Someday I’ll forgive my wife. Just not now.
I was going to write this very eloquent, tear-jerking story about how fatherhood has changed me… or something along those lines.
Instead, my lovely wife decided that we should all should go support our local schools by running in a 5 kilometer race. Which, here on American soil translates into 3.1 miles. Or, about 2.1 miles further than I have run at any one time in the past five months. And exactly 3.1 miles more than I have run total in the past 2 months. In other words, I’m out of shape.
And this might be a good time to mention how lovely the weather has been here lately. Sunny, not a cloud in the sky and 90+ degrees in the shade.
The lovely wife hinted at this yesterday but I was hoping that she’d change her mind when it meant that we had to be up and out of the house by 7:45 a.m. Fairly early for a Sunday morning here at our house. But, no such luck. So, we packed up the kids, donned our gear and jogging stroller and headed out to the race.
She’s done this to me before, you know. She’s gotten all excited about running a race but apparently cannot possibly run the race on her own so I get to go along just so she can watch me be tortured. But now I also get the added pleasure of having my kids watch me get tortured. They seemed to enjoy their run through the foothills of where we live. And, let me just say, there is not one flat road with a 6 mile radius of where I live so the kids got to tear down some downhills and crawl up some uphills. And, yes, I made the lovely wife push the stroller whenever we got to an uphill. I’m chivalrous like that.
Amazingly, we finished. I only heard TheMonk yell, “Faster, Daddy, Faster!” once and we did stop at the 2 mile marker and have some orange slices and water. This seemed to placate the twins (and me – why do we stop eating orange slices after we stop playing youth soccer?) and we finished on a high note. If you mean by “high note” a racing pulse, painful breathing, and sweat stinging my eyes.
And now, I sit here on the couch – more than 12 hours after the race – feeling the soreness start to settle into my thighs and my lower back. So, no tear-jerker story tonight. The only one shedding the tears is me.
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Take some Advil and some SourPatch Kids and get some sleep.
Actually, going for a brisk walk tomorrow would probably be a good thing – it would keep those sore muscles from locking up too much.
Comment by Deanna — May 18, 2008 @ 10:41 pm
Congratulations on finishing. I would have died during the first 1/4 of the first mile. Kudos to you & your wife!
Comment by MamáChanga — May 18, 2008 @ 11:00 pm
Didn’t I teach you anything? Just write the check.
Comment by Grandmother — May 18, 2008 @ 11:37 pm
Man, out of the blue. Good job.
Comment by Whit — May 18, 2008 @ 11:50 pm
Not running and adding the twist of doing it pushing a stroller? A double stroller?? You da man!
And I have to agree with your grandmother—write the check.
Comment by Ed (zoesdad) — May 19, 2008 @ 4:48 am
Until I read this post, I thought I was the only one who still associates orange slices with soccer games…. Good job on the 5K. My husband would have laughed in my face if I had suggested that!
Comment by Cynthia — May 19, 2008 @ 9:27 am
Way to go on finishing it while being out of practice and pushing a double stroller.
Comment by Julie — May 19, 2008 @ 11:23 am
congrats on finishing. I’m pretty sure I would’ve just keeled over.
Comment by Shamelessly Sassy — May 19, 2008 @ 12:42 pm
You know doing the right thing and making a difference is never easy. Your body may be sore but your soul is content. Ahhh enough of this philosophical BS…What I’m really trying to say is that it sucks that you had to run. Why couldn’t you just give money? NO matter, you did a great thing!
Comment by Chris — May 20, 2008 @ 11:51 am
At least you finished. Cant say I could. I love the fact you made her push the stroller up the hills.
Comment by above average joe — May 20, 2008 @ 7:27 pm
Oh my god! That sounds awful! I am dreading the fund-raising aspects of my daughter starting preschool this fall, but I haven’t heard any plans to make us have to ever break into an actual run! I am much better at staffing the table of baked goods.
Comment by Lynnie — May 21, 2008 @ 12:27 am
How long did it take you?
Comment by Black Hockey Jesus — May 25, 2008 @ 7:16 am