Fittest Loser writer finishes 'the run of my life'

It's like exercising in the shower — except I'm not naked or alone. Hundreds of people are sharing this particular joy with me.

Mascara runs down my face. My shoes and socks are drenched from running through puddles. I'm worried about tripping over my legs and eating the pavement. At the same time, running in the rain sure makes you feel much more hard-core than running in the sunshine.

My trainer, Joshua Steckler, owner of Push Fitness in Schaumburg, glides effortlessly next to me. We're running the 5K DuPage Human Race at The Esplanade at Locust Point in Downers Grove. We're not even halfway through it and my legs are already on fire.

They're screaming at me to slow down to a walk. My trainer is doing the opposite.

“Don't stop … just float down the hill because when we turn the corner, we will be going uphill,” Josh says to me.

I look at him and wonder how difficult it would be to fake a heart attack.

After careful consideration, I decide against it. He probably knows CPR. So, I focus on my breathing. I inhale through the nose; exhale through the mouth. To keep from slowing down, I play little mind games with myself — like pretending that zombies are chasing me and that an invisible hand just reached up from the ground to grab my ankles.

It's a no-go.

Apparently, I'm more concerned about the pain in my legs than the zombies. My body wants to slow down to a walk at all costs.

My mind is telling me: “You can do this. Keep moving. Don't stop.” Meanwhile, my legs are complaining profanely. They'd probably kick me if they could.

I glance over at my trainer. He's still gliding effortlessly over the pavement — and moving at a much faster pace than me. This stresses me out. I need to slow him down, even if it's for just a few seconds.

“Hey Josh, is my makeup running?” I shout to him.

I'm hoping he'll slow down, turn back to look at me and slow his pace.

Not a chance.

Without even throwing a glance in my direction, he keeps running and irritably yells back at me to keep going — throwing an impure word into the sentence to get his point across.

My diversion failed. Running out of ideas, I suck it up and try to convince my legs to keep running. So we run up and down another hill. But just as my legs are beginning to give out, I hear a familiar voice behind me.

Now I never thought that I'd be the type of person that would feel competitive against other runners. Up to this point, the true competition was against the voices in my head that wanted me to slow down to a walk. My personal goal was to complete the race in under 38 minutes.

But it all changed when I heard that familiar voice behind me.

It was Steve Amsden, another personal trainer at Push Fitness, who happened to be running alongside Fittest Loser contestant Deanna Bec. As I tune into their conversation, I realize he's telling her that it looks like I'm getting tired — and that they will outrun me.

Suddenly, I find some freakish competitive streak inside me that I didn't even know I had it. I order my legs to run faster. To my surprise, they obey.

This turns out to be another little game we play throughout the course of the race. Every time Steve and Deanna start catching up, I run faster.

My trainer picks up on this as well. In fact, he occasionally tells me that they are right on our heels — even when they're not. When I glance back and realize they're not directly behind us and start to slow down, my trainer places his hand on my back and physically nudges me forward. This is how we dance for the remainder of the race.

As I see the finish line, I reach deep inside myself and run as fast as I can — like a gazelle trying to outrun a lion. My heart feels like it's going to explode. But we make it to the finish line in 34 minutes and 30 seconds. I feel wonderful. I beat my goal by a few minutes. Not bad considering that I'm a smoker.

I never would have accomplished running at this pace if it wasn't the constant pushing from my trainer. Of course, at the end of the race, I also thank Steve Amsden for bringing out my competitive streak.

“I know. I should have kept my mouth shut,” he replies, in good humor.

Overall, it was a great day. It would have been better if it didn't rain, but at least those who ran have bragging rights. It was definitely the run of my life. It had to be. I never ran any type of race before.

• Kat Zeman is a freelance journalist who ran a 5K race for the first time in her life and didn't die. She lives in Darien.

By the numbers

<span class="fact box text bold">Starting weight: </span>163 pounds

<span class="fact box text bold">Current weight: </span>154 pounds

<span class="fact box text bold">Total weight lost:</span> 9 pounds, 5.5 percent