Reluctant runner

We had a great Sunday today. Over lunch Race and I discussed going for a run this afternoon. Since we spend so much time apart, we both tend to get a little rusty on reading each others ques when we get back together.

You know…those little unspoken matrimonial nudges that one develops after being married for some time. So I didn’t pick it up. It slipped right past me.

I really didn’t think that a run today was very likely, since our Sundays are usually sort of lazy days spent at church and then tying up loose ends of the prior week and preparing things for the one to come. But as I said….we’re a little rusty . So I quickly quipped that I would love to run with him, but I didn’t know if he would be able handle the embarrassment when I left him in the dust.

He smiled.

I think that he secretly thinks that this is cute. As in…..”Awwww….isn’t that cute? Look at her try.”

So you can imagine my surprise when, just as I was settling in with a cup of coffee and my laptop, Race says, ‘So, when do you want to go for a run?” (gulp)

I tried the usual stall and run around tactics. But he was changing his clothes and grabbing his shoes. There was no avoiding it.

There is a fundamental difference between my husband and myself when it comes to running. For me, it’s simple: I eat. Therefore I run. That is all. If running 30 min. 3 times a week, will allow me to eat a normal diet without the worry of ballooning up, unexpectedly to sumo-wrestler size…so be it. 30 minutes it is.

But with JBA there is a complexity that I simply cannot comprehend. He runs with drive and ambition. He runs against himself. He is always looking for something more challenging, a way to beat his own personal time, etc.

This is like speaking Chinese to me. I mean…you know….I like where his heads’ at……but….my thought process just doesn’t GO that way. ;-)

So we had to run through the logging trail near our house that I have nicknamed “Hell”.(Not very original, I know) Oh. My. Gosh. Why would anyone CHOOSE to run this thing???? I took pictures so that you could see what it looks like. I was determined to keep up, and I did a pretty good job. Did you see the creek at the bottom of the first hill?

Well, our deal is this: If I keep up, and we get to the creek, I hop on his back and he carries me across. If I fall behind, I have to slush through the icy creek on my own. I’m happy to say that my shoes are dry.

So we were finished and I was feeling pretty darn good about my performance today. I tried not to think about the fact that I was carried across the creek twice or that I felt like I was coughing up a lung, and just focused on the fact that I had really kept up on the hills. JBA was standing at the end of our run telling me what a good job I had done, and pulling off his running shoes and ringing the creek water out of his socks. I was having trouble walking and gasping for air, but feeling very accomplished. It was right about this point that he put his shoes back on and said, “O.K. I’m gonna go again. I’m gonna try and beat my time.” And off he went. And of course, he did.

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Cheers!

Melissa