My Wife, the Turtle

At her "request" in her comment to my last post I had to throw this post up for my wife. In an effort to support my wife in her recent running efforts I suggested an idea to her. I said that I would love to go on a run around the neighborhood with her. I have mapped out several 1.4 to 1.7 mile courses just running around our neck of the woods. I told her that I felt that the kids could behave themselves for 20 minutes and in the event of an emergency I could be home in far less than 10 minutes from anywhere we might be on our run. I told her that I could carry her cell phone and that we could pre-dial the number from our home phone so the kids would only have to hit the redial to get us. We have done this same practice when she goes shopping and I am on the roof cleaning our gutters. After some initial hesitation, she agreed to give it a try.

We decided to take the shortest loop on our first run that is only 1.39 miles to the kids school and back. I told her to go her own pace, and I would jog along for moral support and conversation. I wore my hydration belt so she could have water when she needed it. Although it was warm, it was not unbearable at around 80 degrees or so. She would run for several minutes and then walk/drink every so often. She had tried to say, while arguing why the plan wouldn’t work, that I would be walking along side of her running but I assure you that I couldn’t have kept up just trying to walk the whole way.

Our neighborhood is somewhat hilly but I was quite impressed that she chose to run up the hills. I don’t remember a single significant hill she walked up. We completed the loop and reached home in 19:40 or 14:09 / mile pace including the walking and running – never stopping. This was the fastest pace Jamie has gone since getting her new shoes and when you consider the hills and that the other ones also included full stops and breaks not included in her time, it is extra impressive. For the record, that is fast enough that if she were running a 5k and me a 10k, she would still finish first… I know there were several runners at my last race who couldn’t make that claim.

The run was extra fun for me as well. I did most of the talking but I enjoyed the conversation that I rarely get on my solo runs. The run also functioned as an EXCELLENT warm-up run for me as I went back out for another 3.73 miles that I ran at a pace much faster than I had run for several weeks in training. I rarely get the luxury of a separate warm-up run.

I am sad to report that she is having some shin pain after that run that she didn’t have with her home treadmill runs. I hope she didn’t push too hard because she felt pressure from my presence at her side. I guess some breaks for stretching are needed if I can talk her into doing it again. She may not realize it but her 4.4 miles so far are actually a big motivation for me as I see her try to find joy in my hobby. I wonder if she gets the same emotion watching me play with her stamps at Christmas time or helping her frost a cake?

She may have suggested the title to this post but if I’m the hare, EVERYONE knows the end of that story…