As I've confessed before, I'm married to a much more serious ultra-distance runner. This means that I've previously been drawn into running. Way back in the early-I'll-do-anything-for-you-because-I'm-giddy-in-love stage of our relationship, I ran a Halloween 5k with him and another good friend of mine who is a marathoner. The fun part was that is was held at night, and we got to wear costumes (oh, I do love a good costume). The crappy part was the running. I was fit and had done some training, but I was really unprepared for the hills. While on one of the hills toward the end of the race, I clearly remember looking over at my future husband and friend who were calmly talking and laughing as if they were on a Sunday stroll and feeling a strange mixture of confusion and annoyance as I struggled to keep breathing.
After that experience, I've had few other runs with longer mileage. I slowly (~13 minute mile pace) jogged a 10k last year after someone gave me their entry for free despite doing very little training (did I mention it was free?), and I've helped pace my husband during a 50k by running a 6 mile stretch with him. In the meantime, my hubby has fantasies about the two of us leaving the kids with someone and taking off to do our long runs every weekend. Reality is quite different though. When I'm not at home with two kids, I'm a full-time 6th grade science teacher. When I do get time off, running usually is not at the top of the to-do list.
Suffice to say that since our little club has blossomed and running has become more routine for me, my husband has been very excited. He's been nothing but super supportive of me and my friends. He's made it easy to leave the kids and go for a run whenever I can. He is also (whether he knows it or not) the mentor of our little group. Everything I know about running that I've passed onto the girls has come from listening to him (yes, I actually listen to him...perhaps that will work in reverse someday?).
He is also into our blog and has been very helpful with a lot of technical and design stuff. Today however, he has actually sent me content for the blog. So, consider this a guest post from him.
May I present the 101 Greatest Training Tips of All Time (according to MensHealth, that is). Obviously, the editors left out a few, so I've provided the missing tips below. Happy Training!
102. Make sure you have plenty of wine on hand
103. Make sure you have plenty of cheese on hand
104. Make sure you have a way to whine that doesn't annoy everyone around you
105. Make sure you have some fun friends to drink, eat, and run with or else tips 102-104 won't be nearly as enjoyable
No comments:
Post a Comment