The Others

Piggy backing on my last post about the support crews...I'm highlighting the "support crew" that actually gets you out on those runs. You know the ones, the friends that are still running while you have taken a sabbatical to sit on the sofa and eat potato chips. They chirp excitedly about their PR (personal record) and how beautiful their morning jog was. They post glamorous selfies on Facebook for you to peruse as you slump in your chair and reflect on just how long it has been since you went for a run...3 weeks? 4? Who knows at this point, but somehow these friends and their perky attitude draw you out of that running hibernation and inspire you.

Or in my case, encourage me to watch a movie with a bag of chocolate chips. I have zero want to run, it is like a disease has taken hold of my brain and even thinking about running has a backfire result of LESS running! That is a talent by the way...to run less than not running at all.

But then there are the back-to-the-gym friends that had been your sofa allies only now to have fallen victim to the inspirational stories about running they saw online. These "supporters" are the worse. These people turn on you and while they were the buddies you called to have drinks on the patio at 3:00 with hot wings and talk about everything BUT running, they now tell you how great it is to be back running or working out and try to encourage you to get off your flabby butt and join them. My eyes can't help but glaze over with these people.

And then there is that one supporter that knows just how to get to you. For me, that person is my husband and coach. He has silently let me take a break, work on my health issues and become a lazy wad of snotty Kleenex. Then out of no where, he blows the dust off my treadmill and walks for 40 mins. This may seem like nothing to most of you, but my ultra runner hubby could be running outside in the fall leaves enjoying the crisp air...but he isn't, he is WALKING in the stuffy house on the treadmill...and he hates the treadmill. So what is this all about? Subtlety. With a simple walk, he guilt tripped me into putting my running shoes on.

He didn't say a word. He simply walked for 40mins. By the time he was done, I had my running shoes on and was prepared to spread my butter like body on the treadmill. I didn't have any grand ideas, I too was just going to walk. Walking I could handle. Walking was a first step.

This walking exbidition was followed up by a talk last night where I ventured to say I might want to go for a run in the morning. Our conversation went as follows:

Coach: "Will you run before you take our son to school or after?"

Me: "After, I can't get up early enough to run before."

Coach: "Will you dress in running clothes to do the school drop off?"

Me: "I see what you are doing here...yes, I will dress in running clothes."

Coach: "Where will you run to?"

Me: "I'm loosing interest in this run."

Coach: "Well talking about it is a start. Maybe it will happen tomorrow, maybe another day."

He is a clever man. A very clever man.

-Cheers from the Vivác Winery Family!
www.VivacWinery.com