Appreciation

Running gave me a newfound appreciation for my husband. When I started my own training, I started to really understand exactly how hard he had worked to train for both of his marathons. I used to wonder why anyone would want to actually get up early, in the heat of summer or the cold of winter to get out and run for 2 hours, 3 hours, and then 4 hours. I thought maybe he was crazy. I certainly didn't think I would ever want to do it. I could run a 5K just fine, and that was good enough for me. Then I started training for the Turkey Trot, an 8 mile race, because he asked me to run it with him. I didn't love running or the training it took to get me to that race. I thought I would race with him and go back to the occasional 5K. But something changed for me during those 8 miles. He knew how difficult it was for me to run those miles, probably because he could still remember his own early distances, and he encouraged me every step of the way. We ran together, each pushing one of our two children in the jogging stroller, and he motivated me the entire time. And I ran so very, very slow, looking back I can't fathom how he could have made himself run such a painfully slow pace. But he did it for me, because he wanted us to start together and finish together. He knew what it would mean for me to cross the finish line having run the entire time. I worked around an injury off and on after that race, and slowly throughout the spring worked on running longer and longer on the long run. And the day I ran 6 miles, he told me I was almot halfway to a Half Marathon and I should give it a shot. Somewhere along the course of training for that half I really started to understand the drive, passion and dedication it took for him to run two marathons. And I started to see him in a new and different light. Not just as my husband, but as an athelete, an individual and an achiever. Again this week I was able to see him in yet another way, as I started my own involvement in swimming, again with his encouragement. Talking with him about how his first class went, and knowing he struggled just as much as I did on my first day was comforting. Because I was able to see him glide effortlessly through the water yesterday, and know that he started where I am. It helps me know that I can work at it too, and make my own improvements. And again I can admire his strength and his persistence with swimming. And it helps me find my own inner strength and persistence as well.