My Running Buddy

It's week four of our marathon training, and the miles are beginning to climb. Our midweek runs are beginning to grow longer (we're up to 5 right now), and our Saturday runs are also increasing in distance. We've had to tweak our training plan a bit in order to prep for the Ralston Creek Half Marathon in Arvada in a few weeks. Yesterday I ran 10 miles. It was not the best feeling run in the world--my legs felt heavy and tight, and a side-ache plagued me at mile five--so I was thankful to have a running partner to push me through: Kristin.

Several weeks ago Kristin and I made a habit of running together on Saturday mornings. I've never really been a huge fan of running with people, but I'm hooked now. Like I told Kristin during our run, I look forward to our long runs together because it's really the one guaranteed break I get during the week from work and grad. school. I love Kristin's company. She's so kind-hearted and genuine. She's one of those really thoughtful people who likes to put others before herself; she told me on Saturday that she and her husband were planning to come cheer Nate and me on at the marathon in May (despite the four hour drive!). She's not boastful, even though she could boast about a lot: she's an accomplished musician, incredibly faithful to her husband, and has made huge strides in living a healthy lifestyle. Though she's not training for any race, she shows up every Saturday morning (even when it's cold and windy) to run what most people would consider an insane amount of miles with me, and she listens to me rant about my job and my incessant chatter about running. Kristin inspires me to dig deeper into the Word of God, treat my husband with more respect, and to be less selfish.

The photo above is from Kristin's blog and was taken after our run a few weeks ago when we conquered the bypass road here in town.