pacing myself

i am a sloooooow runner. 9 to 10 min/mile is my limit. he is a non-runner. he being my hubby and he also being the guy that was supposed to co-run a 10k the day after my birthday. he’s been running for the first time ---ever---in preparation for it. it was going to be one of our wedded “firsts”. he bailed. on the morning of.

taken on its face it could have been reason to be upset. i mean it was a promise. and it was my birthday (ok, day after) AND he really just didnt feel like it. not that he was bleeding or injured, just really not up to it. we werent planning a huge show-down. we had agreed that it would be a walk-run so that it was enjoyable for both of us and so that i could get him to agree to do it again in the future.

so i could have been upset.

but there were a couple of factors that worked in our favor. (1) i adore him (2) he was on his feet for 2 days cooking and prepping for (3) throwing me, AND my brother, the best birthday party ever, (4) i know beyond a single creeping doubt that he would walk through fire to make me happy, and (5) my brother stepped in as proxy.

my brother is also not a runner. or i should say is no longer a runner. he used to be a triathlete. used to run, bike, swim and endure without a care. then his back gave out and he has been reduced to finding ways to cope. a simple game of corn-hole (if you dont know, its funny just to say it out loud) can incapacitate him for weeks. so he should have been the least likely candidate to run a 10k with me the day after my birthday. bc of those factors and because he has not been practicing. at all.

but he did. and so we did. 

and i learned another lesson.

i can be even a slower runner. i ran/walked the entire course while chatting and holding hands with my little brother is a pace i loved to keep. had i demanded that my hubby keep his promises, i would have missed it.

pacing myself. in life. in love. and in really appreciating that the best miles/minute records are not necessarily of the speedy kind.