Thank you, God, for this good life: Happy Birthday!

Today is Katie's 30th birthday, so this blog is for her. Whether you know her or not, this blog is worth sitting down and reading today - a letter from present Katie to past Katie.

I'm not quite sure she knows how much a positive influence she has been on me. Katie and I grew up together back in PA, although she was closer with my older sister and I pal'd around with her younger sister. We all went to the same church, but different high schools and as we all grew up, didn't really see too much of each other.

Seriously. We've known each other a long time.

Then, in the fall of 2008, we reconnected over Facebook and realized we both lived in Northern Virginia. She somehow convinced me to run the Jingle All the Way 10k with her, and being the sucker for Christmas that I am, I decided to go for it, having never run more than 3.1 miles in my life.

Our first race together - I survived!

I was a little nervous the first time I drove over to her house for a training run. I couldn't even remember the last time I'd seen her. Would it be awkward? Would it be 4 miles of silence? Would I be so slow that she would hate running with me and leave me to fend for myself on the Mt Vernon Trail? And how many freakin' Glebe roads are there???

Any nervousness disappeared right away, as she opened the door, while half hiding behind it, in her sports bra, half dancing back and forth and then running back to her room, yelling that she had to finish getting dressed. It was the beginning of a great friendship filled with karaoke, yelling at the TV during football season, ill-advised cheese and mimosas, long winter runs in the snow, weeknights spent on a military base - wanting to stay in the warm car instead of running sprints along the barracks, the quiet stillness as we ran past Arlington Cemetery, and lots and lots of miles.

Cherry Blossom Run - March 2009

I think I complained at the beginning of almost every run (especially early morning races). It became kind of a tradition. But by the end of whatever miles she was dragging me along for, I was so much happier. Even those 10.5 miles she lied to me for (knowing I'd never agree to more than 8), when I was so sore the next day I had to call out of work. Its still the longest I've ever run and far more than I ever thought I could do.

Evidence of the Infamous training run. DC has never looked so peaceful. All 10.5 miles of it.

Katie has the amazing ability to do that: to quietly (and sometimes loudly) push me farther than I ever thought I could go. We're 1,500 miles apart now, but she still influences me to do more, try a longer distance, set new goals, and even has me still toying with the idea of running a destination half marathon, if only so that we could run together in some new exciting city. And I'm still running - something I'd never thought I'd be able to do on my own for any great distance.