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Amy Albers is an Atlanta wife, Boy Mom, runner, reader and lover of fun places! Follow along on her journey through motherhood, miles and family fun at Mom’s Magical Miles!
When I started running, I was winding down my 39th year on this earth. I non-refundably signed up for the 2011 Disney Princess Half Marathon before ever putting on a pair of running shoes. Knowing my tendency to get excited about something and then lose interest, my husband was skeptical but careful not to really dampen my enthusiasm. I recently asked him if he ever thought I would be a runner. His response was, “No. It was a shock when you pulled that out at 40.” Over the last four years he has watched this crazy habit grow deeper in me and showed his support in so many ways!
He is Chief in Charge – Oh Em Gee, training takes a lot of time. My husband picks up the slack without batting an eyelash. Granted, our boys are 6, 11 and 13 so they don’t require as much maintenance as they used to, but when I started running this was a bigger deal. He has taken over for entire weekends when I do races that are out of town. No freaking out, no frantic phone calls with attitude.
Jeff has done a few races with me and would like to do more, but it’s hard to get a babysitter at 0’dark thirty so we can be at the start line in time. He has declined many runs in favor of staying home with our guys so that I can go race.
He is my Sugar Daddy – Anyone who tells you running is cheap is lying to you! Shoes, clothes, gear, race fees… it all adds up. And the aforementioned destination race weekends? Those take some punches at our budget. My salary as a preschool teacher doesn’t exactly threaten our tax bracket. But Jeff gives me a minimum of eye rolls and heavy sighs when I tell him about the next race that I just HAVE to do, or when I am explaining what the latest charge from the online running store is for.
He is a Proud Husband – He made me my first medal holder. It says, “Take That, 40!” on it. When it got full, he commissioned his dad to design and make a new one that would hold a lot more. He put my first half marathon medal in a shadow box with some pictures and is insisting on doing the same for my first marathon medal – he feels that it can’t just be mixed in with the others. When I completed the marathon, he announced it on his Facebook page.
He is an Appreciative Father – He’s mentioned to me previously what a good example I’m setting for our boys. All three have run a few smaller races and my oldest has done two 5K’s with me. He likes that they see me putting in the training time. I like that he teaches them that female athletes deserve just as much respect as male athletes.
I was thinking about exercise in general and pondered if my body would look the same as it does now if I hadn’t started running. His reply surprised me. “Maybe, but that’s not the main benefit for you. You’re a lot more confident.” I didn’t really realize that until he said it. He wasn’t talking about my appearance. Life. I’m a lot more confident in my life. None of this would have happened, though, if he had downplayed my efforts or didn’t make it easy for me to train.
Do you have a husband who supports your efforts to be healthy? What special things does he do to encourage you?
Head on over to Mom’s Magical Miles to she what awesome races Amy has been up to!
Bonnie says
atI love everything about this! What a great guy Jeff is!