One More Reason to Love Him

Ahh, Mr. Fix-It, this man is pretty freaking incredible, y'all.

Because his employer was a sponsor for the Firekracker 5k this year we scored two free entries into the race.

I registered myself without hesitation, but was slow to sign him up.  He hadn't said he wanted to run.

He hasn't been training either, so my confidence was a leetle...well...LOW.  Plus, we didn't have anyone to watch kids for us as we ran, and ya know, logistics.

Then his parents decided to come up and Mr. Fix-It, AKA Mr. I-Love-Me-A-Challenge, said, "Hey, sign me up.  Mom and Dad can watch the kids for us.  This will be fun."

Ok.  Done.

Prior to the race, Mr. Fix-It gets his game face on

Courtesy of the Coloradoan, this is me getting my game face on for the last stretch

Mr. Fix-It is a FAST runner - think the hare - and usually prefers short distances, e.g. around the bases, down the football field, etc.  He runs about a 7:30-8 minute mile without training (yes, I am completely envious of that, as I had to work for a year to get a sub 9 minute mile out of my legs), but I wasn't sure how he'd do over distance, even if at a pace much slower than his own, that of my 11:something/mile pace.

He did great.  A few times I felt the bile rise and I stopped to walk briefly in order to keep from puking right then and there.  He could've kept running.  (Though funny thing, when I walked he fell behind - he told me I walked too fast!)

He was a gentleman and let me finish first knowing how much it meant to me, though because I'd crossed the start mat a second or two before he did, we finished with exactly the same times!

But, probably the best part of the whole race with my husband was his humor - even panting he still got his smart aleck commentary going, to the benefit of those around us.

Example #1 - As we approached Mile 1, there was a volunteer announcing times and another traffic volunteer standing in the road with a 'slow' sign.  Mr. Fix-It then proceeds to say, "Dude, I know we're slow, but do we REALLY need a sign telling the whole world?"  It garnered many chuckles.

Example #2 - Between Mile 2 and Mile 3 we had to run eastbound on the 'wrong' side of a westbound street.  There were cones and signs telling drivers to remain in the far left lane as the race was in progress, plus volunteer traffic flaggers.  However, one driver of a car felt obliged to lean out his window and yell, "This road should be CLOSED!" as we ran past.

Mr. Fix-It proceeded to tell the crowd, in his best red-neck speak, "I bet that boy's gonna go home and drink him a can o' red 'n' white Budweiser.  He'll be all, 'I was on my way home from buyin' Copenhagen at the 7-Eleven and all these people was blockin' the road!'"

Example #3 - there were several noticeably pregnant women running (don't ask - it defies ALL laws of gravity in my mind to run THAT pregnant), and Mr. Fix-It told me, "We can't let the fetuses beat us - they're making their moms do ALL the work, and that's not right," in effort to keep us moving at the end.

I love this man.

Courtesy of the Coloradoan.
My boy Middleton in the bottom left at the fun run.