American Legion member in Maine using annual challenge to get back in shape and run marathons again.
American Legion member Catharine Audette’s relationship with running has transformed since morning PT in the U.S. Army.
“I used to hate it because I couldn't keep up with the group,” Audette said. She began running recreationally for fitness during a deployment. “Once I started doing it on my own, and I started getting faster and was able to keep up with the guys at work, I enjoyed it a lot more.”
In the Army post exchange, she spotted a magazine devoted to marathon running. She said she grabbed it, found a training plan and ran her first marathon about six months after her deployment. Then she ran several more.
She retired from the Army in 2020. Since then, her running’s been sporadic.
As Audette was assembling the newsletter for her American Legion post, Alfred W. Maxwell Jr. Post 40 in Winthrop, Maine, she came across 100 Miles for Hope, a fitness/wellness event in which participants log 100 miles by Labor Day as they fundraise for The American Legion Veterans & Children Foundation. All proceeds from registrations and donations go directly to supporting disabled veterans and military families. (Learn more and register for the third annual challenge here.) It’s motivated her to return to running.
She’s begun a 24-week couch to marathon plan. She has begun logging miles in Winthrop in a one-mile loop around the lake she lives near, which passes Post 40. She said once she builds to longer runs, she’ll look for trails, which she prefers to roads.
Three weeks in, she said her joints and back are aching.
“Once I get back into it, I think I'll enjoy it a lot more. I still definitely enjoy it more than I did seven years ago,” she said.
Plus, with the benefit of experience, Audette knows it gets easier.
“The more I ran, the easier it got. And the more I wanted to do it,” she said.
But the obstacle to running isn’t pain, or even Maine’s cold, icy weather.
“The biggest challenge is just getting out there.”
Audette juggles on-call work with earning her master’s in fine arts in drawing. Her schedule isn’t always routine.
Now, she can choose what time to run and fit it into her schedule, which is part of the appeal.
“Because of the 20 years in the Army where I had to wake up and be out running at 5, 6 o'clock in the morning —depending on what job I had, now, I don't really like running in the morning,” she said. “Unless it's for a race — I'll get up and go to a race.”
She placed third in her age group at the first race she attended.
“And then I got kind of addicted to it,” she said.
To keep her motivation and pace, races are part of Audette’s strategy. She’s doing a 5K at the local high school, and is looking for a September marathon to cap off her training. To keep herself accountable, she tracks miles with a friend, a fellow veteran and runner who’s donated to her campaign.
As Audette builds muscle, miles and confidence, she anticipates enjoyment beyond race day.
“My favorite distance is 10 miles just because it's long enough to feel it, but it's not so long that I get bored,” Audette said. “I'm looking forward to being on the road or on the trail for two hours, just getting rid of everything else that's going on in my life and just running: the escape. I look forward to the escape.”
- 100 Miles