the family that runs together....

From 2006 until 2009, I lived in a one runner household. The only running schedule I had to worry about was my own. Don't feel like running today? No problem - I can always run tomorrow. Races were an all Lauren affair. There was always someone to cheer me on and meet me at the finish line.

In 2009, my husband woke up one morning and decided he was going to start running. Fast forward to present day: he's lost over 100 pounds, and is running his second 1/2 marathon tomorrow morning. Considering everything, ie: my somewhat selfish and competitive nature, I handled the move into a 2-runner household quite gracefully. Now the questions: "How far are you going?" and "How was your run?" can be heard pretty frequently around my household. We both run three different days during the week and save our long runs for the weekend. He's more disciplined then I am, and gets up early enough to be back before the kids are done with breakfast. I have a tendency to take advantage of his kindness and lay around in bed until the last possible moment. On Saturdays, I'm usually back before lunch. We don't run together. Someone has to keep an eye on the children. That's where it gets complicated.

Tomorrow, Seth and I are both running in the Seneca 1/2 marathon. It takes about an hour or so to get to Seneca, SC and the race starts at 8 am. What to do with the children? I suppose only one of us could run the race, but how do you choose who gets to run and who has to stay with the kids? Flip a coin? (We are seriously considering this method for an upcoming 1/2 in April). In the end, two wonderful friends volunteered to stay with the kids at home so they don't have to get up at the crack of dawn, and we don't have to worry about them being kidnapped while we're racing.

Although living in a 2 runner household adds to the laundry (I wash a lot of socks and other smelly running gear) and can be logistically complicated, I'm grateful that my husband loves what I love. I'm glad that I can roll my eyes at him when he tells me he had a "slow" run and his time beats my best time by 10 minutes. I'm happy that I can badger him into signing up for races and watch as he gets excited about running. We may not actually run together, but we have running in common and that's enough for me.  

*Race Report Forthcoming*