Out this morning on a gentle run, I came across a man and a woman who were clearly in a relationship, but who were also from the looks of things insanely competitive with one another.
Having had this in a previous relationship, I know that it is great to have someone that shares your passion, but that too much competition is also a sure fire way to create friction. This particular couple seemed to have things largely in check, but there were times when I could see that either party was getting frustrated and that the gentle jibing away had the potential to spill over at any point in to something alot more serious that may ruin the day for them.
Later I saw them having a coffee together and it seemed like all was good.
Walking that fine line between letting your passion for man’s greatest freedom spill over into passion that you have for your partner is at times a tricky endeavour.
It is my personal thought that ultra runners and Ironman athletes have to either have a partner sympathetic to the sport, or someone actively involved in it. This is quite simply the easiest way for the ultra athlete to go.
I am interested in what readers think and what their experiences are. – Sean Muller
I thought this post was going to be on us for a second! Glad you stumbled across our blog. We definitely have our good and not so good runs together. Frustration isn't really aimed at one another, it just happens. Other than that, we love running together. Cheers!
ReplyDeletenice comment sean ! my son is called sean, by the way).... my partner, Esther, who is Spanish, so really Catalan, from Barcelona, is extremely understanding to my training and competition timetable though she does ask me to run and cycle very early in the morning at the weekend so we can spend time together. This works out well most weekends and is a small compromise to make - though this morning my 6am run actually got put off till 8h40, because i went back to sleep - and she didn't complain one bit.
ReplyDeleteBringing back croissants from the baker's for breakfast does help though ! and we have great croissants in France !!
all the best
m