A Week of Running

A few weeks ago, I jotted down some notes about things I'd like to get caught up on, or remember on the blog. Several of them include races that Kirt and I have participated in the last year or so. So, just like ripping a band-aid off I'm going to try and knock them out this week. To get warmed up (lame workout joke) I'm posting an essay that I wrote (& Gay edited) earlier this year and submitted to for possible inclusion in a running magazine:

I remember the specific dinner very clearly. Probably because I have never been so focused on a carrot cake before. My choices were that or the lame conversation taking place, so for me it was an easy pick.

"So have you guys ever heard of Ragnar? It's this 2 day race with everyone taking turns running while the rest follow in a van. When it's not your turn, you just sleep on the ground or wherever until it's your turn to run again. Doesn't that sound fun?!!"

Which is when I delved even deeper into my cake. Until I was specifically called out.

“Kady, don’t you think it sounds like fun?”

My response was something like, ”You have got to be kidding me. People just run for hours and hours, do their business in porta-potties, pack into a van of sweaty nastiness and miss out on sleep…to run? No thanks.” Turns out I was the only one at the table unwilling to even think about it.

Several years (and lbs) later I read somewhere that running was the most efficient way to burn calories and I bit the bullet. I would begrudgingly run my 2-3 miles a few times a week just to get some cardio in. But there was this one run...where everything changed. A few months into my routine I met up with a friend and completed my first 5 mile run. I broke those mental barriers that had been telling me that I hated running and that I could never last more than those 2-3 miles. I did it. I RAN 5 MILES. And for the first time, I felt it...I finally realized that “runner’s high” that I had heard so much about, that runner's high that catapulted me to the next level of wanting to lengthen my strides, quicken my pace, and push my limits.

Fast-forward to another dinner where Ragnar found it's way into the conversation. And instead of looking for carrot cake to bury my face in, my ears perked up like an excited puppy...I was intrigued, I was ready. While I once found the idea of Ragnar repulsive, I sensed the beauty as Ragnar would bring a team dynamic to an otherwise individual sport. And as life often allows, irony wiggled it's way right into our race- I, who had stuck my nose up at the thought a couple years earlier, would be pioneering this effort, while most of the excited ones were stuck at home with newborns.

And thus was born SoCal Ragnar 2011, where that high I discovered only mere months earlier after that memorable 5 mile run, was present for 2 days. To be cheered on by teammates and strangers alike, while being able to do the same for others was incredible. The energy that surrounds Ragnar is unmatched.

Which is why within a few weeks of finishing our first Ragnar, I had no choice but to captain a team for Napa 2011 and Del Sol 2012! I’m finally getting ready to run SoCal again. This time I’ll be joined by some of my favorite girls from that dinner so many years ago and holding my breath until 2013 when the whole crew will finally be able to do it together. And I'm sure all the while I'll be singing Ragnar's praises to whoever will listen....... "So have you guys ever heard of Ragnar? It's this 2 day race with everyone taking turns running while the rest follow in a van. When it's not your turn, you just sleep on the ground or wherever until it's your turn to run again. Doesn't that sound fun?!!"