Saturday, April 30, 2011

Run for Water (One month counting)

The Run for Water is a fabulous run. Not so much for the scenic views of Abbotsford or the incredible volunteers but rather the cause. The cause is bringing fresh water to small villages in Ethiopia. Each year for the past 3 years, we’ve run this run as a family. We started strong with all seven (Nana included). It was a tough year I pushed Owen my then 5 year old in the BOB running stroller for the 10K. My oldest went with Nana and Ethan ran with my beautiful running wife. If you could describe running as a bug, an infection perhaps, she got her first taste of it then. She cured her self for awhile but by the following year the infection came back.


The next year she was serious. We started buying running clothes, outfits! New shoes were a necessity. That year she picked up a running jacket, new shoes, a Nike+ sensor My wallet started to hurt a little. I picked out a beautiful pink Fuel Belt for her one special occasion. From a long time runner it was fun to watch her develop, too watch her infection turn into a full blown disease.

Unfortunately life gets in the way. As we runners have all discovered the cure for a serious case of the running disease is a busy life. You see my wife is not only married to a serious runner (LOL), mother of 4 children, full-time career but is also working on her degree in Social Work. And you thought I burned the candle at both ends. Needless to say sometimes life just crashes down around you and you can’t run. No time! No energy! You know the tune! But I’ll tell you the biggest turn on in the entire world is commiserating with your beautiful wife when she says, “I missed my run today, damn it!”

I know things are starting to go my way and she is starting to understand the runner’s mind. Now the runner’s mind is a complex thing far too complex to discuss in just one blog post. But when she was signing up for this run she asked me what event I was going to run. This event has a 5K, a 10K, a half marathon and for the first time this year a marathon. I joked with her that I would run the marathon.

She said, “You couldn’t run the marathon?” And I responded, “I bet I could!”

The only catch was this is Jenny’s event, it’s her time. I run with our daughter no matter what. I slept on it that night and thought of every logistical consideration and came to the conclusion that I could probably complete the marathon with a running stroller. No Boston qualifier but still finish. However keeping my daughter trapped in a running stroller for 4 hours seemed almost cruel. Although Kallie loves running with me in the stroller, 4 hours is a bit much.

In the end I signed up for the half marathon. A daunting task with a 35 lb child and a running stroller but I relish the challenge. I’ve always wanted to be one of those guys who can pop off a marathon in a weekend whenever and wherever they wanted. I am almost positive I could have but not with the circumstance. Maybe one day but not today.

I’m grateful for the opportunity to run a half marathon and my running future is only getting brighter.

1 comment:

  1. Great post Rob! You guys are going to have a fantastic day!

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