Monday, September 1, 2008

Running with Katie's

I have an interesting streak going. The last two races I have struck up a conversation while running with Katie. Different races, different Katie's.

I ran the Georgetown to Idaho Springs 1/2 marathon 3 weeks ago and ran with a young girl named Katie who is a TNT teammate that is training to run the Nike Women's marathon in San Francisco the same day as the Denver marathon. It is always fun to find someone that is running about the same pace as you are. Makes the miles and time so much more fun. Katie recently graduated from Denver University. I am always so touched when I see young people already involved in serving the communities they live in. We probably ran off and on together for about 10 miles and really helped pull each other to the finish line. We both ended up running faster then we would have if we hadn't run together.

Today I ran a 10 mile race called the Park to Park. The race takes a beautiful tour of 4 city parks in Denver, City Park, Cheesman Park, Aloma Placita park and ends in Washington Park. It hits some of my favorite parts of the city to run in. In addition to the tour of the parks, you get to run in quiet, tree lined neighborhoods. Even on a hot day, this wouldn't be bad with all of trees that protect you from the sun.

While running through Cheesman Park, I met another Katie. I was wearing my purple TNT singlet and she asked me how Team in Training was going. Turned out that Katie was a former coach of the New York chapter. She obviously could have run much faster, but opted to spend the rest of the run with me. We chatted about the New York city marathon, triathlons(She has completed an iron man event(2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride and a 26.2 mile run). She gave me some tips on nutrition and a supplement that is supposed to help you sleep better. She was appalled when I told her how little I am able to sleep. She said there is no way my muscles can repair themselves with so little rest.

Laura-You will very interested to hear this. Katie is friends with Darra Torres. She says she is absolutely not cheating. Cut the volume of training by 50%, sleeps more, and has a trainer stretch her two hours a day.

I was so glad that Katie struck up a conversation with me. I knew after the first three miles that my time goal for the day was a fantasy. I had nothing in my legs. Guess I was still tired from my long run on Saturday. It was nice to be able to let go of the outcome and just enjoy the beautiful day and the good company.

Thanks Katie's. I enjoyed running and getting a chance to talk with you.

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