GETTING READY
During her eight months of training, Katie Macey took advantage of local running events, too:

   The 5K Run for ONE Organization from Plattsburgh State.

   The 1-mile Nun Run in Ticonderoga.

   The Fun Runs at the Cadyville Recreation Park.

   The Montcalm Mile in Ticonderoga, a one-mile downhill race.

   Run for John in Peru.

Katie Macey nearly fell into her boyfriend's arms.

"Then I started hyperventilating," she said. "It wasn't that I couldn't breathe so much as it was just the emotional reaction to being finished."

Just seconds before, the Ticonderoga woman, 22, had pushed through her first half-marathon, a run of 13.1 miles.

Macey is one of the North Country region's many avid runners; the Press-Republican followed in her quest from casual running to competitor.

FEBRUARY
For Macey, running hadn't even really become a hobby until the summer after her freshman year in college.

Then, in early 2009, a friend invited her to run a September half-marathon.

"I just looked up the info on the marathon and I swear I just got butterflies in my stomach," Macey said. "Official training would probably start 12 weeks prior to the race, but I am attempting to put runs in now and then to build up my mileage before then."

"So, usually, according to running guides and what-not, you're supposed to take a day off each (week). I have this crazy need to run every day when I train," Macey said.

MARCH
Her first obstacle was the frigid and fickle weather of March.

"Looks can be deceiving," Macey said of March 3. "Yes, today looks pleasant enough, but it's cold, and I mean c-o-l-d! I am so ready for the snow to stop coming and melt. I haven't run since Friday!"

Up until then, though, she felt her workouts had been evolving at a steady pace.

"I have been slowly developing my routes that I enjoy running — that also helps me improve time on the same route," she said. "But this cold weather and me getting sick is not helping. I do hear tomorrow is supposed to be decent, so if I'm not feeling the grips of death in my throat then I will hopefully get a run in."

And she had some motivation.

"I just got a shirt that is totally a nerd running shirt," Macey said. "It says, 'A 1/2 Marathon is Just a 5K with a 10-mile Warm-up."'

It wasn't until the end of the month that her training picked up.

"I ran 7.1 miles on Wednesday, and it was great. I did 5.6 yesterday and am hoping for another seven today," Macey reported.

APRIL
"I ran to my (parents') house today. From my apartment. Ouch," Macey said.

"It's about 9.65 miles. And whoa, my legs are tired. When I got to Staley (Avenue) — the road right before mine, so within about a mile of my house and destination — I did have to stop and walk a few times, notably on a hill from hell.

"But, yay! I did it!"

This was the first time Macey had ever run such a long distance, and she paid the price.

"My legs are so sore," she said, laughing. "Walking takes some effort."

She'd run the distance in 1 hour 23 minutes.

"Every minute counts," she said. "I had running music going, of course. Music is half the reason I'm able to run."

That long run left Macey with a knee injury.

"I'm not exactly the smartest runner in practice," she said. "So I originally planned to run despite the stupid pain my stupid left knee was causing, but my friend Brian convinced me to ice it and take a day or two off."

MAY
"My knee isn't nearly as bad (more of an occasional twinge than constant pain), and my left foot was throbbing with tendon pain for a week or so, so that cut into my running a lot," Macey said. "That, and I've been rather unmotivated lately, which is a downer in itself. But, I've managed to maintain at least five miles when I do run, which I've been doing almost every other day.

"Last week, I ran five miles in 40 minutes, which is pretty awesome."

This month, Macey moved to Ticonderoga, a whole new place to run.

"In (the City of) Plattburgh, you can turn a seven-mile run into a three-mile just by turning a corner and now you're going back," Macey said. "In (Ti), you go out that far, you have to go back that far."

JUNE
"Ti is also very hilly, which makes 20 minutes much more painful than it should be," Macey said. "I mean really hilly."

She started grooming her boyfriend, Mike Reale, as a running partner.

"I've been doing about 20 minutes every other day, and like two days in a row then a day off," said Macey. "The shorter time is because Mike has been running with me and has much less running experience, distance-wise anyway, so I'm trying not to kill him with running."

At the mile "Nun Run" that benefits St. Mary's School in Ticonderoga, Macey took first place in her age group.

By June 21, her knee was finally feeling better.

JULY
"Hot weather, plus running, plus me equals 'no thank you,'" Macey laughed. "Basically, my motivation to run goes down as the temperature and humidity go up."

But as the month progressed, Macey continued to mix up her training, running an average of 6.3 miles at a time.

The summer was wet but training continued.

"So I "¦ went for a run in a thunderstorm," Macey said. "It was a lull between the downpour and the thunder so I went thinking I'd be safe."

Twenty-five minutes in, she heard a rumble.

"I was about a mile from my apartment and decided to cut the run short. About three-quarters of a mile to go and it downpours," Macey said.

"I basically sprinted the last of my run through the downpour and thunder and I'm pretty sure an old guy shouted, 'You go, girl,' as I ran past a meat market."

Macey's new job presented another challenge.

"I'm still struggling in a losing battle to run in the morning before work, but I'm determined to do it more than once a week, and it's been hot and humid," she said.

Still, her average run was six miles.

"I'm not gonna lie, I'm really nervous about how my mileage is going," she said. "It's a bit harder because I don't have anyone to run with or train with, so when I'm having an off day there's no one really to pick me up and keep me going."

AUGUST
"So after successfully getting up and running 6.65 miles, I slept the rest of the week and failed miserably at being a good runner," Macey said Aug. 3.

Sometimes failure is a catalyst, though. She made herself get up early and get out on the road.

"Not only did I run, I ran 10.2 miles. Without stopping. At all," she emphasized.

Not only was it her personal best, she said, "that's 2.9 miles away from a half-marathon. Needless to say, I'm a bit happy about that."

SEPTEMBER
Two days before the race, another circumstance looked like it might shake Macey's determination.

"I just found out my friend isn't going to be able to run with me," she said. "I'm more nervous now."

A coach once said that running is 90-percent mental, and she tried to focus on that.

"I have to talk myself through it," she said.

She could imagine how she'd feel should she fail to do her best.

"The disappointment of knowing I didn't do my best is a motivator. You don't want that disappointment. You've already gone there."

THE RACE
The North Elba Half Marathon was held Sept. 12. The unfamiliar terrain added to Macey's stress.

She knew there was a turn-around in the course where the leaders would be coming back toward her. It gave her a boost when that happened and the runners yelled encouragement to her.

At mile seven, she walked for about two minutes, and then a woman came up behind her.

"She was like, 'No. You can do it. Run with me,'" Macey recalled.

They ran together until mile nine, when Macey stopped to walk again.

"I was like, 'Oh, God, I've run nine miles, and I have four miles to go,'" she said.

Here, another runner bolstered her up.

"I swear, she was an angel," Macey said.

The woman gave her Gatorade and a sugar gel, telling her she should carry liquids with her.

"This is my first one," Macey gasped. "I didn't know."

At mile 11, her feet slowed to a walk again.

"I thought, oh, sure Katie, you couldn't even make it to mile 11," she said. "Then I was like, "Oh."

There in front of her was the marker for 11 miles.

It turned out to be a good thing, her move to Ticonderoga. Training on hills there prepared her for the terrain in North Elba.

Even running alone most of the time proved of value, since that's how she took on the half-marathon.

At two hours, seven minutes and four seconds, Macey crossed the finish line.

She'd made it.

And talks about doing another race in the spring.

"My dad keeps teasing me," Macey said.

"'You're running a half-marathon. When are you going to run the other half?'"