Stacey 2.0

Last Saturday, October 11, I participated in the Mesa Sprint Triathlon and my first triathlon of all time.  My day would consist of a 400m swim, 12 mile bike ride, and a 5k run.  For anyone who knows me, I was not looking forward to this.  The joke had been, "my first triathlon would be my last triathlon"; swimming in general had been something difficult for me to really enjoy doing.  I'm also a bit scared to ride in traffic on the bike during training so I tend to shy away from it for that reason.  I couldn't imagine how I was going to like this, but I needed to overcome whatever was holding me back.  Fear, pessimism, lack of confidence?  My best friend was doing it too - not her first triathlon, but something she started within the past year or so - and she has the power to basically get me to sign up for almost anything.  Photo Credit to L Ellis The swim was easily the most chaotic event of the day, but thankfully it doesn't last long and it is out of th

My top three obsessions in life at the moment are (in order of importance): Training to run a half marathon in under 2 hours. Sherlock . Training for my first sprint triathlon. Which is an interesting order, because what will happen is (in chronological order): I'll run out of Sherlock to watch. My first sprint triathlon is in October. My next half marathon is in November. Today was the first tempo/pace related run of the training plan, and the easiest way I thought I could accomplish this was to run it at home, after work, on the treadmill.  The plan called for 8 miles:  2 slow miles, 4 miles at an 8:50-9:10 pace, and 2 slow cool down miles.  Running on the treadmill can be pretty daunting, so what to do to pass the time?  Watch Sherlock, Season 3, Episode 2 during my run. What a great episode.  Dr. John Watson is getting married!  Sherlock is the best man!  I have 2 miles under my belt, then 3 miles, then 3.3 miles...  and I had to stop.  A 9:10 pace for me i

I've been slacking on my writing, among other things.  For the past couple of months, I have been in training mode for my first trail, first 6-hour endurance race.  At the time I registered, I had in my mind that I was going to do 50k in this race.  After all, 6 hours is only one hour longer than my marathon time, so what's 4-ish more miles in another hour?  So the training plan I was following was for a 50k, having me run 5 days a week, doing cross-training on my "off" days, and putting in some crazy miles on the weekends.  This is all taking place during the months of April, May, and June. Come race day, I had so much fun.  But my God, I hated training for it. The race was Solemates' CYA (standing for "Cool Your Ass") 6/12/24 and 100 Mile endurance race in Prescott, AZ.  The general idea was, it would be cooler to run in Prescott in July than running in Phoenix in July, and I wanted an opportunity to do a long run sometime during the summer.  I si

On May 3rd (hey, I've been busy!) I had the opportunity to volunteer for the Cinco de Miler race in Glendale - a 5k, 5 mile, and 1 mile "Sombrero Shuffle" taking place at Westgate.  I decided to opt out of running for once (read: not in the budget) and I wanted more volunteer experience in pursuit of my future job as race director.  I chose to be the person on the bike that leads the lead runners on the course, to make sure they know where to go and clear the way so that person can run their best possible race.  The race director needed one more volunteer for this job so I talked my father-in-law into it too as he's a pretty experienced cyclist.  I would lead the Sombrero Shuffle and 5k, he would lead the 5 mile race. Before any of the races began, we did get a map briefing of the various courses, but neither one of us had actually gone out to ride the route(s).  Now, I have been a participant in many races, but I have never been the lead runner in anything, so I w

I think I have finally figured out what I want to be when I grow up.  In this case, "growing up" means finally figuring out what I should be doing in my career at age 32 (almost 33), post-college, post-MBA, and post-working-in-a-professional-capacity since about 2003. I want to be a race director.  A race director specifically for races you can do with your dog.   Yes, I am being serious. When I started training for my first 5k, I was training for a race I could do with Kano.  I would joke that if anything went wrong, at least he'd be there to drag me to the finish.  But honestly, it was one of the best things we've ever done together.  And there is a very strong possibility I might not have done it without him.  I just wasn't that into running at the time.  (Now I guess I kind of am.  I signed up for my first ultramarathon this summer - 6 hour race!  Not with Kano, though, unfortunately!)  Just like dogs that love the walk, Kano knew what it meant if I starte

Ever since I first heard about Ragnar, I thought it sounded like a fun, unique experience and I couldn't wait for a chance to participate in it.   I remember attending running club practice in February 2013 and hearing people talk about it. “I’m taking it easy tonight.   We have Ragnar this weekend!” “I have to start with a half marathon distance!” “Who else is in your van?” And on and on until I asked, “What’s Ragnar?” Ragnar is the overnight running relay race that makes testing your limits a team sport . [1] Wow, an opportunity to compete as a team with 11 other people who like running!   I knew if I wanted to get in on this, it would have to be with the running club.   (I don’t know 11 other people who like running, maybe 3 or 4.   And I certainly wouldn’t want to deal with the logistics of van rental, navigation, and coordinating pickups and drop-offs alone.)   When they started to reach out for people later that year for the 2014 event, I expressed an

This weekend was a busy weekend in terms of races for me.  I don't normally do back-to-back races (I'm either too cheap, want adequate recovery time, or both) but this weekend was a dog-friendly 5k on Saturday followed by my long-awaited marathon on Sunday. In 2012 and 2013, my dog Kano and I did the Petco 5k9WalkRunWag and loved it.  This was actually my very first 5k ever when I started running - I figured if it didn't go well, Kano could always drag me to the finish line.  For some reason the race seems to have gone MIA in 2014, which would have been at the end of February or the beginning of March based on past years' schedules.  I promised Kano we would do a race together this year, and I found out about the Goin' to the Dogs 5k sponsored by Arizona Adopt A Greyhound, Inc.  Just due to chance it happened to fall on the Saturday before my marathon, so we decided to compete on a costume basis instead of for speed.  We won the prize for best coordinated runni

I'm stuck at home recovering from the flu (so I might as well write).  Yes, the full-blown flu.  I came down with it two days ago after my husband brought it home two days before that.  I thought I was going to skate by easy - I did get a flu shot, after all - but no.  It seems a flu shot doesn't keep you from getting the flu, at least not this year.  I even had that crazy test done where they put a swab up your nose and touch your brain, which came back positive.  So the $100 I earned in my "medical reimbursement account" for getting a flu shot went straight to paying for the Tamiflu prescription I'm on to get rid of the flu.  *sigh* I'm having a helluva time staying positive through this.  I am a little more than 2 weeks away from my next full marathon, and although I'm supposed to be tapering, I'm also still supposed to be, y'know, running a little bit.  I haven't ran in 4 days.  It'll probably be a week before I can get out there aga

I went and did a semi-organized half marathon today.  I'm not sure what else to call it; maybe a well organized 13.1-mile training run with a random group of people.  The OI Marathon Club, a local after school program, put the notice out on Racetimers.com that runners were needed to join the group and support the kids, ultimately training for their first full marathon.  Their first marathon, IMS Arizona, happens to be the marathon I'm currently training for and my second full marathon* of all time.  I registered (although it was free to attend) thinking I could show my support for these kids and maybe meet a few new runners along the way.  At 10:52 pm, well after I went to bed for the evening (I had to leave at 6:45 am to go do this thing, after all), an email is sent with some of the race instructions: "My runners are very dedicated to their training, they have improved at every run. They should be able to run finish the half marathon around 1:55 to 2:10, (Between