Dawg Dash 10K

I had never really run with my husband Matt until this summer.  He’s been unbelievably supportive of my running (not the least of which includes walking me to the SFM start line at 5am and meeting me at the finish with my warm clothes in-hand) but would never consider himself a runner.  But this summer we made a pact to find more active things that we could do together (agreeing that carpooling to the gym just doesn’t count).  So this July, Matt put on his running shoes and trudged through several training runs with me. 

I was excited to share something with Matt that I love and has been such a big part of my life, but I’ll admit I was nervous at first.  I knew he would be faster than me and I worried I’d hold him back or wouldn’t be able to keep up.  I wanted to impress him (this makes me laugh just recalling this) and didn’t want to disappoint.  Silly worries that shouldn’t matter, especially given that we are MARRIED and have seen each other through much more substantive things!  But still, I worried. 

A few short runs and one long trail run later, we found our groove (and realizing how ridiculous my nervousness was).  Running together once a week is now one of our favorite traditions where we get to wind down from the week, talk about the week’s events, and just have some devoted time together.  Fast or slow, easy runs or workouts, it’s been great to be there encouraging each other and finding synergy in our strengths. 

With no fall races on the books and Husky pride to spare, we decided to sign up for the Dawg Dash 10k.  It would be my first 10k and his first race, ever!  As the day approached we were more and more excited, but preparing ourselves for 6.2 miles of torrential downpour.  But when the day arrived, we had nothing but clear, blue, beautiful fall skies and a tree-lined course full of amazing fall colors from the changing leaves. 

Both being Huskies, it was fun to find the start line right in the heart of campus where we spent countless hours studying and shuffling between classes.  When the gun went off, we worked our way through the massive crowd dressed in purple and gold, finally settling out by the first half mile.  From there we settled into a comfortable pace – surprisingly about thirty seconds faster than our normal pace – kicked it into cruise control and enjoyed the scenery of the race step by step, mile by mile. Before we knew it, we were rounding the corner to the finish.  No better setting for a final kick than running through the UW Quad, crossing the finish line together.

Crossing the finish!