Photographic Depression

One thing this blog obviously lacks (other than a more staunch avoidance of helping verbs and ellipses) is the addition of any visual images whatsoever.  While I tend towards a preference for things verbal and numerical, I have realized that almost all fun in reading a blog is lost if there are no pictures to brighten the flow of text.  (I have also realized that after three tries, I could not avoid "is" in the previous sentenct.  Believe me, I tried.)  And so, please allow the following reflection:

Sweat Hard - Think Sharp

Running and I do not get along.  I love weight lifting, Pilates, yoga, the elliptical, the stationary bike, the stair climber, resistance bands...give me any type of exercise that does not involve participation in a sport, and I am happy.  So long as I will not have to run.  Ironically, the man I married is not only the good-at-any-sport-he-tries type, he also enjoys running.  In particular, running with me.

And so I found myself faced with a challenge; one of the biblical principals of marriage centers on serving one's spouse.  I find that I prefer to do the things which, in my head count as serving my husband, but are really just things I enjoy doing anyway, like looking cute on date night or reading aloud to Jared while he drives or puts together our furniture.  I tend to find the "real" serving (in my case, waking up earlier to pack Jared's lunch, doing laundry when I would rather sit on the couch, etc.) much more like...well...serving.



"Serving"



Serving

A few months ago, my sweet husband informed me that he thought the two of us should run a half marathon together this year.  He had talked about running a marathon/doing a triathlon/finishing an Ironman in the past, so I thought perhaps I'd mis-heard slightly. 

Me: "You mean you want me to come and be there to cheer you on and stuff?  That sounds great!"
Him: "No, I mean I think we should run one together.  I'll probably do other ones in the future, and you wouldn't have to, but I really want our first one to be together.  I'll run with you the whole time and you can set the pace...When else in our lives will we have time to do this?"

And so, the cute, buff, blue-eyed boy talked me into the unthinkable.  I realized that this was a great (although not at all referenced in our premarital counseling) way to serve the man I love.  After searching through a myriad of dates and locations, we settled on a relatively cheap half marathon close to home.  We are all signed up, which is obviously a huge motivator, and to make training more fun, we kicked it off with a Valentine's Weekend 5k...which ended up being the most fun race I've ever run.  

Pre-race, VDay Dash 2011

 One more step on my quest to take good care of our marriage and our health...Maybe I like this running thing after all?