His new obsession

For the last few months Mike has turned into a running fool. He wakes up early to get in a run before work and then goes for long runs every Saturday morning. He ran his first 5K this fall and has run two since then, bettering his time on each try. Though he has no intentions of running anything more than a 10K I think he should train for at least a halft marathon (I tell him this as I wave goodbye from the couch, still in my PJs and thinking about what I am going to eat for breakfast).

So far, this hobby has not only kept him happy (he loves coming home to tell me about his new route or his new time), but it is also getting him healthier. He has lost about 40 pounds (losing his gall bladder earlier this year kick started that effort) and I couldn't be more proud.

My friend M is also a runner. She does marathons. Regularly. And though Mike isn't to that point yet he oftens asks me to ask her questions about running gear or tips or just wants me to brag on his latest feat. And she is always a huge cheerleader. Last week she passed along some new stuff for Mike to try. She said the "completely legal" over the counter gel had resulted in several negative splits for her (the second half of her run was faster than the first). She usually takes these on uber-long runs (like 16 miles), but said Mike would probably see the difference in just an 8 mile run. So he downed one before his run this weekend. Though he isn't completely sold on the Gu (really, that's its name), he did knock 2 minutes off his usual time, which is pretty darn good. What impressed him more though, was that M managed to down one of these packets while running. He did it in the kitchen before his run and it took him a little while to get the whole thing down. And there were a few funny looks as he did. We'll see how the second one goes.