My dear, long-suffering hubby and I have now been together for over 30 years, and married for more than 22 of them. Like most long-term relationships, we have had our ups and downs over the years, but have always stuck solidly together.
In the early days we bonded over our love of rock music and motorcycles - shared interests that drew us together and gave us 'stuff' to do together (beyond the ... ahem... obvious!!!). As the years went by, we discovered a love of the great outdoors, of hiking and climbing, kayaking, skiing, snowboarding, cycling and eventually running. With each new interest came a burst of new-found joy in our relationship... it refreshed things, if you like, gave us new things to do together. When we eventually got round to having our daughter, the love of these things were shared with her and once again we got to enjoy them all anew, through the fresh eyes of a new human being. I confess there are times when I could readily throttle Mr Wall, but I still love the very bones of him and long may that remain. My relationship with running has, in many ways, followed a path similar to that of a successful relationship. We first met at school, where we flirted with one another on and off for a few years before finally drifting apartf after the last exams were sat and life beyond the school gates beckoned. We saw one another as casual friends on a few occasions in the decade that followed with just the odd run for pleasure in that time. Towards the end of my twenties, I started to see running's attraction in a different way, and took our relationship somewhat more seriously. A few road races made their way into my agenda, and a few more, until by my early thirties we were pretty much going steady - a spring and autumn marathon, with 10ks, 10 milers, half marathons and 20 milers strategically placed throughout the year. It was a high-maintenance relationship demanding treading a thin line between peak performance and injury/burn-out - more than a couple of weeks away being repaid with stoney glances and 'serves-you-rights' from the scorning 'partner'. For the first half-decade or so of our relationship, interest was maintained by the variety of road races on offer and the desire to better my pace at all distances. For the last few years, interest has been injected and supplanted by a change to ultra-running, trail-racing and (latterly) obstacle course racing, adventure racing and running as a family. This is, to me, the key to me staying engaged with the sport that I continue to love more than 14 years into our serious relationship. Like any other good long-term relationship, life these days is so much more settled than those early days. Sure, we still have days when we hate one another, days when we want nothing to do with one another, even days when the time spent together would probably have been better spent apart, but these are surpassed by the comfort and familiarity that the relationship holds, and the joys that it brings. Deep down I know that it is always worth putting the effort into sustaining the relationship. I try not to resent the times when my runs are not so positive and dwell, instead, on all of the positives that running brings me: the 'me time', the health benefits, the weight control, the mental health pluses, the running friends (who are the best type of friends ever!!), the drive for self-betterment... the list goes on. Not to forget those very rare days (or nights) when I actually get to run with my husband. In my running, as with the the rest of my life these days, I find that when things go less than smoothly, it pays to have faith that it will all work out in the long run... Happy running my friends...
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