Blog Posts From Kat Ran Antarctica Tagged With girls_on_the_run

RR: Pittsburgh Marathon

DCtoPgh — Thu, 07 May 2009 01:39:23 GMT

Pre-Race

Like Shamrock, I have no goals for the Pittsburgh marathon other than to have fun. I skipped my 20 miler between Shamrock and Pittsburgh and I don’t know what effect two marathons in the previous two months will have on my performance. After PRing at pancake flat Shamrock, I don’t have high expectations for a fast time at hilly Pittsburgh.

I wake up at 5 am and Shell, Ike and I eat breakfast and get ready. We meet up with some friends at Craig’s hotel and there is lots of nervous and excited energy. Shell and I line up towards the back of the 10:00 min/mile pace group. I run into my Girl’s on the Run co-coach, Laura, and her roommate, Shannon and after a few minutes of nervous chatter, we’re off and running!

The Race

We take off through the Strip District and my favorite spectator is a Scottish bagpiper. I’m bopping along, running a very comfortable 10 min pace when I see Megan, another Girls on the Run coach, who is running the half with her husband Nathan (who mentioned he’s read this blog: Hi Nathan!). We chat for a few minutes but we subsequently part ways. Shortly after at mile 4 as we cross the bridge to the North Shore, I hear someone cheer for me, then cheer for Shell. I look to see Shell fly past in the beginning of leap-frogging that will go on for the next 10 miles. I catch Shell around mile 5 and we begin to run together. I see a man who looks familiar and after a moment I realize it is Luke Ravenstahl. I point to him, telling Shell “That’s our mayor!” and he looks at me and cheers for me by name. Cool.

I’ve been battling my bladder for around 7 miles when I see an overpass that serves as my first pit stop. I lose Shell as she runs ahead, but I catch her around mile 8 and we run onto the South Side hooping, hollering and cheering for anyone and everyone. I lose her at the mile 9 water stop as it begins to rain. Usually I hate rain, but for some reason, I’m not too bothered. The course support dwindles but I continue to keep thanking spectators and volunteers. Leaving the South Side at mile 12 I head up the hill on Forbes towards Oakland. I was planning to walk the hill if needed, but I felt really strong for mile 12 so I ran it, excited to be in Oakland where I work and go to school. I’m particularly excited to see my office where I make pit stop #2; just one of many benefits to being on my home turf.

As I go back on the course I catch up to Shell around mile 13.5. I lose her for the last time just after the water stop after mile 14, but not before I tell her some of Mister Rogers’ Pittsburgh history (i.e. he was a pianist and all the piano music in the show was music that he played; Mr. McFeely is currently faculty at Duquesne). Mile 14.5 I see volunteers from Shadyside Presbyterian Church, where Megan (see above) is a member. I know through Megan’s blog that they put a lot of thought into supporting the marathoners so I make an extra effort to thank them. As I come upon the relay exchange point I see two friendly faces: Steph and Jen! I excitedly do a crazy arm-swinging windmill run across the course for high-fives and then head onto Walnut Street. I see my friend Rich, an incredibly accomplished runner. I realize I want to hug him but also realize I can’t stop, so I run into him full speed with my arms out, embracing at impact. I later found out he wasn’t running because of cracked ribs! Ah! I’m so sorry!! He runs a few paces with me and passes me a bottle of Powerbar electrolyte drink and I happily take it and run ahead. Not more than a quarter of a mile later I see my friend Aimee and her husband Patrick (more crazy windmill arm-swinging excited running) and Aimee runs with me for a brief bit. I’m on a total high from seeing so many friends when I see another- Laura’s roommate Ryan! This is the best mile ever!

Around mile 16 I realize that I am feeling exponentially stronger than I ever have during a marathon. I’m still keeping my pace between 9:50 and 10:10ish and I don’t feel the need to slow down. We run through Homewood and I see old women in housecoats on their porches staying out of the drizzle. I wave at them and they’re so happy to be acknowledged. As we turn into Highland Park I am happy to be back in familiar territory. I didn’t realize all the people I would see here. I see a faculty member who I wave at then no more than a few houses down I see another faculty member and a first year grad student who so sweetly cheer me on. The spectators here are fantastic and as I run by a coffee shop men start chanting my name- “Kat! Kat! Kat!” I feel like a rock star! As I continue to run I see another graduate student friend and I’m so thrilled by my good fortune that I forget to look for my running partner Jen, her husband Robert and their daughter Abby. She saw me and yelled, but I had my iPod on by this point, so I unfortunately didn’t hear her. One man actually turned to me to comment on my popularity! I felt so supported on this course!

Coming out of Highland Park I’m still not slowing down. In fact, I feel really strong and I know there’s a big downhill ahead. As I start to pick up the pace a bit I see one of the girls I coach and I freak out, I am so excited to see her! Running through Bloomfield is a huge party. There are bands and tons of loud and awesome spectators. There are also lots of officers out in support of the three police officers who were killed in early April. There’s no way I’m slowing down in Bloomfield. Returning to the Strip, Jen flies by me as part of the relay and I try not to get demoralized by all the relay runners who are so much fresher than me. My pace has picked up to the mid-9s and I wonder if a PR is a possibility (I’m unsure because my watch auto paused during my pit stops). I dig deep and hammer out the last miles in 9:19, 9:26 and 8:54 pace. The last 0.1 I see Steph and Jen again as well as Ike. Having friends cheer for you at the end is the best way to end a marathon. I fly through the chute and I feel great even though I think I missed a PR. If nothing else, I just completed my first marathon where I didn’t need to stop to walk. At the family link up area I run into Lisa, a third Girls on the Run Coach, and am thrilled to catch up with her and to hear she came in sub-4. I hung out with Ike, Shell and Len to cheer in the last runner and it was such a gift to be able to pay the cheering karma forward, especially since I would later find out that the last runner was running for Elora.

Post-Race

It was a great day with lots of support and solid running and the icing on the cake was that I PRed (as did Shell and Ike)! My chip time was 4:28:01, even with two pit stops. It was the most fun I’ve ever had and it was the easiest marathon I’ve ever run. Coming up next: Vermont City marathon on May 24th.

Girls on the Run is so much fun! Whoooooo!

DCtoPgh — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 02:25:04 GMT

Today we took our team picture for this year's Girls on the Run program. For those of you unfamiliar with GOTR, it's a program that trains 3rd-5th grade girls for a 5K while encouraging healthy behaviors and cultivating self-esteem and values. This is my second year coaching and I just love working with the girls. I couldn't imagine a better way to spend my time than encouraging our future women runners! Which one could be the next Paula Radcliffe? Kara Goucher?

Girls on the Run 2008 Recap

DCtoPgh — Sat, 31 May 2008 19:06:07 GMT

About 2 weeks ago I finished my first season as a coach for Girls on the Run (GOTR). For people who are unfamiliar with the program, volunteer coaches from the community sign on for 10 weeks to train 3rd to 5th grade girls for a 5K while teaching them age-appropriate lessons (e.g. values, promises, self-esteem, communication, healthy choices). I love running, kids and volunteering... this was the perfect opportunity for me. So, some of my favorite moments from the season (with thanks to my co-coach Megan whose pictures I used):

Community Service Project

One of our lessons was a community service project that the girls planned and we made cards for soldiers.

While we did this, I was speaking with the girl above about my trip to Antarctica and the conversation went something like this:

S: You're going to Antarctica, right? Are you going to die?

Me: Um, I hope not. In fact I hope to take pictures of penguins and when I come back I'll send them to you.

S: (pause) ... I like penguins! But if you do die, I'll go to your funeral.

Thanks...? Other cool moments were when two of our older girls broke out and recited the entire Gettysburg address completely spontaneously! I am so proud that our girls are so sweet, such great athletes and smart cookies, too! And three girls worked together to make a card. One accidentally wrote "Dare" instead of "Dear" and they ended up with a card that said "Dare to be brave." I couldn't think of anything more fitting!

Coaching Highlights

I have so many great memories from coaching, but two really stand out, for very different reasons.

The girl in the picture above, on the right, was a little spark plug. She had so much energy and always had a smile. Once she ran by me and she had been going for what seemed like forever. I was cheering her on and telling her to keep it up and as she sped by she only yelled.... "I..... AM.... HYPERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!" I think everyone who witnessed it was just doubled over in laughter because she was such a great source of energy. I will definately be channeling her for my next marathon. I should also note that at the end of the season she won the "Most Likely to Stand Tall" award because whenever we asked the girls what their favorite promise to themselves was, she would reply "I promise to stand tall because I'm short!"

Unlike our other little balls of energy, we had a small handful of girls who were really hard to get moving when we started. One really stood out and at times she confided in the coaches that the kids made fun of her and that she didn't really like herself. At first, she was very unsure of herself and she would walk more than she would run and it was tough to get her to participate. But over time she started not only to open up, but to participate, run, and smile while she did it. One day she came up to me and asked for a challenge. I told her to run two laps without stopping and come back and do situps. She did that, got lots and lots of praise and went off to walk the next lap. When she came around again, she asked for another challenge. This time: three laps. While she was on her 2nd lap another girl (K) came up and asked for a challenge. I told her to wait until the first girl (A) finished her laps so that the two of them could run together. Not only did they run together, but they cheered each other on the whole time. At the end of the session, we have girls nominate another girl who did something good to lead the stretches. K nominated A because the A motivated her! I was SO PROUD. Here's a picture of A finishing the 5K with Sarah, my Antarctica companion, and another one of the other coaches:

Wondergirl 5K

It was a miserable day for a 5K. I woke up and wondered if there was any way I could possibly pull of staying home. It was cold and rainy. Poor Lisa, (bottom left) was shivering and chattering But, in spite of it, most of our girls and their parents toughed it out and made it anyway! I am so proud of their accomplishment! Here's a picture of the coaches running while shedding clothes to pass off to Megan...

...and me and Sarah with one of the girls at the finish line. This girl broke her foot something like 3 weeks before the race and finished anyway!

What did we get out of GOTR?

Almost all of our girls have now run a 5K!
They've helped support our troops
They've learned about how to stay healthy physically and emotionally. I found out at the end-of-season banquet that one of our girls had a big falling out with her friends at school during the season. Her dad said that because of the lessons she learned at GOTR and the friends she made there she was able to cope with it really well.
They made friends! Even though they were different ages and from different schools at the end-of-season banquet they all sat at the same table together.
I really benefited from their positive energy and they really motivated and inspired me.

I can't wait to coach next year! (That is, if I don't die a slow, painful, penguin-induced death while in Antarctica )