Running Mate

By Charlotte Plant

My “running mate” is my boyfriend of one roughly a year and a half.  We’ve been gyming together since we met, but we’ve recently gotten into the running scene.

I ran my first race last year (almost died), but since then I’ve been trying to get him into it with me. Turns out I accomplished just this – I got him to join me running a couple of days a week. Problem is, he seems fitter than I am. How unfair is that? So off we go on our runs and I’m always the one needing to walk to catch my breath before he does.

Thing is, he’s a great motivator, but in the strangest ways. He’s either motivating me by giving me points that I need to run to before I can rest, or he’s chasing up behind me. The best one however, is when he teases me. Yep, turns out if you annoy me enough, I’ll forget the fact that my legs are burning or I’m completely out of air. We’ll be running down the road and he’ll start dancing around me (at the run) and teasing me. He even attempted to chuck me into a bush outside someone’s house, whereafter I was forced to dart after him to get him back – meaning that I’d completely forgotten that 2 seconds before I was almost dying due to lack of breath!

So as much as he can get me to run further and harder than I do on my own, I’m sure we give the neighbours constant entertainment!