In a back issue of Runner's World there is an article about secrets to lifelong running. (There is also a great NYTimes article here: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/31/health/nutrition/31BEST.html?em&ex=1202014800&en=68860ef425fb2ad3&ei=5087%0A.) One of the tips the great, now older runners give is having a group of supportive people who motivate you to run. They don't have to be runners themselves; they just have to be there for you.
I can attest to this firsthand. My support group, while small, is the best a girl could have. On one hand there's my mom. She's been to almost every sporting event, dance recital, and play I've ever been in (as a good mom should). She yells so loudly during races that I can always hear her - once I could pick out her voice from the middle of the Carnegie River at Princeton. More importantly, though, she takes interest in my training, asking about my hard runs and making good "oohhhh" noises. While she doesn't run herself, she knows more about the sport than people I know who've done several half marathons.
On the other hand, I have my "life partner" Dave. He is a runner in his own right, although he's taking a long (permanent?) break. We've done many training runs together in all kinds of bad weather, and whether he's slower or faster than me (with a little training he will always be faster), he's the best "running partner" I've ever had the pleasure of hoofing it with. But Dave's my support crew even when he sleeps in. He's good at it for one simple reason: he lets me do it with no questions asked. Sometimes he may look at me funny (when I run in 30 degree rain, whine about a missed workout, or show him a bloody ankle), but he always just goes with it. He doesn't get mad at me for going to bed early or waking him up at 5am. He lets me be me.
Here's to the support crews all over the world!!
Wednesday's workout:
2 mile warm-up
4 x (10 mins at tempo pace with 2 minutes rest)
2 mile cool down
Thursday was a day off
Friday's workout:
3 miles easy in nasty weather
6 x 20 second strides
1 comment:
I caught the giggles at the bit about identifying your mothers voice in the river. She sounds like a real sweetheart, everyone should have cool moms like we do :-).
Mine's still learning how to cope with the active habits. She's not a real "emotion forward" person so she's more likely to pick me up a new pair of special running socks or something obscure to support my good habits which, in my heart, is almost as warming as it would be if I ever heard her cheering for me... ever.
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