Although we hadn't met Bryan at the track workouts before, we met him on the access road with his dog, Jenny. I thought to a run last summer in Michigan, when I told my mom we were running in Marquette with someone we didn't know. "You'll run with just about anybody, won't you?" she asked. "Sure, why not?" I replied. As long as I'm the biggest whiner in the group, I'm cool with running with whomever wants to join me.
We began with our training plans and upcoming races. Since Bryan is mostly into triathlons, he had to do a lot of educating on how to train specifically for that. It sounds intense. I can barely manage one sport, how does one train for three simultaneously? From how he described it, it almost sounded like fun. We also love how if you do get injured, you've got a two other sports to fall back on (like our recovering friend Tracy does).
Usually when we run with new people, they ask us about our PRs, trying to compare things. It was different for Bryan. I could tell he was more interested in the process and self improvement. I enjoyed his relaxed, non-competitive vibe.
Then the question he seemed to be dying to ask finally came: Do you think you'll ever run a triathlon? Matt's simple answer was, "I really love running, why would I want to do anything else?" For me, the answer is more complicated. I hate having to pull the cancer card when saying I don't want to do something, but in this case, worrying about my fragile arm really does suck all the fun from cycling (at least the going fast part) and group swimming. Just hitting my arm against a doorknob hurts like you wouldn't believe. If I fell off my bike or someone kicked me, my arm probably would break. Yup, just one more sport I can't do. I like the other two sports for enjoyment, but I don't think I can ever race.
I love hearing other people's beginnings in the sport. Bryan was willing to share his with us, beginning back when he was almost double the size he is now. That is pretty fantastic, to have the power and motivation to make such a huge life change. He'll be running his first Ironman triathlon (Lake Tahoe in September) on the anniversary of the day he first took back control of his life.
After twelve miles, we parted ways and Matt and I hit the Safeway for breakfast. If we could do this every Sunday, I'd be a happy girl. Sunday mornings have such a relaxed vibe that Matt's Tuesday Sundays (he works rotating shifts so his weekends are weird days most of the time) don't feel the same when they are in the middle of the work week.
12 miles, 1:49:30, 9:07/mi.
4 comments:
I get it. You are wise to focus on what you can do and enjoy that. I met a guy over the weekend who broke his neck in a bike accident. Definitely gave me pause.
Sometimes I like the *idea* of a tri. But open water swims, and mass starts seem TERRIFYING. Your arm seems like a totally legit reason to avoid that mayhem.
Happy anniversary (late, sorry) to you and Matt. Hope this coming year brings more runs, especially trail runs, and good times together.
That sounds like such a wonderful run. I'm sure it was nice to be able to just talk to someone who wanted to improve himself and learn about you instead of try to be competitive. I'm excited myself to get into this triathlon training, but I can tell you that it's already a lot more commitment to varying workouts and spending more time training. It sounds like running fulfills you and your husband's lives so much that it's perfect. And I didn't realize that you had pain in your arm. That would absolutely make it difficult to push yourself to cycle and swim in a race setting. Oh, and happy anniversary!
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