So yesterday was my designated 'rest' or 'StretchX' day. I decided to take my four legged, 2 a.m., someone in the hallway, alarm clock/bark machine for a walk. It was a pretty nice day and i noticed alot of people out running. I usually see alot of people out walking their dogs, pushing strollers, or walking, but not too many runners. That got me thinking.....i know right ? (someone call the fire department, i smell smoke! ) When i met my girlfriend, almost 4 years ago, she told me right up front, we cant do anything on thursday nights because thats the night that i go running. I, being the enbodiment of physical fitness, asked if she would mind if i joined her, so we could spend time together. She said that would be great, so my first thought was ...now what? I made a bee line for the nearest shoe store to buy a pair of running shoes. I have never owned a pair of these, so i was in shock at the plethera of choices. I must have had a dumb founded look on my face, because i was greeted by the sales lady with, " you look lost, do you need some help?" Sooooo, in the effort to not drag this story on for several chapters, i told her that i needed some running shoes, i had never ran before, i would be trying to impress my new girl friend, yada yada yada........anyway, as i am leaving she says " good luck". Boy was she right, i needed more than luck though. Thursday finally came around and we met at a local runners, dog walking, baby stroller pushing, couples walking trail called The Ma & Pa Trail. This is 2.5 miles or so, of twisty, uphill, downhill, under bridges, around corners, through the woods kind of trail. PERFECT for the beginning runner, right? I kept up for maybe, and i stress that word maybe, half a mile, all the while Sylvia hasnt even broken a sweat yet. I started falling behind, slowing my pace and she jogs on ahead. I am dying. My heart was yelling at me, "are you frigging crazy? what the heck are you trying to do to us, im not supposed to beat this fast" and "Oh yeah, your girl is getting away".
I struggled to start again, and here she comes jogging back towards me, still not sweating, saying " are you okay? We can go back if you want". I should have taken that as my opportunity to give up, but do you think i did? Yeah, no. My inflated, although rapidly deflating, male ego said, before i could stop it, " no, lets go on, I'll try harder to keep up, but if i fall behind, go on and i'll meet you at the end" HA HA .....long, boring story short, i had to stop again, for fear of dying right there in the middle of the woods, and here she comes back towards me again, sweating ( i mean glistening) this time, saying i got to the end and decided to come back and find you. Oh how nice of her....i hadnt made it a mile, and she ran the whole way, turned around and ran back to find me. The first thought that i had that i can remember was " this woman is trying to kill me" . Nope....wrong again, my ego was. Well, she didnt break up with me that day there in the woods, and we continued to run ( well I tried, and did get better) every thursday for a while, but somehow somewhere, we stopped going. Maybe it was when fall, winter started, i cant recall for sure, but i think we need to start doing that again. Maybe this weekend we will head over to the trail, or around the neighborhood.
I actually have some great memories of almost dying out there on the Ma & Pa Trail.
No comments:
Post a Comment