Saturday, December 19, 2009

The Committed Runner

In several past posts, I've written about the importance of a running group. The support and friendships a group provides is awesome. Even as a group's dynamics change over time, the sense of accountability and support that a group provides is wonderful and something I miss when I'm not able to make it to my weekly runs. Life has been so hectic of late (we're just putting up our Christmas tree today), I have to admit that the past couple of months I've only made it to a handful of these weekly runs. All legit reasons (helping with a local 5K, visiting family, studying for big tests), but still I've missed those long runs, both for the physical endurance aspects as well as socializing with my running buddies. Hopefully after I finish my personal trainer schooling in January, I'll be more of a regular back at "The BlueLine" (where we start our weekly long runs and our group's namesake). Last night we received about 4" of snow and today we're supposed to get 3-5 more inches. Now for you guys up north, that ain't a heck of a lot of snow, but down South, that puts life at a stand-still. But yet today is still a Saturday and it's still the day of my running group's long run. Well, this morning, I had all good intentions of making it to the BlueLine even with the snow, because I knew I'd get a lot of flack (all good natured) from my running buddies for not making it. But, when I woke up at 5:30AM, my 9-year-old's big brown eyes were staring at me, soon followed by, "Daddy, I don't feel well." Well, how can you go for a run when that's at your bedside. So, up I got, hot chocolate I made, and comforting I did. Of course, she's all better now, even been out in the snow and now on her second cup of hot cocoa. Guess she just needed some daddy-time. Some of the very dedicated running buddies did make it out to the BlueLine and the made sure to rub it in. LOL!

11 comments:

Stan said...

OK--I feel sufficiently lacking in my dedication--very impressive and humorous. Granted I am warm and my oatmeal pancakes are sitting quite nicely!

RunnerDude said...

Hi Stan! My pancakes were chocolate chip! Whole wheat batter of course.

gene said...

i can totally relate. hence my post: http://genesoboleski.blogspot.com/2009/12/sorry-friday-but-i-was-distracted.html
enjoy 'our' snow. we haven't had any in over a week. too COLD. (our tree went up thursday night. lights only still.....

RunnerDude said...

Hey Gene! I'm thinking we must be related! LOL!

The Boring Runner said...

hahahah. What are friends with out a little healthy ribbing??

RunnerDude said...

Hey Adam! Woudn't have it any other way, man! Happy Running and Happy Holidays!

Lara said...

I missed my group run today due to 7 year old coughing non-stop in his room, all while I had my running clothes on as I was preparing to run out the door. Suffice it to say, I did not go, and put him on the nebulizer with hopes that he would be able to breathe again soon. Ahh, the joys of parenting.

brankin said...

Hey, hey ... proud of those runners that got out this am. I run with the Mebane Running Club and can't say if anyone was out because I was not. And this is from a Canadian transplant that used to train through January for spring marathons.

RunnerDude said...

Hey Lara! Yep, parenting is never dull, but wouldn't trade if for anything. I blinked my eyes and my oldest is all the sudden 18 and my youngest is 9. What happened?!!

RunnerDude said...

Hey Brankin! Howdy neighbor! Well, knowing your Canadian makes me feel better that I didn't get out this morning! LOL! We should go running sometime!

Mark U. said...

Runner Dude - I can completely relate to your post! I tremendously value running with my group of friends, and knowing that they'll definitely dole-out some good-natured flack for not showing-up additionally helps our motivation. Of course, family first, so you were right to take care of that first priority; nevertheless, now that she's better get back out there and put in the replacement miles, solo if need be - with an MP3 player and a great Audible.com book or running podcast.