A decision has been made

Yesterday, I decided that my husband and I probably won’t be running together anymore…until our 10K race in Fargo this fall.

I have started running more for distance than speed and he hasn’t yet. Now that he’s been running more and more, he’s getting good when it comes to speed…at least for 5K races. Our last 5K race, which was July 17 in Henning, I finally got him to run without me about a third of the way into the race and I think he surprised himself. He did it 29:35; I did it in 31:29. 

Not that I am making excuses, although I know it really sounds like I am being a big whiny baby, but I am not sure what is going on with me. I have been having a very hard time with my breathing lately when I am running. After a couple of minutes of running, I feel like I am just sucking air big time. And honestly, it has been psyching me out. I kind of start panicking and then I have to slow down. Not sure what that’s all about, but I think part of it has to do with running with my husband.

You see, like I said, he’s been doing really well and when we run together, his pace is a little bit faster than mine and when I can’t keep up, I kind of psych myself out and then my breathing gets thrown off and then it just goes down hill from there. It’s totally not his fault and I don’t blame him. It is completely me and my stupidness. 

I KNOW, I KNOW…just relax and just run. Right? Well, it’s not that easy for me and because of that, yesterday, I declared that we can no longer run together. For right now, I just need to run by myself and concentrate on me and my breathing and my pace and my distance. I have been trying to get in at least five miles each time I go out for a run…so far, so good. Yesterday, my husband made it four miles and yes, his pace was slower than his three-mile runs, but it’s still faster than me. 

And there’s one more thing. We do our training/running differently. He likes to start out fast and end slow. I like to start a little slower, keep a somewhat consistent pace and then toward the end, pick it up and run like the wind. We’re just different that way and that’s okay. There is nothing wrong with it.

So, our next race together is on August 21 in Vining. I am going to suggest we just run it on our own and see what happens. I am also signed up for a 5K in Elbow Lake (thanks to a reader’s suggestion!) on August 7. My husband couldn’t make it, so I am running it with a friend. It should be fun!