Running My Race

Hello!  It has been so long since we've talked.  So...how have you been?  It seems amazing to me that I haven't written since May and yet somehow it seems natural.  Not that I wouldn't be writing, but that I have been so busy with family and summer and all that goes with it that I haven't had a minute to even think about it.  Forgive me.  If you follow me on Facebook, I'm sorry.  I'm really bad at social media as it turns out.  There are so many authors and public figures that have that whole thing down and I envy them.  I am not one of them.  Here is what you've missed.

About two weeks ago my husband and I started going to a bible study/exercise thing at church called Run for God.  Now I should preface this by saying that I don't run.  Not only do I not run I have never ran.  I was never an athlete of any sort.  I wasn't even a mathlete.  I have never been anything that ends with thlete.  So you would be correct in assuming that this was not my idea.  Love makes you do crazy things.

My husband needed motivation and accountability.  Both are things that we all probably need a bit of.  When this opportunity at church came up he decided this was just what "we" needed.   My husband played sports in school.  He was an athlete and he is also very good at math although I don't think he was a mathlete.  He also stands for hours at a time for his job so his legs are in far better shape than mine are.  I rather enjoy my couch.

The plan is this.  We have about 45 minutes of bible study time and then we get outside and walk/run.  This week was a five minute warm up followed by 60 second run then 90 second walk over and over and over again ending with a five minute cool down.  All this lasts for a total of 30 minutes.

On Monday, we had class then hit the streets for our walk run.  I am very good at walking.  Why I venture to say I could walk for a good while.  We had had some rain earlier and there was some moisture and small puddles in the road.  By the second or third round of run I was contemplating licking the water from the road.  I was also pretty sure that I didn't have muscles where I was hurting and this was a problem.  My head hurt, my legs hurt, my groin hurt, and I was concerned with the whole breathing problem I was having.  Breathing was becoming a problem.

My husband said I didn't need to breathe in I needed to breathe out.  I was using my reserve air.  I had plenty of air.  I think he was high on adrenaline.  I was pretty sure I didn't have any reserve air.  I couldn't get enough air and I was glistening so much it was looking like true sweat.  I don't sweat.  I didn't even think I  had sweat glands.  I kept wondering if I passed out which hospital they would take me to and if they would give me an ice cream sundae and tell me everything would be ok.  Then I remembered I can't eat dairy anymore and wondered if they would give me a gluten free cupcake and tell me everything would be ok.  I was definitely not feeling ok.

On Tuesday we walked, on Wednesday we did another walk/run in our neighborhood.  On Wednesday I informed him I loved him and that I didn't necessarily think he was my best friend anymore.  He smiled and told me to think about how hot I was going to look on the beach next time we go to Florida.  My run looks like a bouncy shuffle and it's so slow a turtle could lap me.  But I did it because love makes you do crazy things.

I have no goal.  I am supposed to have a goal in mind.  I suppose it helps those who truly want to become runners.  My dream is not to run and complete a 5k.  I suppose if I were to pick a goal for this experience it would be to help my beloved to reach HIS goal.  He wants to be able to run a 5k.  He wants to be stronger and healthier and I want those things too, I just wouldn't choose running as my means of getting there.  But I DO want to help him with his goals and his dreams because I love him.  He is the supporter of all of our dreams and he is also my best friend.  Whether I get frustrated that I can't keep up with him or not, he is "the cheese to my macaroni."  (10 points if you get the reference.)  

So I guess I'm running my race while helping him run his race.  When you love someone you sometimes do crazy things.  The more I think about it, maybe this is good for me too.  I get time with him, I get time with God, and I get time to figure out me.  I guess even when we aren't runners, we still have our own race to run.