What is the right approach?

This week:

Saturday - 21.5km
Tuesday - 11 km
Today (Thursday) - 26km

Last night, my friend Alex said something along the lines of:"You look very tired Thomas - if you don't mind me saying so. Are you sure it's a good idea to run 26km tomorrow considering that we're going to be in the mountains on Saturday?"

I was tired. I was very very tired. It had been one of those days where it felt like Kampala had conspired to make things as hard as possible. Normally I cope well with it. Yesterday it got to me and when that happens it just sucks all energy out.

Anyway, Alex's very kind and polite suggestion, made me consider my options. To make a long story short, I decided to man up and give it a go anyway. I set out at 6pm. In the first 13 kms I made two 1 minute stops to drink some water and to have some energy gel, ran until it got dark and then put on my head torch. 2 hours and 19 minutes later, I was back. What a great run.

But all that is not really that interesting. No. What's much more interesting is the dilemma I am facing because of my wife. Not only does my wife look better than me, it turns out that she's also a better runner!!?? Yes! On the 10-13 kilometer distances she is definitely faster than me. Not more than around 2 minutes, but that's enough. Now, what does a man do in this situation? What is the right approach. Should I ignore it, deny it or face it? I would be lying if I claimed that it doesn't bother me. OF COURSE IT DOES! Not much, but a bit. Why? I don't have to tell you why. You know why. But I am not going to come up with sorry excuses and far fetched explanations. The fact is, my wife is faster than me! I've chosen to face it. And because of that, I can honestly say that I am very, very proud of her. In the last few months, training for the half marathon on December 5th has made her run distances beyond 10 km - something she has never done before. And every time she comes back from a new personal distance record she's as proud and happy as anybody is when they have pushed themselves beyond known limits.

It's not a matter of who's faster than who. Running is about personal achievement and having fun. And my wife's definitely proven that.

Well done babe :-) Ad finem!

Marathon Madsen