Stacey 2.0

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 2...

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 coordina...