Or:
What I did on my summer vacation
My husband came home one night in June with this bright idea to train for a half-marathon with some co-workers. Not being one to do something half-assed, that half-marathon turned into a marathon quicker than you can say “welcome-knee-injury-with-foot-pain-come-on-in, never mind the fact that he hadn’t run in over 3 years and was having trouble running a couple laps at the track those first few nights. Don’t get me wrong. He wasn’t out of shape. He just wasn’t in running shape.
At first his training schedule was barely a ripple in our domestic life. A few extra minutes in the evenings he’d be off doing his thing and I’d putter around the house. Didn’t take long for that to change. Soon, it was an hour each night and then a long run each week working up from 4 miles to a final grueling training run of 20.5 miles. Sometime in July we bought Bluebell. Since I wanted to keep R. Darling company as his runs got longer and longer, but I can’t run anymore (thanks a lot craptastic knees!) and the robot knee is still cranky, a bicycle seemed like the best option. Pretty soon I was logging in almost as many miles as he was.
Here’s me on Bluebell wishing I could multi-task
Some days I didn’t want to go. Others, maybe I kept him going with the promise of a Robek’s smoothie on that day’s finish line. In the end, don’t let anyone ever tell you that “being there” for someone isn’t that big of a deal. It takes time and sacrifice and a whole lot of cheerleading. But when your spouse has a dream and you help them achieve it, that’s a little bit of relationship magic right there.
By the end of 13 weeks worth of training, and plagued with injuries, my husband completed his first marathon. On a cold miserable day the first weekend in October, he crossed the finish line looking none the worse for wear after 26.2 miles in soaring winds and threatening rain. Congratulations honey! I’m so proud of you!
Marathon Day – Just as bad as it looks…..
26.2 miles and feelin’ no pain (yet)!
And lest you think there’s nothing about knitting in here, I’ll leave you with something interesting. I’ve discovered that knitters and “knitter-friendlies” surface in the darndest places. During all this running business, my husband found a store in town that sells shoes to runners by examining their old shoes, diagnosing their body mechanics based on the wear of those shoes, and helping them find the right ones to keep their alignment as it should be. When I needed new workout shoes, we headed there for some expertise and ended up chatting with a very nice fellow who helped fit me for my shoes. In the process of idle chit-chat, he revealed that working at the running store was only his part-time job but that he loved running and talking to other runners which made it really fun for him.
Out loud, I likened his situation to how I would feel if I could work part-time at a knitting shop (oh joy!). He asked me if I was a knitter and after responding wholeheartedly “yes!”, he told me to check out the site y2knit.net Apparently, his mom is the brains behind the site and she puts together all kinds of retreats and events for knitters and is a bit of a knitting celebrity (though I’m embarrassed to say that I don’t know much about her, but I have heard of her book YNotKnit). Her sister is also apparently a well known knitwear designer in San Francisco. It kind of made my day to run into someone whose mom probably has knitterazzi following her every move, and the fact that her son works in a running store, in my town, just made me smile with wonder. Knitters and knitter-friendlies in the darndest places! Who knows who I’ll run into next……
P.S.
That crazy marathoner guy I married is already planning his next marathon. Oy!
