The Real Kait

Here is my  latest blog entry for the Dirty Girl Mud Run!  Follow Go Dirty Girl on Facebook or Twitter @GoDirtyGirl

I’ve always been a bit of a loner… Even when I was a kid I liked playing alone, reading alone, studying alone, so it’s no surprise that running is no exception; I like running alone.   The state of zen that can be reached when it’s just me and the mountain trail is just incredible.  I think of it as the “lone wolf” mentality, where I am strong enough on my own to create my own destiny.

But sometimes my own personal motivation is not enough to get me up the next hill or through the next mile.  No one is watching, so why not stop?  That’s when I’m thankful to have a team, even just a team of my little sister, for the Dirty Girl Mud Run.

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It was a cold October morning last year when I ran my first 5K with a team.  My sorority sister had started a team in honor of her mother for the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, so my sisters and I ran with her.  We had girls of all fitness levels, some walked, some ran, but we had one common bond: we were in it to finish together.  As each of us crossed the finish line, we were welcomed with hugs and smiles, making some of hardest miles, between the frigid air and the untied shoelaces, all worth it.

Sometimes others know you better than you know yourself and that is especially true when knowing of what you are capable.  Sometimes, someone else can see a fire in you that you are too tired or preoccupied by your aching muscles and heavy breathing to see anymore.  If someone is by your side, and you by theirs, one little word of encouragement goes such a long way.

It is always a fight to cross the finish line… When your body wants to give up and your head agrees wholeheartedly, your team can always fan the internal flame that helps push you one more mile, one more obstacle, one more step.  Bring a group of fierce women together and you have one hell of a powerful wolf pack to conquer anything they set their mind to.

And you know what else?  Nothing brings people, especially Dirty Girls, together like shared experiences.

Read about my first 5K experience with the Race for the Cure at Run Away Pain – Lenovo University of Bloggers

Photo of part of the team on Race Day!