Kathy Roberts knows all about overcoming adversity.
She was in the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001, when the plane hit, and the record-setting powerlifter had to run up the stairs from the basement in high heels to escape the building. She managed to get out but realized soon afterward that she had a serious lower lumbar strain in her lower back.
"It was very, very difficult because I remember not being able to get out of bed," said Roberts, who was getting physical therapy for over nine months.
After her injury, Roberts — who has set state, regional, national and world records in 10 years of powerlifting — couldn't lift even 45 pounds. She knew that she had to be patient, because if she rushed back into lifting heavier weights, the injury wouldn't heal. Now she is looking forward to returning to competing soon.
"I'm a fighter," Roberts said. "It was very frustrating at the time that I could hardly crawl out of bed, but with a lot of family support, I was able to overcome it."
Roberts' emotional as well as physical strength is what prompted author Julia DeVillers to ask her to write a chapter on physical fitness in her book "GirlWise: How to be Confident, Capable, Cool and in Control," from Prima Publishing. The book covers a wide variety of topics, from fashion to friendship to college, for teen-age girls. Roberts' chapter, "Be Stronger," suggests that teen-age girls start working out with free weights, eat healthy and play some kind of sport. She also challenges the fear that many girls have of becoming big and bulky through lifting weights.
"Going to the gym doesn't necessarily mean you're going to be big - just fit," Roberts said.
DeVillers first got the idea for the book while writing another book for teen-age girls, "Teen Girlfriends," about friendship. She noticed that many of the 150 girls she interviewed also had questions about college recommendations, job interviews and other issues that are important to teen-age girls.
"I thought it would be great if there was a book to answer their questions," Devillers said.
DEVILLERS FOUND OUT about Roberts when she did an Internet search for power lifters and personal trainers and came across her Web site, www.giftofstrength.com.
"I was looking for people who would be good role models for girls, and not just traditional ones," DeVillers said.
Another thing that DeVillers liked about Roberts is the fact that she's a lifetime drug-free champion, meaning she never has, and never will, use steroids or other performance-enhancing drugs. This is the message she stresses on her Web site and in her motivational speeches, which she has given at schools, correctional facilities, detention centers and probation houses. Roberts welcomed the opportunity to write a chapter of "GirlWise" and spread her message to a larger audience.
"I thought [GirlWise] was a great opportunity ... to spread the word to teens," Roberts said. "I believe that if you're in the public eye, you need to take responsibility and be a good role model."
ROBERTS' FATHER DIED when she was young, leaving her mother to raise 10 children. She played tennis for the U.S. Tennis Association (USTA) in high school. She wanted to turn pro but didn't have the money to travel. In high school she also ran track and started lifting weights. She placed second in her first competition and won a national competition in her weight category after only a year of training. She also started to set state, regional and national records.
Roberts started out doing body-building competitions, in which the competitor has a certain amount of time to pose with music and is judged on his or her physique. She switched to powerlifting because it focused more on strength. In powerlifting competitions, competitors have three tries to lift weights in three different categories — the squat, the bench and the dead lift — and are judged on both their success in lifting and their technique.
Roberts is still ranked among the top 20 in the country, despite not using steroids and competing against people who do. Although the competitions say that no performance-enhancing drugs are allowed, there is no strict drug policy. Many times, Roberts said, competitors can get away with using steroids if they know one of the judges, or they won't be checked for steroids to begin with. Some competitions have "drug-free" categories, which means the person has not used performance enhancers for a year or two, but it doesn't mean that the people competing in these categories have never used steroids. Roberts has also seen people selling and using steroids in the bathroom at competitions.
"I really never felt threatened or intimidated [by other people using steroids], because I knew they were cheating," Roberts said. "Placing second to them wasn't a big deal, because in my mind I was first."
According to Roberts, steroid use is a problem in girls as well, and some parents even encourage their children to use steroids. She also said that some people still believe that women shouldn't be lifting weights, an assumption she challenges in her chapter of "GirlWise."
Roberts receives e-mails from people from all over the country who admire her drug-free stance or who are asking for advice. Many people write about how they see people using steroids all the time and are encouraged by her, or write to her about family or alcohol or drug problems. Roberts tries to answer every e-mail she gets, and many people who write to her, she said, are surprised when they actually get a response.
"I get a great pleasure in reaching out to people," Roberts said. "I feel like I've touched people all around the world ... not just in physical fitness but in life in general."