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6A Daily News – Tuesday, April 10, 2012 Vitalityfitness health & Take the first step to becoming a runner MCT photo Running partners Tere Gathright, left, and Annie Schroeder meet for a running training session. KANSAS CITY, Mo. (MCT) — Birthdays are motiva- tors. Last March, Tere Gathright was staring at 32. She had an unkind thought about herself. "I'm overweight and bored," the thought went. "I need a hobby. What better birthday present than to do something for me?" 5-year-old. As much as she loved her daughters, the "some- thing" she had in mind would not involve small children tugging at her. She was intrigued by a flier she had seen about a six-week, walk-run training program. The Merriam, Kan., woman had exercised and dieted off She glanced back and forth between her 1-year-old and and on but never stuck with anything. She tried to recruit friends to join her in the training session but had no takers. She went anyway. This story doesn't end with Gathright transformed into an ultra-marathoner, at least not yet. But she finished the six-week session and alternately walked and ran through her first race, the Mother's Day 5K at Corporate Woods in Overland Park, Kan. Now she runs that three-mile distance several times a week, with longer runs on Saturdays. Plus, she has lost 20 pounds. er ran her first half-marathon, about 13 miles, last October. "It's amazing how much emotion comes out at the finish line," said Schroeder, who admitted she cried and hugged folks she barely knew. "Big hugs," she said. "It was a blast." Kelly Pfannenstiel, past president of KC Express, which hosts the Mother's Day 5K, said its relatively simple goal of the 5K has launched many a runner, and for good reasons. Some runners get fit with that distance and stick with it. Others want to try for 10Ks and beyond. about anyone, any age, any weight. That's actually how I got into running." And finding a person to run with can make a big differ- ence. "It's an ideal distance," she said. "It's doable for just TRAIN FOR A5K ity McDowell, author with Sarah Bowen Shea of the just- published "Train Like a Mother." "I think they're as impor- tant as a supportive sports bra and a good pair of shoes." Three chief reasons: accountability, companionship and encouragement. "If you know your running friend is waiting on the cor- "We call them BRFs, best running friends," agreed Dim- Plus, she found Annie Schroeder. Schroeder was 21, single and with no children, and she had been diagnosed with fibromyalgia a year earlier. The two were not in the same place in life. Doctors had advised Schroeder to steer clear of exercise that would aggravate her joints. She already had had surgery on both ankles. But the restriction didn't sit well with her. "I was sick of people telling me, 'You can't.'" So Schroeder joined weekly group runs with KC Express, a women's running and walking group, and fell into pace with Gathright, fresh off her Mother's Day Run success. They struck up conversations during longer runs — they ner, you're going to get out of bed for that run," said McDowell, who lives in Denver. "Running provides that time for you to complain, to gossip, to catch up. You come home feeling so much better." and lows, and you will appreciate someone saying, "you got this" and "just a rough patch." Whether it's three miles or 26, she said, there are highs both liked to bake, Schroeder was a nanny and preschool teacher — that led to a running partnership and a new friendship. "You're three miles out and have to run three miles back, and you feel like you can't take another step," Gathright said, recalling those early days. "It was a lot of fun trying to keep each other motivated." Gathright ran her first 10K last September, and Schroed- The accomplishment of gearing up for and completing a race shouldn't be downplayed, McDowell said. So few things in life are black and white: Where's the finish line, she said, when it comes to laundry or keeping the house clean or, much of the time, at the workplace? "A race is really crisp," McDowell said. "When you cross that finish line, you've done it. And it's so achievable." Schroeder is now busy launching a baking business called Divine Desserts. Far from worsening her health symptoms, "running is what's keeping me going." For Gathright, who wasn't sure she could juggle family and a "hobby," running is now part of the family dynamics. Her husband starting running in November, and her girls seem to sense when Mom has missed a workout: "They'll say, 'Are you going for a run?' And I'll say, 'I guess I better.' "You start out just wanting to do 'something,' and amaz- ing things happen." 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Suggested training schedules for the UMKC School of Medicine 5K, a Hospital Hill Run event on June 2, are at hospitalhillrun.com. The Runner's Edge offers programs with coach Eladio Valdez III. Go to run- nersedgekc.com. Not a joiner? Here's a training plan sug- gested by KC Express, a running and walking club for women. With this schedule, women who participate in the Mother's Day 5K, a women-only event, could be ready in six weeks to run more than 75 percent of the race. Each week, perform the exercise on Days 1, 3 and 5. Have one complete rest day. The other two days can be rest days or, even better, days with other types of workouts. Week 1:Walk 30 minutes. Week 2: Run 30 seconds, walk 90 seconds. Repeat If you're new to running, best to ease into it. Start by 20 times. Week 3: Run 60 seconds, walk 60 seconds. Repeat 15 times. Week 4: Run 90 seconds, walk 90 seconds. Repeat 10 times. Week 5: Run two minutes, walk one minute. Repeat six times. 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