DNF

It was the first day of the week and I was excited to run. I was bent on doing another 8k.

It was Kernan’s rest day so he was just going to accompany me to UP.

Just as we were preparing to leave, our eldest daughter Jamaine stirred from the bed and opened her eyes. I tried to put her back to sleep but she saw a light piercing through the curtains. “Mommy, wake up na tayo, morning na.”

I thought, “Should we cancel our run?”

Weeks ago, when we let her tag a long with us, she cried when I had to run ahead of her and had a big tampo that morning. I wasn’t able to finish my intended distance.

But instead of not running at all, Kernan still decided to bring her along promising to distract her so I could have my run.

But I made sure to explain to her, “Mommy will run later okay. Just stay with Daddy.”

She said, “Okay Mommy. ‘Di ako mag-cry.”

We were doing fine as we did our warm up walk and she did not run after me when I broke away from them so I could run faster.

After finishing one round, she pulled me to the side of the road so she could hop on the mini yellow posts along the sidewalk.

I played with her for a bit so I could rest but I was intent on having another round. She ran along with me for a few meters when she suddenly asked to be carried. She clung to me so I couldn’t pull away.

That was it, that was the end of my run. DNF.

But then I was happy I did not finish.

There are things more important and more fun than running.

I realized the time I spend with my girl is far more valuable than any running time I could achieve.

When she’s older, she’ll be my other running partner.

I think she’ll like running.

In the meantime, we’ll tag her along and play with her while she wants us to. I know soon enough, she’ll want to spend less time with us and more with her friends. So we’ll enjoy her company now while we can.

I love her and she’ll always be more important than anything in the world.

Just like Daddy loves her a lot too.

After all, they’re the lookalikes.

I love running. But if my family needs me,  I’ll take a DNF any day.

At the end of the day, this is what I want to have on my personal record.

Have a great week everyone!

—

I wrote this post three weeks ago and found it stored in my phone’s file manager. Which reminds me, how much I miss my running partner.

I need to run soon.

Posted on June 28, 2010 in Running | 2 comments

Tagged as: Running