Done!

Sorry it's taken me a while to add the conclusive entry to my blog. In summary, the marathon was AMAZING!

I was so nervous the night and morning of, yet strangely calm. I was mainly worried I hadn't eaten right or slept enough. But I kept telling myself it would be okay, it would be fun and I could slow down if I needed to.

I went to the last corral there, E. It was the 4:45, 4:50 finish pace section. I talking to some other women fidgeting around saying this was their first marathon too. I was in a see of runners, foggy gray skyscrapers overhead. I didn't feel as scared or alone anymore. I felt peaceful, for lack of a better word. And then the start was announced- a tad after seven- and we raced off! Well, not really, we sort of slowly walked forward until there was enough room to jog. So many people, once I started passing them I started to worry. Everything I had read and been told said to HOLD BACK. But even going what I considered slow I inched forward.

I still maintain that the single digit miles are the scariest. Simply because you have so far to go and you think "is this tiredness I'm feeling, it's only mile two!" or "mile four and a half and I think my foot hurts!" and you have time to let doubt sink in as the race expands along the rainy city streets before you.

So I started praying about Isaiah 40:31 at every mile marker. And then all in between I prayed too. About my nerves over the race, for friends and family, for other runners. I felt all the love and support of my friends who were praying for me and wrote me letters to read before I ran. As the miles started to pass by I remembered something the nomeatathlete book had said: "Relax and enjoy the fact that you are doing something incredible!"

Thinking this, and with various pop songs playing in my mind I realized: my goal- I was already achieving it. I was enjoying the marathon!

And I continued to love every step of it. I broke it into chapters in my mind, the first seven miles, then 7-14. The hills everyone had warned me about felt easy and smooth under my feet (I didn't even realize I was ascending the big scary mile 11 hill until I saw the "Kill the Hill" nike banners wrapped around it). I prayed my way all the way up that hill, conscious of the metaphor this race bore to my Christian one. 

Then came miles 14-20 and the final six. Each new chapter had its own textures and emotions. I kept waiting for that inevitable midteens wall of exhaustion. But it never came.

Having KATE! printed on my shirt helped so much; complete strangers lined the race cheering me on! I got such a surge of energy from them, especially all the high-fives! My checks started aching from smiling.

As I neared the end of the race, I ran into my one friend who came to watch me. He told me my splits were negative! Each miles I was getting faster! I had only a vague sense of time from my own stop watch, but this news encouraged me even more. I wasn't just going to finish but finish well! I passed the 4:30 pace group, then the 4:15 and 4:00. My body was starting to ache as the miles passed...21...22. My thighs hurt, which had never happened to me before. I kept asking God "you said I wouldn't be weary..you promised..help me believe your promise!" And though my body ached (and still does a bit actually) my soul never did.

The last part of the race was the hardest. I flew down the big downhills, passing lots of fellow runners and cheering them on as I went by. But the final two miles HURT like I have never really felt before. Everything in my body started to get angry at me. I pushed harder, having given myself the goal now of 3:40 and watching the seconds tick forward on my watch. I pushed myself up the final bridge and picked up pace, my mom cheering me on from the side of the course. Then the lane seemed to extend itself, the road stretched out before me. The nomeaytathlete book said the .2 of 26.2 were the best part: "Revel in the last few moments of your accomplishment as you are steps from becoming a marathoner."

Well, they hurt like hell.

But crossing the finish line I couldn't believe it. I was exhausted and in pain but done! I did it, I did it. I kept telling myself as I stumbled over to a walker who led me out of the finishing area. I made eye contact with a midforties volunteer and he gently reached out and placed the medal over my neck. I have it on my bed stand now, it says "KATE THOMPSON 3:40:30" in the gold shiny surface. I just slipped in under the time to qualify for the Boston Marathon!

I loved the marathon. I loved every minute. I have a renewed confidence in myself, my body and my abilities. I kept telling my mom as I wobbled about after the race I needed to find my next one to register for.

I'm typing from my dining room table this morning. It's on and off rainy and sort of cold. I'm going for my first run since the race later today. Monday I could barely walk. Today will be a nice two or so miles. And I'm okay with that. Not every day needs to be a hard and challenging one. The rest times are important too.

Thank you everyone who supported me.
Hypothesis to the Mile 27 Experiment: confirmed!

Hyped, Psyched and Ready to Go!

I'm in the hotel room now, full of a Chipotle rice and bean burrito (yay complete proteins!) I've drunk so much water today and all this week I might as well be swimming on the inside. Well, I was swimming with nervousness, but now I feel a sort of "peace that passeth all understanding."

From friends and family, from my running buddies at PSU to my mom who drove me all the way across the state to run, I feel so loved and supported.

Part of me is nervous, for the pain. For the doubts. For any mistakes I might make. Too many "what ifs"- I don't need them. I know I can do this.

So more of me is excited! Tomorrow is my special day. Next time I write this blog, I'll be a marathoner.
More than anything I feel the need to fill up on positive and confident thoughts. I've work hard and trained. I'm rested and strong. I'm doing this for fun, for an adventure. I'm hyped, psyched and ready to RUN!

Wish me luck & PRAY!

Why Ignorance Isn't Bliss

So now I'm done the training, and waiting for Sunday is starting to make my stomach turn.

all this... not running... is giving me time to worry about mistakes I might have made or will make and everything in between. And another thing: I've realized I've avoided a lot of resources that might help me. In the beginning I was afraid (yes, that's not an over-exaggerating adjective) afraid to look up more about marathon theory. Namely because I thought it would be intimidating, that I would not be able to train as hard as plans suggests or want to challenge myself to that extent. Now I'm discovering that the more I research the better I feel. Knowing the mistakes people make before races is soothing my worry by helping me not make the same ones. All the tips and training ideas, they sure would have given me more comfort earlier. I don't know who I thought I was helping by hiding under a rock for this e-wellspring of information we call the internet.

I want to do this right, so would it really hurt to sneak in a little extra last minute research? Any suggestions?

Kate Thompson Run[s]!

Yesterday my friend Liz and I went on our last weekday run together. 5 or so easy miles through the marshes, and ending at Rita's Water Ice. I still have 18 or so miles tomorrow (*gulp*), but that will be both our last run together and my last run at Penn State for the year.

I bumped into some members from the xc club yesterday as I waited to meet my trainer and friend Marie for my last weight lifting session. One member told me he was looking to qualify for the Boston marathon, told me about all the other times girls from the club are hoping to hit.

"Break four, at least," he said, when I asked what a good time for a girl was.

I've trained so hard for so long. I feel the emotional distance I come is akin to the physical. And I think my greatest sign of maturity would be to take this race as it goes. To resist the urge to put a goal up. To take pride and contentment in my own progress without comparing myself to others. That's something I've never sucessfully done before.

Yet, I still feel nervous that I won't be satisfied without breaking four now. I'm coming down on my last few weeks of training, tappering into a week of pre-race rest. I just want to be content, but, maybe even after this whole experiment, I'm not sure what contentment means for me.

Fast Food

Miles last week: 50 (again!)
In progress: 21/40-50


I had honestly never contemplated eating while running. I don't even like eating before running. Too much salad, a soda, a lump of oatmeal- just thinking about food bopping around in my stomach while running makes me feel queesy.

So when Liz said active.com recommends eating during a run longer than seven miles, I was pretty surprised. Especially because most of my runs are longer than seven miles.

We're not talking eating hamburger and hot dogs. Rather energy gels, sugary chews, dried fruit, & even Fig Newtons. "You need easy sugars and carbs," my friend, fellow marathon runner, and senior nutrition major Lauren explained as we ran on Saturday. "Avoid any and all fiber, but you've got to fuel your body, and keep fueling it if you want to feel good on these long run days."

So I ran 18/19 on Staurday this past week, the first nine with Lauren. She brought along a picnic of runner's goodies- a cliff bar Razz energy shot and several slivers of Fig Newtons. At about an hour she prompted me to eat the energy shot- which tasted like raspberry Starbursts and had the consistency of toothpaste. Not half bad. At about two hours I ate the sliced fig cookies, each third in three little bites. And I nibbled on some dried cranberries near the very end. And the funny thing is, I think it actually worked.

I felt better, more energized, perkier, faster even. I finish my run in two and a half hours. Lauren thought that fifty miles a week was even a little too much (what a relief)!

I would how much is the placebo effect (my simply believing the food would help) and how much was actually nutritional science. If I can convince my self of positive energy from food, could I draw the same metaphorical sugars and carbs from enthusiastic crowds? I could eat up that cheering like cake. This is new: trusting that there is more working for me than just my sheer will-power. I think I'm on to something.

Miles to Go Before I Sleep

Miles last week: 50!! (just sayin')
Miles this week: 32/50

How can something as standard as distance be so subjective?

Every run is different- you have good days and bad days. Slow or fast, tired or strong. Miles can fly by or drag on endlessly. Why? How can the same line of street seem to extend and expand as if fault-lines were spreading apart right beneath my sneakers, birthing new concrete as I run. And other times scenery passes by faster than I can register. I just don't get it.

I've finally started using MapMyRun to keep my miles straight. Most of the cumulative distances of routes are passed down by word of my on the XC Club Team. Considering the exaggeration (and egos) of some of the runners, I decided I wanted a second, more qualitative opinion. As I clicked from point to point on the digital map, outlining my route in a connect-the-dots fashion, I was surprise to see how long a really mile is. Did you know the furthest-most reaches of campus, when lassoed into one ovular track, are just barely beyond 3 miles? Sad, huh?

So at the corner of Shortlidge and College, when my running buddy Liz pointed toward Burrows and said ".8 miles," I was incredulous. It took only four minutes to jog to Atherton. I don’t run no four minutes miles. So I ran beyond her suggestion, just in case.

I worry sometimes- I feel that miles and their sensory-based times are directly related to how you feel. And like I said- some days your legs are just unpredictable. What can I do to make sure my miles- all 27 or so- fly by? And how do I prepare myself for the moment I know will inevitably come, that part in the race when both I and my distance start to slow down?

Need for Speed

Miles: 35/40+

I've been focusing on distance. I’ve done a ten and a half, a nine and a half, and a nine mile run this week. Then a five and a half mile short run. Each one at a decent pace. I want to up my endurance, going home for a long 15 mile run this Saturday. I need to train every part of me, I’ve realized. I don't want my mind to be scared when my body begins to ache, as I know it will. My legs buckle and my insides bubble. I've felt it before. I anticipate it again.

I've been putting off speed work. I loathe it, sprints and intervals in all there forms. Yet today I got some worked in anyway.

I have never run, showered and biked as fast as I did to get to Eisenhower on time today for Jane Goodall's speech. It’s amazing how fast you can go when you’ve got something good waiting at the end,

After eight miles with one of my best XC friends, I wanted to round off my run closer to ten. With my roundtable discussion with Dame Goodall in less than an hour away, I forwent dinner and tacked on the University loop. I booked it up University drive and back down Shortlidge. And the thing is, for all my avoidance of speed work, I've found I'm not an unhealthy as I thought it was. Not as slow. I'm much stronger, in body and mind, than I had thought. Hands numb and legs pumping, tired and rushing back to my dorm... I felt good.

I've been so scared I won't be ready for this marathon- that I haven't done enough- but today, with the clock ticking and Dame Goodall waiting, mind triumphed over matter. I felt happy to run, though my body was tired. A rare combination for me, and a small but worthy victory against the doubt that shadows my steps.

A [Spring] Break in the Routine

Miles over break: ~12 (frowny face here; less than half my usual)
Meals: Mostly PB and J's, maybe a banana on a good afternoon.
Service: Incredible (more than a million times my usual)

For Jesus to become more, I must become less. (John 3:30).
For all the time I spend thinking about running, lifting, and well- me me me, it was good to step back and get some perspective this past week. Not jogging sunny Floridian beaches or some Bahaman sea-side highway. I had a tougher type of training. Lots to clean, young girls to mentor, crack and heroin addicts to share God's love with at 1 am under the SEPTA railway. We gave them food, clothes, and the option to move into a safe house and off the streets. It was sobering, it was bold. It made me stop thinking about myself- for once. I served God more, and really tried hard to serve my own needs less.

And He really took my anxiety about running away, and on Tuesday, blessed me with the opportunity to run (and I mean run!) around the city. Eight miles. One hour. From Fishtown to Center City, to the Historical district, down by Penn's Landing and back again. It was quite a tour, and reminded me of why I love running so much. From new sights, new places, the feeling of stretching out my legs and sprinting off into an adventure.
And now back at State College, I worry of losing the same feeling excitement  in both my faith and my running life. How can you keep running the same miles and routes fresh, day in and day out? How can I keep this from becoming work again?

Chasing Pavements

Miles this week: ~25/35
Good stuff.
But good enough? I’m never sure.

Spring break is coming up. I'd love to say I'm running on the sandy beaches of Florida, or along the windy roads of the Californian coast. But no- to Philadelphia I go.

I'm going on a nine day mission trip with ACF- my church group here on campus. I praise the Lord for this opportunity to serve. Yet, I’m still uncertain. I'm going to work hard and pray hard, but can I still run hard? I've never really run urban areas before. My race is in a city. This could be good.

"Some days you just won't have time," my youth group leader Jackie says. "We'll be working sun up to sun down."
Gulp.
"But if you can find someone to run with you, and the time, go ahead."

So now my running fate hangs on the willingness of others. Another gulp. Yet one week off won't ruin my body. But it could ruin my confidence. I'm not having trouble running anymore. If anything I have to restrain myself. A day off leaves me tapping my nails in anxiety, eyeing every spandex clad girl that huffs by. This has made me more motivated, though. I got in nine and eight mile runs this week and felt great after. But can I relax this for a week without flipping out? I sometime get so looped into letting my image of myself crash if I don't run. Can I put this aside for nine days if God asks me to, and serve?

I honestly can't tell you.

The Other Great American Pastime

Week One: 25m
Week Two: 32m
Week Three: 18m (I blame THON.)
Week Four [as of Wednesday]: 8m

...Promising, huh?  I should be reading Runner's World for tips or googling marathon plans, but right now- finishing homework and studying Spanish nonfinite verbs- all I can think of is going to sleep. I love running, but just the thought of my 6-8m tomorrow is making me tired.

Did you know that the number one factor in an America's rating of their day-to-day happiness is... *drumroll*...SLEEP. (Nina Jablonski PhD and Anthro Dept. Head) Maybe that's why I feel so down and out. I got eight hours- EIGHT- of sleep last night, but according to contemporary research that won't start affecting me until tomorrow. That's right, messing with your sleeping schedule and cutting hours can keep affecting you days later. Recovery lags after that.

Considering the influence of changes to one's sleeping patterns can last up to five days- I'm still tired from THON.

Maybe sleep should be up on the top of my to-do list, instead of squeezed in with whatever is left over. It even boosts your metabolism, getting over seven hours a night does. And even a nap of 20-30 minutes is enough to jump start your mind mid mid-afternoon slump.

I'm considering just clicking the hibernate button on my screen and going...to......

The Official Mile 27 Experiment

What I've retained from fifth grade science class is as follows:

 The Scientific Method (as described by sciencebuddies.org)

The scientific method is a way to ask and answer scientific questions by making observations and doing experiments.

• The steps of the scientific method are to:
• Ask a Question
• Do Background Research
• Construct a Hypothesis
• Test Your Hypothesis by Doing an Experiment
• Analyze Your Data and Draw a Conclusion
• Communicate Your Results
• It is important for your experiment to be a fair test. A "fair test" occurs when you change only one factor (variable) and keep all other conditions the same.

So, I realized after Terry from Rapid Transit challenged my marathon goals (pleaseeee read the entry before this one!!), that I hadn't made them clear to my readers, my followers or truthfully even to myself. So here it is- the outline of this whole shebang.

Ask a(/some) question(s): Can running a marathon help me fall back in love with running?

Can I become more comfortable with my body and my abilities even if I'm by no means the fastest or fittest person there?

Can I finish?

Do background research: my background experience- competing stressed me out. Training stressed me out. I want to enjoy this- so conclusion of this research: I need to avoid both.

       That's right. I'm running (25 miles two weeks ago, 32 this past week and 18 so far this one), but I'm not training for time. I’m lifting, but because I like it and I love my trainer and friend Marie. I'm cross training because I know it’s good for me, and swimming’s a fun change. But for this first marathon I refuse to make myself as miserable as I was in high school.

Construct a hypothesis: By running the Pittsburgh Marathon, not as a race but as an adventure, by challenging myself to finish but not to compete, and by accepting yet confronting my limits, each day as they come- I will make my goal of falling in love with this sport once more a reality.

And the test- well that’s self-explanatory

So far so good- and I'll stop soon. But allow me one more point of clarity- why 27 miles? Isn't a marathon 26.2?

Well, one because it wouldn't let me enter decimals in my web address but two, because I want this new mentality to continue beyond the race and into my life. I don't want my new found love of running to falter when I get busy or stressed. It's an ongoing experiment- but here goes!

And recipes- a friend suggested nomeatathlete.com- check it out my vegetarian friends!  

Rapid Disappointment

I walked into Rapid Transit for the first time today, feeling fresh and light from a brisk five mile run with my friend Liz. We browsed through the racks of tye dye spandex and chatted about new trainers. I waited with her patiently as the man I had come to see sized up the feet of someone's grandmother and helped her try on her new shoes. She paid for her purchase and he turned to me.

"A marathon? It's too late. That's impossible."

My heart cracked. A running store expert and marathon veteran had just told me I did not have enough time to train for the Pittsburgh. I bit my lip and nodded.

"You don't have time to even start training. Try the half. You look like you could break 1:30- make it into the top 25 women easy if you work in speed and get up to 35 miles now."

I glanced at Liz, then at the ground. I had wanted a training plan from him, having been utterly indicisive looking through websites on running. I had just been going by feel, running my miles.

Terry of Rapid Transit didn't understand, I didn't want to break a time. I wanted to break through my own limits. A finisher's medal was the only merit I was after. Call me stubborn, call me hopeful, but please don't say hopeless.

After he pronounced me without a chance he told me to come back for new shoes the next morning. Liz and I walked out the door slowly.

"I'm still running it," I said to the sidewalk.
"I know," said Liz.

I thought about the advice from my old high school distance coach the week before. I had messaged him- the man who had guided me through my first track race sophmore year with the promise that it would hurt, but less than hurting like having a baby. A man of infinite and accurate wisdom.
 "Kate," he wrote. I only needed to remember two things. "Continue to run miles weekly. When race day arrives, don't be nervous."
So that's largely my plan.

Terry said I was impossible.
To all the Terrys I would like to reply with my old team quote from my senior year:

"...Impossible is not a fact. It's an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It's a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing." 
(Thank you John Maxwell)

You Aren't What You Eat....?

Let me try and recall today in terms of food:

Scrambled eggs with spinach and cheddar. A yogurt parfait. Four cups of coffee and several bottles of water. Sautéed veggies and tomato basil tofu. A veggie burger wrap. Coconut chickpea salad. A bowl of pasta e fagioli. A banana, a granny smith apple, an orange and some raisins. In the last twenty minutes alone I've had several generous handfuls of dark chocolates mailed from my grandparents. And a bowl of baby carrots, microwaved in a Target brand plastic bowl (my bad- they did sort of taste like carcinogens).

Last week I hit my goal of 25 miles. So far this week (Sun-Wed) I'm on 21/30m for this week's target.

And I feel like the Very Hunger Caterpillar. 

Part of this marathon will be letting go of food. Not that I'm not going to eat- I'm no diet monk. Not that I'm not letting myself go- I'm trying my best at eating smart. Sticking to my habitual intake of proteins, fibers and carbohydrates. But I am letting go of the tight fist with which I have always monitored my metabolism (well, at least attempting.

Because I have realized that over-obsessing about how I fuel my body often ends up with it not getting enough fuel. And the balance won't be easy to find. Eating has (ironically) never come naturally to me. As my trainer told me last week: if I'm going to run more than I ever have in my life I. Have. To. Eat.  And I can't let myself feel guilty about it. Because a runner's body is not that of a Victoria's Secret Model. And because "Your body is a temple, even if you let cupcakes in every one and awhile." (-anonymous quote from the trainer's room in my old high school).

So, over the next few entries, I'm going to explore this caloric conundrum a bit further. Recipes guaranteed.

Running the Spiritual Race

For those of you who may not know, I am Christian. Much of my walk with God I can see parallelled in my running life. At least, as I work to balance the stress and determination of training my physical body, I work also to balance it in such a way that it doesn't distract from the growth of my spiritual body. The whole not having too much confidence in the flesh concept. This is a sermon I preached at St. Paul's Episcopal in Doylestown, PA last summer, which couldn't seem to more relevant now. I hope I can take my own advice. I pray it speaks to you in some way.

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God”

- Luke 12 : 1-2

I am runner. Running for me has always been a love / hate relationship.  And nothing, in all my six years of competitive high school track and field, terrified me as much as my senior season of cross country. Nothing was more petrifying then the cb east home course. Which, unfortunately, happened to be where most of my races took place.

It was a cruelly devised course, that wound its way for three miles around the school grounds, across sports fields, along the woods and concluded with a lap around the track. The worst part was the looming grass hills that you had to ascend once, then go back around and do it twice more.

I would watch the preceding wave of varsity runners cross the finish line whimpering and staggering about. Some doubled over gasping for breath. They were tired. They were in pain, but they had finished. They can do it, I’d think, so can I.  Right? Right?! I’d stand at the starting line, waiting for the gun to go off, stomach curdling as I saw the hills waiting for me. Then I’d start thinking, well, what if I can’t.

Isn’t that familiar? Cause we’re all running our races as Christians right now.  And Lord knows there are days, when we wake up, and think about all the challenges we must face, and we wanna go right back under those covers, and never come out. Because we’ve each have hills that we must climb. Different and unique to our own souls. Terrible struggles that may take the shapes of illness, or of a lost job. Of a conflict with a loved one, or unrest at home. Addiction, failure, guilt or regret. We all have obstacles in our lives that loom high and heavy above us. Roadblocks in our walks with God. And you see your hill, and you gulp, and you start to wonder, well, what if I can’t.

And I’ll tell you right now. You’re right. You can’t. None of us can. Not alone. And glory hallelujah, we never are.

“Fix your eyes on Jesus,” the Bible calls to us. He’s not standing over on the side lines of your race. He’s not just cheering for and hoping you make it. He is right there with you, in the midst of your struggle, as your begin to ascend your hill, and you tire and you think, what if I can’t. Well, you don’t have to, because you turn to Jesus and He is already running with, ready to carry you. God calls on us to be persevering. But we forget, God himself is our perseverance.

As we surround ourselves with our fears and doubts our eyes slip form our Lord, and we forget that he has an intimate and unique knowledge of our Christian race, because He Himself has already run it.  He knows every step and struggle, every gasp and ache. He has raced. And He has won.

Yet, we are so easily discouraged. We look to that great cloud of witnesses, just as I watched the group of runners before me, and instead of being inspired, we think I can never be that strong. I am no saint. I am no champion. God is waiting to be your champion, just as he was for Gideon and Barak, for David and all the prophets.  Then, why do you still doubt?  Because you wish to draw on your own strength rather than His. As we race up our hills, and we tire, and we panic, we turn inward to ourselves and our own strength. We think I’ve got this, I can do this it’s all me right now. Guess what? It should never be all you. God’s got it. God’s always got it.  Stop striving and fix your eyes on Jesus. Run the race with Him. In your deepest struggles and fears, in the heights of your hills and conflicts, God is with you. You are never alone.

Oh! The Weather Outside Is Frightful!

Current Mileage (beginning on Monday): ~10. Goal Weekly Mileage: 25

And inside isn't much better either. I loathe treadmills with a passion. (Even the ones with TVs). I can hardly stand the monotony of staring at a wall, of not feeling any sense of progress. My tolerance normally caps off at about three miles.

And tonight, walking home from lifting after XC, the sidewalks on PSU’s Campus were as slick as an ice-skating rink. Clearly, I'm in the wrong sport.

So facing a morning of cross-training, I decided to encourage other runners in their efforts to kick it outside.

In the January issue of Runner's World, these motivational tidbits by Rob Udewitz were published. I taped them eye-level to my mirror- these three being my favorite:

1. Think ahead- remember how good your last run felt. Work toward with that feeling of satisfaction in mind!

2. Rewards- Your favorite sweet or snack (in moderation) will taste much better when earned.

3. Set goals for training ahead of time- and seal your commitment in writing.

My Tips:

-Time over distance. Snow will slow you down. In this case, just getting our your door may be your biggest accomplishment- mileage or otherwise.

-Going in the morning. It might be colder, but BAM! You are awake! The rest of your day seems quite a bit more energized if you start it with a half hour of fresh, cold air.

-Layers. Just thinking about numb fingers or frost bitten ears is enough to keep me in. I wear underarmour tights and sweatshirts (when my laundry is clean and options present themselves). My favorite are the kind of sweats with large pockets that I can use to tuck in my head band or gloves if I warm up. (Stripping is entirely acceptable in running- though in early February I'm not sure how much you will actually be doing.)

Want more? My favorite running site- which is still a foreign land to me- explains the scientific reasons for the winter wimp-out syndrome. See, it’s not just me!

Beat the Winter Blues!

Speed Limits

I'm not sure whether this broadcast from my favorite radio show gives me hope or makes me want to pee my pants. Jad and Robert talk about how far you can physically push your body- and about how much of the perseverance depends on your mind. What if mine isn't that tough? How do I work out my brain- pump the iron of my gray matter? Visualization? Positive thinking? Yoga? I'll need to trick myself into going further than I think I can.

If you have a minute- tune into this show. "Limits". Play while you get dressed, do your homework, feed your beta fish. Then you'll understand where I'm coming from.

Now, pardon me while I go watch "the Little Engine that Could."

Do Marathons Begin with a 3 Command Start?

"On your mark....
...get set...."
BANG!

Thus began nearly every race in my high school track and field career. Five years of varsity squad training, most of them on mid distance. Drill hard. Race smart. Run fast. Simple right?
With the exception of one deplorable season of XC, my races never lasted longer than half a mile.

Now, add 25.6 miles to that. That's a big gap.

My name is Kate Thompson. I am 18 years old. I have just hit the legal age for marathon running (yep, there are laws for that). So I am going to run a marathon. I've registered for, paid my dues to, and gotten a poster of the Pittsburgh Marathon. All in attempts to keep myself from backing out.

Let me be clear, if only for my own sake. I am not doing this for an impressive finishing time. I'm not running in honor of anyone. I am being totally and completely selfish. This is for me.

All my years of running I've struggled with love/hate issues of confidence with my body and with my mind. I've wrestled with my weight and tussled with times. So this run- this marathon- is going to be the culmination of my rehab with running. I want to fall back in love with it again. This sport and I are going to couples therapy if this long distance relationship is going to work.

Here is where I'll document each step of the journey to mile 27. To see if someone as frustrated by running as an ex-track and field star can learn to love it again. To push my body and my mind passed the finish line. Passed the distance, and times and scary details I'm mentally avoiding (I've heard pre-race portapotties are the stuff of nightmares). I'm running to teach my self to stop running away from my doubts and fears, but towards something. Something gold and heavy and about the size of my fist.

So. On your mark. Get Set.