Perfect Evening

Last night was the first of four races that is part of the Beaver Chase series that Kim and I enjoy participating in each year. As we both had to do the same warm-up and cool-down we figured it was easiest to actually run to and from the race. Kim got home from work, changed, I brought a Backpack with everything we would need and off we went. The run to the race was nice and easy, we registered, chatted with some old and new friends and headed out to do our strides and finish our warm-up. The evening was perfect, overcast with a slight breeze, cool, but such that you still felt comfortable in shorts. We hovered around the start area, talking with more acquaintances, many we hadn’t seen since last August at last year’s final race. We both had a guideline of race pace from Derrick that in all seriousness we were planning on following. So the race started with the typical – “Go!” and off we went. I fell into my stride fairly quickly and noted that I was way faster than goal pace, but cleared most of the initial crowd and settled in. I was focusing on my average overall pace and up to the half way I was running a fairly relaxed 4:20/km so I figured I’d step it up just a bit. A short while later we had to run an out and back section, coming back I passed Kim, grinning like the Cheshire Cat because she too was running faster than Coaches Pace, and feeling great. I passed one other guy and headed for home finishing off the last few hundred meters feeling better than I have at any previous BC races. My final time was 22:40 for the 5.4km route and I felt like I wasn’t straining at all through the race. Almost exactly 3 mins later Kim came sprinting in passing a young kid that has been her nemesis at previous races. Both of us way exceeded our expectations for the night and felt great and had a good time doing it. We chatted and cheered for a while and finally grabbed the backpack and headed home for our cool down. The entire run home we were replaying the race to each other, laughing and glowing. As soon as we got home, we grabbed a bite to eat and then both of grabbed our Laptops to upload our race data, and stood back waiting for Derrick to yell at us for misbehaving.

So I recount this story with the title because last night it was great to be a running couple. From the time we headed out to the time, really we went to bed, it was all about running and each other. We supported each other, kept each other company, fed of each other, celebrated together and just had a blast doing one of the things we love the most. What makes it even more special, was the day before we celebrated our 19^th wedding anniversary. When you think about being married to your life long partner and friend, nights like last night are truly what it is all about. Thanks my love, can’t wait for the run on the beach in Barbados for our 20^th.