It's ok to be different

I can't lie, it's pretty awesome to have a husband who is also an ultrarunner.  He totally understands that there is no other option than getting all my runs in.  It's a mortal sin in our house to say "just skip this one."  It's nice to have someone who completely understands all the ups and downs of ultrarunning.  I also enjoy supporting him and being there for him in good runs and in bad. The occasions that we get to do a training run together is so nice and until now we have done all our races together.  Of course it can get dicey when we have life things going on and each have to go out for a super long run individually due to someone has to be home with the kids.  But overall it's great. 

rare training run together this weekend

I ran my first marathon on my own and then Emir ran his while I was pregnant with Una.  After Una was born and I got back into the swing of things, we ran about 11 races together.  I think we had it in our heads that we had to always run the same things.  After Emir had some major disappointments with his road marathons (due to sickness and injury), he just felt like he wanted to take a break from that and focus more on improving his trail 50K.  I on the other hand was very successful in 2013, dropping a ton of time off of my road marathon time.  Of course this only made me want to run another one in the spring to try to lower my time more and work on possibly making a BQ in the next couple years.  We also differ on this point due to the fact that Emir as a guy would have to take off way more time than I would to BQ.  It took some lengthy discussions and time for us to figure out, hey it's no big deal if we do some different races than each other and actually it might be a really good thing.

When Emir had to skip Runner's World Half and then didn't do as well as he wanted in NYC and Philly due to an injury, it was tough.  I felt so bad that I was able to run and that I was able to get PRs.  I know he was happy for me but I know how bad he felt inside about himself.  I felt that exact way when he felt much better at Bear Mountain than I did.  So while it's nice to do things together sometimes it can be extra tough especially when one of you has a great day and the other one doesn't. 

My buddy and I out for a winter run together

So this spring I am focusing on improving my marathon and Emir is focusing on his 50K.  Of course we are going to do the double Blue Ridge and the Born to Run 100K together but we are doing a couple of races separate in March.  I'm actually pretty excited about this.  Last week when I ran the Key West Half by myself, Emir was able to be there with the kids in support.  It was SO great to see them during the race.  It was not only the support of Emir but the look on Niko's face was priceless, just beaming with pride.  I am really looking forward to bringing the kids to Emir's 50K in march to support him.  There is some kind of loop to it so we will be able to see him multiple times and have aide for him, etc.  Then he will be my support for the OD Marathon that is my "A" race of the spring.  I think it will be a great experience for all of us as a family.  I can already tell how much of an impact it is having on Niko who is only 4.  He asks daily about when we are going for our runs, he asks how many miles we ran.  He's been talking non-stop about how he watched mommy run a race in Florida and always points out my medal hanging in our room.  He has even completely on his own come up with an idea for his 5th birthday party (which is not until the end of August!).  He said he wants to have a medal party which he explained is a party where he and his friends all run a race and get medals for finishing.  I just was in awe of what a great idea from a 4 year old but also that what we do does totally influence our kids.  I am just so happy right now that we are having such a positive influence.  It makes me want to work harder and to keep trying to be
the best mommy/runner I can be. 



Niko with my Key West medal