Christina and I woke up bright and early yesterday, poked our heads outside, and rethought our plans for the day. The weather was cold… and dreary. The forecast called for a good bit of snow and some slush throughout the day. But we pushed on. We hopped into our gear and into the car. Then we headed 45 miles to our destination… the Valentine Couples 5K run to support Amnesty International.

We got there, and, yep, it was still cold. No snow yet, but still cold. We checked in, got our race number, and prepared for our run. We didn’t expect much of ourselves as we are not hard-core runners. We “jog” to stay in shape and work off those extra portions. But we were ready to enjoy ourselves and appreciated the thought that this particular run was low key. Of course, there were a few who had to come out and “show off,” but we laughed at such shenanigans (who needs a 5 minute mile?). They released us hounds, and we trekked through the streets and a bit of off-roading for 3 miles.

At mile 1, the gentleman told us our time. Both Christina and I looked at each other because it far surpassed our expectations… 10m28s. While that is not breaking any records, that was good in our book… especially seeing as our best run around our home has been in the vicinity of the 14 minute mark. At mile 2, we were told 22m12s. Still great. By the 2.5 mile mark, the aches and pains were presenting themselves, but we pushed through that wall, and our final 3 mile times were 37m54s and 37m55s.

Christina kept telling me to go ahead during the race. I refused. Because my stride is longer, I have to slow my pace for her. One part of the story is that we have been preparing for this together, and seeing as it was a couple’s run, that’s what I wanted it to be. Her and I enjoying each other’s company throughout the event. The other part of the story is not so lovey dovey. She doesn’t seem to understand that if I go much faster, I’ll have to take a break much more often. So, in the end, I’d probably finish in the same amount of time. So, sticking with her pace keeps me breathing rather than passed out on the side of the road.

In any event, we had a great time. The weather waited for us to get back home (then the snow, sleet, slush… yuck!). We surpassed our goals and expectations. We joked that we were going to be happy as long as we didn’t come in “last.” But I’m sure we would have been fine with that too. It was a worthy cause and a good time.

I’m so very proud of my wife for pushing herself and achieving a personal best. And I’m impressed that she is already looking for the next couple’s run. She did great, and there is no one I would rather run beside.