OMW: Pair

One-Minute Writer: Pair*

*Today’s Writing Prompt was actually was “Pairs,” but what first came to mind was a thought on “Pair.”

I have had it good for many years when it comes to my running buddies. There are many of us, and we all live in the same town, prefer early morning runs, and enjoy each other’s company – even the silly jokes we’ve heard a few thousand times before. Come winter or spring, summer or fall, rain or shine or hot or cold, my running buddies show up at a set hour on the token day for the weekly run. Just as the sun comes up, our run happens – it is a given!

Tuesday is the staple day from which all other runs stem. On this day we gather in front of the same house at the same time for the same route. Just like the sun comes up, this run happens each week without fail. There may have been one Tuesday in the last 7 years for which this run did not occur – probably the year Christmas fell on a Tuesday.

Sunday is another day; we typically run long. This has been popular as we all trained for various events, some that we would run together.

Friday is often another training day, when we run tempo, shorter intervals, or even just easy. But it is a day we get together for a run more often than we do not.

When training is in full swing, we even consider Wednesday’s and sometimes even Thursday’s.

This morning was Tuesday. Just like every other Tuesday, I gathered in front of the same house at the same hour for the same loop. Only on this Tuesday it wasn’t the same. It was only me and one other. There were just two, a pair. Over the years the only run where there were so few were explained due to some being out of town on vacation, or they were injured.

Only, this morning, there were no injuries, and no one was on vacation. There was just the two of us when our numbers used to be four, five, and sometimes six or seven. The reason for the dwindling numbers are many, and they are all founded, but still, it wasn’t until this morning, with just us as a pair for a second week in a row, that I realized just how good it had been up until now.

I miss those days when we were larger in number. But I also realize that the trend downward in numbers is a mere fact of life. Some come, others go, but the friendships gained have been the thread keeping our group together, because although the running days have been fewer, the gatherings and shared life events have been greater. It is our way of keeping the Tuesday runs going, even if only by friendship, and for that I am grateful.

Thanks, guys. See you Tuesday.