Better Together

countdown to race: 113 days

If you haven't noticed, I (Amy) am the only one blogging about this experience. While I may not be a runner, I do consider myself a writer. I feel like I've been writing my entire life. I have an unrelenting desire to put my thoughts on paper or in this case, out there for the whole world (as if anyone even reads this) to see. When I first started talking about starting this blog, I believe Mark's words were 'I have very little interest in blogging, but go for it.'

So why didn't I title the blog Amy Runs? Why do I always write in first-person plural?

This isn't just my thing. Training for the half marathon was a decision that Mark and I made together. Sure, there may be a few occasions when we run separately but the majority of our runs will be together.

Individually we can both be pretty lazy, but thankfully, we do a pretty good job of motivating one another. As I mentioned here, this is the thing/sport/activity that we do together.

We're new parents which means a lot of our waking and half-awake hours are spent with our baby. The 30 or 40 minutes we spend on the trail together have become our dates. We make plans, reminisce on younger, less-achy days, chase after bunny rabbits....we just enjoy each other's company.

Before our daughter was born, we either took turns - he'd do a race in March, I'd do one in April - or we agreed to run on our own. In April, with the baby in tow, we both ran the Trolley Run. For the first time we stayed together. For four miles we pushed each other, took turns pushing the stroller and finished strong, only stopping briefly to shed layers. It felt really good.

Just google running partner and a dozen articles pop up about the benefits to running with someone. With a foot of height and an unmentionable number of pounds between us, we're bound to have different strides and run at a different pace, but we use it to our advantage. By training together we not only motivate each other to log the miles, but to improve the way we run. I run at a faster pace with Mark on my heels. Mark's inclination to start out fast is curtailed by my need to warm up.

In the words of Jack Johnson, "It's always better when we're together..."