Well, here I am, the one occasionally mentioned as “The Wife”. I also answer to the call of “Heather” and “Mom”. My feelings about running, differ from “The Husband”.
A lot of times, when people find out that Ted runs – a lot – , they ask if I also run. My answer is always the same. “NO!”
I am not a runner. I have never been a runner. I never want to be a runner.
In school, I was one of those girls in gym class trying to walk off a side stitch, after running 2 laps. The only track and field events I did were the 100m sprint, long, and triple jump. Short bursts of speed, I could do, and fairly well in fact! I played softball for many years, as recently as in my 30’s. Running bases is about where I like to keep my “long distance” range. When it comes right down to it, I just really don’t like being sweaty. Don’t get me wrong though. I was hardly inactive. I spent all my free time in the pool doing lengths. You don’t feel sweaty when you’re in cold water. That’s more like it!
So flash forward a few years.
- 2008 The first of our two children had arrived. Ted had registered for his first Disney Marathon. We were going to make it our first family vacation. Maybe I should sign up for the Half! I had no intention of running any of it, but since I had a pretty quick natural walking pace, I figured I could walk the whole thing. Lo and behold that’s exactly what I ended up doing. My time was around 3:20, and I never broke my walking stride. Yes! Ahh, but what did we see on this very first trip? The “Goofy” shirts and medals. “You people are crazy!” we would both comment. What were these people doing???
The bait had been set.
- 2010 Two years later, this time with 2 kids in tow, we were off again to Disney for Marathon Weekend. The plan was for me to stay at the townhouse rental with the kids, while Ted ran his first Goofy. I was definitely the winner. I felt pretty smug, being all snug in bed at 2am, wishing Ted a good race each morning. I dug even deeper into the covers when I heard the ice hitting the windows, right around start time of the half.
- 2013 I accompanied Ted to Disney for race weekend. Just us, no kids. A first. After he went off to bed to get ready for each race, I went off on my own. I closed down Epcot, took a boat back to a resort across the lake, drank some wine, ate some mussels, and chatted on Facebook. Brilliant! I got out of bed after the half was done, and the next day, in time to cheer for the last couple miles. In itself a great trip. The problem was, after the races, you see the medals.
Everywhere. On everyone. EVERYONE. I don’t think I’ll go next time.
So now we’re pretty current.
This spring our family signed up for the community “run”. It is put together mostly by the elementary school, just as a family event. Ted and our son entered last year, and our 4 year old daughter wanted to try this year. In an effort to keep them both happy, we all signed up. Divide and conquer! I just had to make sure the 4 year old wouldn’t get away from me. Luckily her legs are still little and she needs to do 2 steps to my 1. If I had to, maybe I could run once in awhile. I figured I’d better hop on the treadmill to see if that was even an option.
I had recently changed out my good “treadmill” sneakers (from 2007!), to become my kick-around shoes. We were out sneaker shopping anyways, and they had a narrow shoe in stock that fit me, so my “no shoes” excuse was not to be. Hmm. “Sneakers.” Does anybody still call them that? Anyways, off to the treadmill.
Well, I will say there were no surprises. 30 seconds is about my limit. I can haul fairly quickly though, a natural run is 5.8 mph. and walking at 3.8, I could do pretty much endlessly. In the end it was enough to keep the little one in my sights until she finally started to slow down.
I am no runner, that’s for sure.
While I may not be a runner, I am still a woman who appreciates a good looking shoe! Find that good looking shoe I did at Scheels. We were on a runner-buying shopping trip to the US, and we came across the clearance department. With Ted being a strictly Nike Pegasus kind of guy, he was thrilled to be able to pick up a couple pairs for what worked out to about half price. Sweet! I however found a beautiful pair of Miz Mooz black leather Mary-Janes, with a 4 inch heel. Sweeter! Oh yeah, and a funny pair of purple and lime green Nike Free Fit 2. Super light, really comfy, and PURPLE! I mean I really couldn’t just leave them behind; I had to go through the checkout anyways. I figured I could always use them for work outside, once swimming pool season starts. The mesh ought to dry really quickly at least, so I won’t have soggy feet. Sold!!
Swimming pool season arrived about 3 weeks later than usual this year. By the time I was able to get the pools that I maintain, open, it was already sandal and flip-flop weather. My cute purple sneakers found a nice quiet home, with my Asics, beside the treadmill, where they were not disturbed for quite a long time.