Both yesterday and today I was able to run with a good running friend. The two of us have been running together for more than three years now. It is really amazing how time flies when you are having fun, putting in the miles!
When I moved to the little town I now call home, I had a seven-month-old baby, and lots of ambition to get back into consistent running shape. I had been running with Elliott for months, but always seemed to have a reason not to get out on a regular basis (go figure, with the wee-one to distract me!). I decided I needed a running group to motivate me. So, one evening before heading out for a little family walk, I scribbled up some flyers that said something to this effect, "Mommy looking for other mommies to run with kiddies in buggies" and I left the usual tabs with my email address. I posted them on the mail boxes around my neighbourhood, and hoped for the best.
The next day, I received an email from M. She told me a bit about herself, and her one-year-old boy, and after a couple of back-and-forths, we had a running date planned. Our first run (it seems so crazy now to think back on the two of us with just one baby each!) was very chatty, and we seemed to connect as if we had been running together for years. Although she was faster than me, I tried my best to keep up and not look too winded!
Within a week or two, we were running together almost every day. We would run when the boys woke up from their naps, and sometimes the runs would end in a trip to the park, or a play date. It is amazing how much I looked forward to that time in the day when I could chat with another mom, and get some exercise while doing it!
One baby turned into two for M, then for me, and soon we were out running with double BOBs (hers orange, mine blue) and a total of four boys. Our oldest boys love playing together, and we have to be mindful to seat them so they can be *beside* each other on the run (this makes for easy 'passes' of toys). We have heard such encouraging words from passers by as we run down the streets, like, "wow, run some miles for me" or, "some day they'll push you!"
M and I have enjoyed relaxing yoga sessions and runner's bootcamps in the winter, and crazy long runs out in wind so cold and brutal that we had to run backwards. We have used each other's houses for emergency pit-stops, (for ourselves and our kids) shared snacks when the kids are just sooo hungry or impatient out on some runs. We have shared life experiences, advice, funny stories, and relentless rain storms. Over the last month or so, with vacations and baby bumps (yep, she is having another baby too) our schedules haven't aligned as often as usual, and I have definitely felt it! I am hoping we can fall into a routine of running together more often again, as it is just so much more fun to chat with such a great friend as we run along.
I should be adding a photo of M and myself out on a run, but I just can't seem to find one. I guess we are just so busy grabbing toys and snacks for the boys, that we never seem to snap a pic!
So, here's to great running friends. I know that I am a better runner because of M. I am a better mom because of M. This running thing we do is about so much more than pounding the miles into the ground. Running with people we care about makes us so willing to come back for more :)
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