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Friday, July 07, 2006

A Survey

My husband doesn't run. In fact, he has informed me on many occassions that the only possibilty that would prompt him to run would be if something was chasing him, and he has expressed his confidence that if a rabid dog or brain-hungry zombie were after him, he would manage to out-run them. Or, at least give it his best effort.

Reading other bloggers posts about running with their spouse or significant others, sometimes makes me jealous: I have to bribe my husband to go for a walk after dinner, and I can't ever picture him going on a run with me. Yet, most of the time, it doesn't bother me that he and I don't share this activity, and in many ways, I enjoy running alone, and have never sought out a running partner. But I thought I'd like to understand how others feel about the significant other running relationship, so what do you think?

A. It's best when your significant other is also a runner and you can run together while training and for races.

B. It's nice that you both share a love for the sport, but it's best when you don't run together.

C. You don't care if your significant other runs; you just enjoy the support they provide.

D. Being single is the only way to focus on adequately training and racing; friends provide the support a romantic relationship would create.

Or, E: Whatever other way you might be able to categorize your relationship(s) and how it affects your running.

Let me know. I look forward to what everyone thinks.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

In the past I would say my boyfriends have completely gotten in the way of my training. They wanted to spend time with me or we ended up staying out late. No one understood it and I found that annoying. It's never WHY we broke up or anything though...I've never seriously dated a runner. I think that would be fun...and, as a bonus, they would be fit :) Good question!

Triseverance said...

For us it's just with the kids and all we just can't run together as often as we would like. We also have very different goals when it comes to training and running races. I run for PR's she runs for fun. I love having a wife dedicated to fitness but she does not "enjoy" running like I do. She would much rather go to the y and do fitness classes. Did I answer anything there...???


BTW it took me three tries to get the work verification right....grrrrrrr....

Anonymous said...

My answer would be B. My husband likes to run as much as I do, but his faster pace makes it practically impossible to run with me. We did do a 5k together once and he managed to stick with me. He even encouraged me going up the tough hills without making me want to slap him!

Iron Jayhawk said...

I'm going with B.

Mike haphazardly slipped into running by signing up for the Shamrock Shuffle while drunk. We were at a bar...I bet he couldn't/wouldn't do it...he went home and registered. Didn't remember a lick of it until one of our friends reminded him the next morning. But he, too, followed the "I'll only run when being chased" mentality.

And even though Mike is much faster than I am, he'll hang back and run with me when it's dark out. I typically feel really bad when I know I'm holding him back during a race...so now he just starts out on his own. But it's nice having someone waiting for you at the other end of a finish line chute! No matter how good or bad our run is, we support each other. :)

MNFirefly said...

B & C - I am TRYING to get my hubby go out running with me. It's not working at times, but at least he will come out if he's rollerblading instead of running...and there's half-naked girls on the beach to look at.

Erin said...

For the record, I have only run one 5K and it was also on a dare/bet that I couldn't do it. If I ran the whole thing, my husband said he would pay my car payment.

I "trained" with my hubby for about a month which consisted of running a mile and eventually 2 a couple times a week. I decided I would give it my best shot and die half way through the race.

Race day came, he and I had already agreed we would keep our own pace. I ran the whole thing and am $350+ richer.

Now you probably wonder if I ever ran again or if he is an avid runner and the answer is no. He runs the Corporate run every year. I had good intentions this year but twisted my ankle the week before the race (darn drinking and high heels!).

It is nice having a support unit but if we were both to be serious at any sport, I would not train on a daily basis with my spouse. I need the encouragement to do things but I don't think I like the idea of us doing it together. Honestly, neither of us have the same passions about sports or exercise so I can't really say if this is my official opinion.

SRR said...

OMG! I understand exactley how you feel. For the life of me, I CAN NOT get my husband to move...I've even denied him sex! ;-)

21st Century Mom said...

I guess I'm kind of a "D" but if I had an SO I would expect full support. It would be nice to run together but he'd have to be really slow so that probably wouldn't work out.

In my dream of dreams he would outpace me, wait for me 1/2 mile from home and then run me in - every time. Now that's romantic.

Michele said...

We have two kids so it is impossible for us to train together. But we have very different training goals and paces so even without the kids we would not train together. I am just thankful for his support of my crazy training/race schedule.