The Tortoise & The Hare

This is Emily & I after a 3.4 miler. See how refreshed & energetic she looks? See how red & sweaty & ready to die I look? Yeah. So not fair. Oh, and yes, we totally try to match when we run together. Loves it.

My sister has been bugging me (as only little sisters can) about guest blogging again. Honestly, I feel like such a total dork when I guest blog because, as stated in my last post, you come here for her journey & her sense of humor & I don't even come close to being as entertaining as her. I am far behind her in the humor department.

I am also far behind her on every stinking run we have ever taken together. We are training together for our first 5K. We are following the Couch to 5K program & highly recommend it. The thing is, for Emily it wasn't exactly couch to 5K. It was more "gym 5 days a week & meeting with a trainer 2 of those days" to 5K. Me? It was "on the couch getting winded walking to the kitchen for another brownie" to 5K. So maybe I was setting myself up for feeling like a failure. I'm not the most competitive person but I am very comparative. Meaning, I often compare myself with those around me. So, when my sister & I headed out for that first run I figured she still had 40+ pounds on me & that I would be the one encouraging her not to give up. Ha! The pride comes before the fall, right?

I did not fall, literally, but I sure fell behind. I remember our very first run. It was a gorgeous & cool day & we headed out with our iPods synched to the second with our Week 1 Mix Down (our own music with Emily's ghetto fabulous impersonation telling us when to walk & run). We did our 5 minute warm up brisk walk & I was winded. Then came time to run for 60 seconds. 15 seconds into it I thought I was going to die. I made it the full 60 seconds though & was surprised that Emily was right beside me. (Remember, I thought she'd be eating my dust). 3 minutes of walking followed the first run & at the end of the walking I heard "RUN" in my ears & I guess (according to my sister) I said some very un-Heather-like words & got to running.

The first week we kept pace with one another but by week 2 she was much faster than me. I remember her saying something along the lines of..."um, well, when we run do you want to try & pick up the pace a little?" I probably would have died had I tried to run faster but I told her she was more than welcome. Ever since then we have kept pace during our warm up & cool down but during the run she is always about a block ahead of me. Emily & I joke about this tortoise & hare situation but it's not just us who have caught on! My dad gave Emily a card for her birthday & on the front of the card were two women running. The blonde was in front & the brunette was in back. Emily says "Oh, look, it's me & Heathy" and dad says "Yeah! & look who's up front" ha ha ha. Thanks dad!

I could be annoyed & jealous at her speed but instead I just choose to remember that this means that on race day she will finish first...and be there to high five & hug me at the finish line!

----Heather----