you if you don’t regularly run this far
– snacks for after we finish
– running clothes you don’t mind getting wet in the res
– running shoes
– towel
– SWEATSHIRT and/or other warm clothes to put on after you dry off
– optional change of shoes/socks if you don’t want to put sneakers on after the plunge (I’m going to bring crocs)

A note on pacing:
This loop is super fun, and I plan on pacing us slowly so that 1) we don’t finish too much before Lila and Sophia get to ragged and 2) this can be a beginner-friendly trail run. I am by no means a good trail runner, and the first, last, and only time I’ve done ragged I did the loop in 72 minutes i.e. a 12:17 minute mile pace. If you want to see the stats for yourself to get an idea of default pacing I’ll be doing, you can check out my activity on strava here: https://www.strava.com/activities/5969307826. If you’ve done ragged before and want to go faster and run a few extra loops that’s cool too.

Drivers:
Because ragged is so close you won’t get reimbursed for gas but you will get priority off the waitlist :))

The other (and original) polar plunge trip we’re going to meet: https://outdoorsatuva.org/adventure/thursday-afternoon-pp-time-ragged-mountain-polar-plunge-pt-2/?utm_source=mailpoet&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=odc-new-adventure-newsletter-post-title_61