Today I had the honor and pleasure of running with my friend, Rich, who is an incredibly accomplished (read: FAST!!!) runner. He's sponsored by Powerbar, has been in Runner's World, and was one of four men selected to compete in The Greatest Race on Earth. I've never, ever run with him before because his race speeds are roughly 3 minutes/mile faster than mine. (read: I'm terrified to run with the man). We decided to run a new 5K because it worked better for our schedules and the "cost" of registration was a bag of non-perishable food for a good cause. I should say that I've never really raced a 5K before. And, after a 6 month running hiatus I'm not in the best shape I've ever been. But, I'm one of those "If you shoot for the moon and miss, you fall among the stars" people. So, I took my 10K PR from last September and using a pace calculator thought I should shoot for 7:5x mile splits. Rich was willing to pace me, so let's see what happened. Some facts:

1. I finished 4th overall for women

2. I finished 1st overall for my age group

3. My 5K PR (from my 10K PR split) still stands at 24:30 even

This means that I ran slower than my goal, but that's ok because I had a blast and I can accurately gauge where my training is and how I'll improve in the future. Running with Rich also allowed me to learn from him (he thinks I should keep running after the top of a hill when I practice hill repeats because I peter out, and that I should practice strides at the end of my long runs because I had NO kick left at the end today). I also have a newfound respect for the man's speed... let's just say by the time I hit two miles, had he been racing and not pacing, he would have been done already! That is so amazing! And what a very nice person to pace me on a rainy, humid morning. 

What did I get from today? Training tips and hardware (which will be mailed to me since they mixed up our bibs so they thought I was the third male finisher). I didn't PR or come close. I didn't have as strong of a race as I would have liked. But I had fun and I hope there will be lots of room for new PRs in my future  

My body's resilience always amazes me. Last training season, I couldn't believe how I could push myself in races, make time for my training, and run 16 miles less than a week after a tumble made my knees look like this:

What I'm not sure of is why I'm underestimating it now. After running MCM I was so excited about maintaining my fitness, I'd put in so much hard work I didn't want to lose it. That was fine and dandy until two weeks after the race I was cutting a bagel and cut my finger so badly I was out of running for three months, had lots of PT and have permanent nerve damage (if I do anything, I do it all the way, apparently). Chris, my boyfriend, told me the other day that Baghdad is safer than my kitchen... he survived Baghdad with only a scar on his shoulder while I have permanent nerve damage! About three weeks after being cleared to run post- accidental self-knifing, I was sidelined again with pneumonia. Three weeks of not breathing and not running sucked. By this time about 4 1/2 months had passed since the marathon and I was completely bummed that I was going to need to start from scratch. Or did I?

If you read my blog you will notice a theme: hills. Pittsburgh has LOTS of hills. You can't avoid them. Long hills that are deceptive in that over a mile their elevation will creep up a few hundred feet. Short hills that are so steep you can't run down them, you need to walk down them. And lots of hills in between! So today when I set out for my 4 miles, there was one of those long deceptive hills that I had to conquer. To give you perspective on this hill, Chris is a fit guy, a natural athlete. He ran a marathon with ONE "long" run of 8 miles and no other training. Just winged the sucker. Last Fall we went running together and I told him we'd just do four miles and I'd pick a pretty easy route... just so happened it included this hill. Half way up the hill, Chris was panting, and if he wasn't such a gentleman to me, he would have been cursing (he still reminds me of this run). The hill put him in his place- he made it because he's a tough guy and a great athlete, but it reminded me that "easy" routes in Pittsburgh aren't always so easy.

So I haven't run that particular hill since probably October 2007 and today I was a little nervous about it. I gave myself a pep talk. Reminded myself that in the past I've found it hard, Chris found it hard, and whenever I run it, I always see people walking it.  Then I went out to conquer the sucker. To my surprise and delight, no problems, I coasted up the hill, finished my run and felt good the whole way. No panting, no cussing, no walking. I think getting back into my training, this was a really awesome reminder of how resilient my body is. After depriving it of running for about 5 months it (I) can still tackle running in Pittsburgh

Never done the blog thing before, so let's give this a try.

About me: I'm Kat, a 24-year-old graduate student. I'm originally from DC but have been transplanted to Pittsburgh to get my Ph.D. in clinical and developmental psychology, specializing in the development of substance use disorders in adolescents, particularly those with behavior problems (ADHD, CD, etc.). I take tremendous pride in my career and the fact that I'm a runner. I wouldn't have called myself a runner a year ago, but a lot can happen in a year.

How I started running:  I'd always wanted to be a runner. The runners I knew (marathoners in particular) were kind, accomplished, driven, and generally awesome at all that they did. There was only one thing stopping me from becoming a runner: I hated running (or so I thought). One night I was out with my boyfriend, Chris, and his cousin Sarah (one of my friends) and we started talking running. "Hey, registration for Chicago opens soon, wanna do it?" "Sure, I'm in... Kat, are you in?" Silence. Could I run a marathon? I didn't know. And I hated that I wasn't sure if I could accomplish something. I'm a do-er. The family joke is that most people find their way in life.... I bulldoze mine. I held off on signing up for Chicago, and secretly started Hal Higdon's spring training program. Less than six weeks later, I signed up for the Marine Corps Marathon (by then, Chicago had closed).

32nd Marine Corps Marathon: I put my nose to the grindstone and my feet to the pavement, and I trained for Marine Corps using Hal Higdon's novice program. I liked that training was simple- the best advice I got was just do the miles. I liked the way I felt when I accomplished something- who knew I could run 16 miles? 18 miles? 26.2 miles!? Every Sunday run I did something new, exciting and challeging. I started to love Sundays. I was healthier, happier, I ate better. By this time, Chris had deployed to Iraq and training helped me cope with the worry and stress of him being away. Bottom line: I liked running (really!), I loved being a runner, and I loved everything that came along with it.  I finished MCM in 4:42:18. I missed my primary goal of finishing under 4:30, but I beat my secondary goal of finishing under 4:45. Above all, I ran a marathon! I finally really understood the saying "Pain is temporary, pride is forever."

Antarctica Marathon 2009:  Chris and his buddy, Matt, love challenges. Adventure races, marathons, you name it, they'll try it. Why NOT (insert crazy thing here)? They were the first to sign up for Antarctica. A few months later Sarah was in and I was the last to join. I'd caught on to their mentality... why NOT run a marathon in Antarctica? I'm young, I don't have kids, my school obligations are flexible... if I'm going to do it, there will never be a better time.  

Training: I officially started training for Antarctica this week (yes, about a year in advance). I want to make sure I have a strong base. I'm starting with Higdon's intermediate spring training program and continuing his intermediate marathon training. I'm planning to run MCM 2008, take a two week break, and start Jenny Hadfield's Antarctica program (yes, there is a training program!). Then, it's Antarctica in March 2009! Eventually I'd love to run a marathon on all seven continents. Again, why NOT when your third marathon is Antarctica? 

Why blog?: I'm always learning from my training triumphs and mistakes, so I'll post those here so maybe other people can learn from them too. I've also found the internet is an amazing tool for training- finding programs and support. I give a lot of credit for my running successes to the friends I've made through the Marine Corps Marathon message board. From training tips to personal support, they've been wonderful. My family and friends are also amazing and since we're all so busy and spread so far apart I thought this would be an easy way for people to track my progress.