What Makes Kat Caverly Run?

Special Announcement: I am running my first half-marathon (13 miles) on April 25th. Remarkable considering that as of today my personal best is 500 feet! Yes I was pretty lame, almost literally.

As a child I had to learn to fight because I couldn’t run. I think it was just because I was so damn skinny; no muscle. So my wee muscles would fail and I would fall. Boom! Eventually I just stopped trying to run and I built up a prejudice against running.

For the past 26 years I have taken fitness very seriously; swimming, weight lifting, hatha yoga, Feldenkrais, boxing, pilates and I built some serious muscle! I like being strong and a couple of years ago I decided I needed to “train” for some athletics, some activity. I decided I wanted to learn to RUN.

I had the perfect excuse NOT to run; I have two herniated lumbar discs. A neurologist and my last trainer said I should not run. But something told me that I HAD to run (maybe because someone said I couldn’t). I had just moved to a new area and a friend’s sister-in-law was an elite athlete, and a perfected runner.

I started to meet her at the local track and learned how to jog and started walking. I built up to a 5 mile walk and can walk faster than some people run! But still I was worried about falling, so I never broke a jog up to 500 feet before: I was just not breathing enough to feed my muscles but I could continue to walk at a fast pace. Fear was holding me back not my body! My back never hurt from this but my core did get stronger and stronger.

Last week my now dear friend Kellee made a proposal: do the Shamrock Run on March 15 (2 miles) and the More Run in Central Park (13 miles) on April 25th. Her faith in me buoyed my confidence and I got the needed boost to get through my fear and past it into the best conditioning I have ever achieved. I am ready to start.

The goal is to arrive at each race uninjured, so I need to train smart and promote recovery from my training sessions. I am on my 55th trip around the sun, so recovery takes longer. But I am hoping that I can support my body in the following way:

1. hydration, 8 oz of water every hour awake, 16 oz of Cytomax 2 hours before training and during.

2. eat healthy, get lots of lean proteins, drink a Muscle Milk shake within 1 hour after workout, and another before bed.

3. supplement with extra Krill and Flaxseed oil, keep down inflammation

4. Sleep 8-10 hours a day, take naps

5. Train smart, take time to fully recover between trainings; stretching, balance, and core exercises daily to prevent injuries.

I am ready! I have enjoyed working through my demons and over-coming other things that kept me from doing anything. The running is as much emotional as it is physical and I will benefit by getting the best conditioning I have ever been in, ever and that is very exciting. I am also looking forward to the endorphin rush!

Do you have any advice and tips? Please comment below: