We met Katie during our ULA Bootcamp and Goal Setting event at U Village’s Athleta store earlier this year.  After a 30 minute sweat session, we encouraged individuals to reflect on a goal they have by applying our SUMMIT acronym.  In September, it was so exciting to see Katie back at our Stronger Together Bootcamp and learn that she had CONQUERED HER SUMMIT and that our workshop had helped.   We asked if she would be willing to share her story.  

Hello, I'm Katie and this is how I have conquered my summit.
 
For a long time, I was plateauing with my workouts. My sister's wedding was coming up and I was not getting an effective workout at the gym, I just felt like I was doing the same thing over and over. I wasn't giving myself a proper workout.  
 
One random weekend in late February, my friend dragged me to Athleta to buy new workout clothes. As someone who was only exposed to limited workout clothes, I immediately wanted all the pants, tops, sports bras, etc. I noticed a sign that displayed workout events for March taught by various instructors in the Seattle area. I thought “sure, why not? I’ll sign up because I need to mix up my workout routine anyway.” 
 
My first class was bright and early in March at 8am on a Saturday for the “Sweat & Goal Set with Ula. Oh boy, that class was challenging. I was super sweaty, but I felt like I actually got a good workout. After the workout was done and we were cooling down, Ives and Christy started talking about goal setting. Christy told her story on training for a half marathon. She was very inspiring, how she couldn't just start running 13.1 miles. She needed to slowly progress to her goal (it's a summit after all, you need to train for it). When the class was over, I started thinking of what my own summit could be as running is not my jam. I knew I wanted a proper challenge, not just the "I want to get in shape for a wedding". Recently at the gym, I started swimming. I was inspired to swim because my mom swam 3 times a week after she had my sister and wanted to get in shape for her own sister’s wedding. Plus I love the water. I learned to swim before I could walk (per my mom). However, I would only do about 15 or 18 laps. Before I left the class, I decided my summit challenge would be to swim a mile.
 
A bit of background, 1 lap is going back and forth across the pool (25 yards each way). I was told I had to do 36 laps to get to that mile. Currently, I was already swimming half a mile so I had a good start. My typical routine is 1 lap of freestyle, 1 lap back stroke and 1 lap breast stroke. Once I completed those 3 moves, I was finished with 1 round. Each new month, I would add an extra round. Thus, my goal to reach that mile would be August with an aim to swim 2-3 times a week (or really whenever I needed to wash my hair. If you’re going to take the time to shampoo and condition your hair, might as well get a good workout in). 
 
I never did swim in high school (I did dance team instead) so I was really challenging myself in completing this goal. Oh boy, was it a real challenge. There were times, I was mentally telling myself, “nah, just stop at 21 laps, you can make it up on the next swim.” Thank goodness for my accountability partner and I had to text her whenever I finished. I mentally overcame the block and continued to push myself. But remember, it’s ok to stop if you’re pushing yourself physically too hard. Over the next few months, I felt myself getting stronger and plus my breathing improved (bonus!). It got to the point where I started to adding in extra rounds before the following month hit. Before June, I was at 10 rounds (30 laps). One swim session, I decided to go for that 11th round. Once I completed it, I realized I had the energy to do 1 more. I successfully completed my mile goal a month and a half early and before my sister's wedding. It felt amazing to complete my goal, both physically and mentally. I knew at this point, anything was possible. 
 
Just because I conquered my summit, doesn't mean the journey is over. Some of the new summits I plan on conquering is to swim a mile in under an hour (currently at an hour and 5 min!), participate in the Park to park swim next August (swimming across Lake Washington) and perhaps do a triathlon (except I hate running so we'll see about that one).
 
I would like to thank Ula and Us for inspiring me to push myself. I would also like to thank Athleta for holding these amazing workout events. This community is strong and amazing and I'm glad to be apart of it. Finally, I want to thank my friends and family for being supportive and holding me accountable. I could not have done this without their encouragement.

In order to see big improvements, you have to put in big effort. 
 
I am a firm believer that you cannot just want or wish for something and expect it to be handed to you.  Making goals reality, no matter how big or small, takes effort.  Now, I also believe there are different types of effort.  So let me share a little bit about my marathon running history with you.  I am by no means an expert on the topic, but I have 3 years and 4 marathons of real life experience. 
 
I was never a “runner” or an “athlete,” but I have ALWAYS been stubborn and driven.  Running intimidated me, but one year into my running affair, I signed up and completed my first marathon –Rock n Roll Seattle in 2015.  It was more to prove to myself that I could train for and succeed at a race.  I will be honest, I had wanted to time qualify for the Boston Marathon (BQ) on my first race.  Probably not the most realistic goal for a first marathon, but that should give a lil insight into my personality.  I trained by running 2 days per week and cross-training with spin classes and HIIT classes.  I had fractured my ankle in 2012 and didn’t want to run “too much”. One of my running days was my long run, which increased each week by about 10-20% of the previous week’s mileage.  The other run day was usually anywhere between 3 and 8 miles.  I didn’t do a run taper and I didn’t really have anyone to train with so I had a lot of solo time.  I didn’t realize they had updated the Boston Marathon qualifying times and I thought I had for sure made the cut off based on my pace (3 hours 37 minutes 22 seconds).  I ended up missing the BQ by a little over 2 minutes!  I was devastated, sore, and hungry.  Literally, hungry from running 26.2 miles, but also hungry to sign up for another marathon and make my BQ dream a reality. 

​I took some time off running and signed up for the Wenatchee Marathon in 2016, which was a fairly flat and fast course.  Only downside is that this race is in April, which means the bulk of training is during cold, rainy Seattle winter (not V FUN).  I did not really learn my lesson and trained in a similar way, but with the encouragement of my husband and pup on the course I PR’d and made the Boston qualifying time by just under 3 minutes (3 hours 31 minutes 53 seconds)!  I don’t know if I was more excited when I BQ’d or when I actually found out that I was accepted to run the Boston Marathon in 2017.  BUCKET LIST!  Boston would be marathon number 3 and about 6 weeks before the race, I joined Club Seattle Runners Division (CSRD). 

​So logically, I signed up for marathon number 4 –California International Marathon (CIM) 2017 with her and I slowly integrated a bit more hill and sprint training, running 2-3 days a week instead of just 2. My two goals for this marathon: don’t get injured and help my friend BQ. I even told Christy the weeks leading up to the race to not let me hold her back. If I felt the old injury bothering me, she should keep reaching for her goals. You can read more about our race in her blog post, but spoiler alert: WE DID IT. Both of us ran our fastest marathons on this notoriously quick course (3 hours 27 minutes 57 seconds). After running Boston and racing with no pain at CIM, I decided that I wanted to run all 7 Major World Marathons by the time I turn 35. This led to signing up for Chicago Marathon 2018.

​I have decided to try something different for marathon number 5.  I could be wrong, but I know that I am ready to commit to a more runtensive (mileage intensive) training program.  Limting my running to twice weekly and augmenting my training with cycling classes works, but I also truly believe that I can race smarter and faster.  The train smarter part: I decided to focus on strength training more intensively the past 2 months to build more core and glute stability before logging extra miles.  I also started going to Tangelo Health 1-2 days per week a few months before training to prepare my body for the mileage it would be taking on.  I cannot say enough POSITIVE things about the team at Tangelo!  The train faster part:  I reached out to Ashley, former collegiate track star and badass group fitness instructor for help.  I wanted to ramp up the mileage gradually, integrate tempo runs/sprints/hills, and still be able to cross-train with weight lifting.  She created an amazing training guide for us.  She also shared some wisdom:  not to become obsessed with following the guide to a T.  LIFE HAPPENS.  If you can’t get the miles in on a particular day, adapt and add some more on another day.  I hope to keep you all updated on how this training cycle goes with blog posts along the way.  In the mean time, I encourage you to take a step closer to your next big goal.  TO THINK YES, NOT NO. 
 
 
XOXO,

​Ives