Our Newest Running Partners

In each of the places that John and I have lived, we have had the opportunity to be a part of several running and/or biking groups. In Arkansas, we met to run with my dad and several others each Saturday followed by coffee and scones downtown at the River Market. In North Carolina, we trained with a few people from work, but were primarily each others partners as we trained for our first marathons while becoming more serious about biking. In New Jersey, we found some of our closest friends in our local bike group and spent many weekends on long rides throughout New Jersey. We also did some running with a sub 3 hour marathoner and top 50 finisher at the Boston Marathon who challenged both of us.

However, none of our previous training partners compare to our newest running partners which are by far the toughest and most precious we have ever had. These guys are hard core in that they expect to keep moving at all times-absolutely no stopping! This "no stopping rule" applies even with minimal sleep, food, and drink (no exceptions). Our newest partners are somewhat fairweather runners in that they are partial to early morning runs and don't care much for any hot or cold temps. They are kind of high maintenance because they require a full stomach before leaving and won't have it any other way. They typically bring their own "music" and make us listen to it the entire way if we are not in line with their expectations for that day or if we run longer than what they wanted to do. No amount of training in our previous groups could have prepared us for our newest training partners. In the end, though, our newest training partners have smiles that make us melt and four eyes that pierce right through you. They are adapting to our running preferences and we are doing our best to adapt to theirs! I am posting some pictures of our newest training partners before our weekend long run as we get dressed, fill our bellies, and stretch our legs!