Running as a Couple, Part deux

It was her idea, I swear. Run a 5K together. I wondered if running together would lead to a fight. Would I be frustrated at running slow, in a race? Would I be able to keep myself from offering non-stop advice and commentary? Well, here's what happened.

The Race was in Danville CA with the money going to families of soldiers and Marines killed in Iraq and Afganistan.

Arriving at the park, we don't see the usual pop ups, signs and dozens of volunteers. What we see are families and little leaguers. Are we in the wrong place? A glance down the hill from the parking lot proves otherwise, we see a few dozen people wearing red shirts and stroll down to register. After the organizer introduces the mother of one of the fallen, I feel humbled. After she thanks us for coming (like running a 5K is a big sacrifice) and for our support. We all wear our red shirts with the picture of the traditional memorial for the fallen, a rifle stuck on the ground with the helmet sitting on top.

She is getting nervous, just like most runners. This is her very first race and I should not push her she says to me over and over. I keep my mouth shut. The gun goes off and we set off down a gentle sloped street. She goes out to fast and I have to tell her to slow down, she does and we keep a steady pace, passing several women along the way. At the turn around, she looks gassed and I ask her if she wants some water, she does and looks better. She asks me how far we've gone, I tell her and she nods. With a mile to go, she slows to a stop, takes a few steps and looks at this woman passing her. She starts running again. No complaining, just heavy breathing. I tell her to try to keep her breathing in a steady rhythm. She tries.

Now we're going up hill and soon we pass the woman who had gone by earlier. We keep to a nice pace and soon I can see the park come into view. I can't resist. "We're almost there honey." She looks like she is suffering as we go up the hill through the park with two women on our heels. She and I speed up to the finish and our "fun run" is over. She looks around, in pain and I tell her how proud I am of her, then I tell her she beat all the other women. That made her smile.