Two weeks from today I’ll be running a new race.

And I’ll also be running the same race two weeks from tomorrow.

I’ve been wondering when to write about it because it’s always seemed so far off…but with September on the immediate horizon…well, September 12th comes around real quick.

So I figured now’s as good a time as any to let you know about it…and as soon as I started putting this post together I got the e-mail with the leg assignments so this turns out to be the perfect time to tell you about it.

It’s Reach the Beach - a Ragnar relay.

I’ve mentioned here and there the different running club activities I’ve been participating in this year - at a couple of them I got to talking to one of the people who runs on this relay team.

The people who do this every year (the running club has been participating for close to 20 years, I think) really love it. They rave about it all the time.

I figured this year, with my efforts to try new things, would be a good time to see what all of the hype is about.

(I am aware the fact that they’re always trying to fill a spot or two or three on the team means not everyone loves it as much as the die-hards.)

So here’s how it goes - we are a team of 12, split into 2 vans. We start on Friday morning at like 5am, and the race ends by Saturday evening. We start somewhere in New Hampshire and do a relay run to a beach in northeastern Massachusetts.

Van 1’s six runners do a series of runs, one each, and then Van 2’s runners take over. Everyone runs three legs for a varying total of miles.

This is my 16-mile long run weekend - I knew I was doing it when I created my training plan - and I ended up with somewhere around 15 miles - I run a roughly 9-mile leg on Friday afternoon, I think it’s estimated to start at 1pm or so, then I run after midnight - around 12:45, I think - about 4 miles, and then my last leg is Saturday afternoon for.a little less than 3 miles.

I am obviously worried about the in-between moments - how does eating, bathrooming, sleeping all work. (I’m imagining we spend a lot of time at various rest areas.)

But I think I have the running covered - even though it’s a somewhat mountainous route, I’m sure I’ll be able to cover the miles. I bought the headlamp…I might just need a little more reflective gear to meet regulations.

We have a meeting soon where I’ll get all my questions answered.

Which is good - this has started to creep into my subconscious - I had my first anxiety dream about it this week. I showed up to our departure without any kind of luggage because I didn’t know what to bring.

In my waking moments, I’m not very nervous about this - I’m approaching it as kind of a warmup for Chicago - that’s the main event.

This is just a fun little diversion with a few weeks left of training.

I’m really looking forward to it.