Running and Friendship

Friday, August 18, 2017 · Mike Davis

Good morning!

Wednesday night at the track, Doug mentioned to me that the Saunders 10K was the next evening and that totally took me by surprise! It seemed so early. Typically, NFLR has a couple of groups that train for Saunders, but not this year, so I guess that is why it caught me by surprise. Of course, Doug and I did our normal back and forth routine about if each other was going to do it. We made no decision that evening, but I was pretty sure, if I did it, Doug would. Yesterday morning when I got up, I checked the weather and it looked about as good as it has to run in many years. So, I text Doug and let him know I was running, but no pressure on him. He quickly responded that he was thinking about it and in the next sentence, said: “I decided to run!” Of course, I was not really surprised.

Doug and I became friends many years ago, when Doug joined one of Runner’s Alley training groups and through his future wife, we teamed up to develop the NFLR website. Over the years this relationship grew from a functional tradeoff (his IT skills for my coaching), to a wonderful friendship. Doug is the quiet introvert, while I am the more vocal extrovert. Doug is a very good runner, who struggles with consistency, while I am not such a good runner, but fairly am consistent. Our offsetting qualities are helpful with NFLR, but also an important strength in your friendship.

As yesterday afternoon got later and my legs felt tired, and I knew if when Doug got off work, I begged out, he would most likely choose not to run as well. Knowing that running an easy pace would be okay with Doug, kept me motivated despite my tired legs. Doug even text me in the afternoon, telling me what he had for lunch and that sounded like he was wavering. Of course, I did not suggest that we not run, so when he got home, we proceeded to Rye without an external thought of changing our minds. On the drive, we did talk about pace and of course we agreed that 9:45 early and see what we could do later.

The race went extremely well! Of course, our pace was faster than we discussed, and both of us slid in under 55 minutes, which was surprising. I had a lot of fun seeing all my friends that come out to either run or work the Coastal water stop, so that was awesome! Most of all, I enjoyed the time with Doug and realize if it were not for running, we would be strangers to each other today. Having wonderful and healthy friendships is important to me, and thanks to running, I have been blessed with this one!

Have a great Friday and reach out to a running friend this weekend!

God Bless!

Mike