When I met KK, I was not a runner. In fact I could think of nothing worse than to put myself through “that kind of torture”. I never even belonged to a gym. Yet when we met, we just clicked. I would often go with him to the road races, but always take a pillow with and snooze on the back seat of the car. It was bliss. It never seemed to bug either one of us that our weekends were so unmatched.

Just out of the blue, I decided that maybe I should give running a try. I hated it. Those first few kilometres were absolute hell and there were days when I questioned why I was actually trying it. But I hung in there. Starting with 4km runs around my neighbourhood, then a 10km and finally managing to do half marathons.

This weekend, KK and I celebrated our 12 year wedding anniversary. Time has flown by so quickly and I’m amazed at just how much we’ve both changed and also grown closer. I truly believe that the fact that I started running has meant we are able to share our time together more often.

I’m sometimes asked if the fact that we both run makes our relationship stronger. Yes and no. A part of me always thinks back to those early days and remembers that even though I never ran, I still supported KK and knew how much it meant to him. I was still there. And even though we might not run at the same pace today, the fact that I now also wake up at ungodly hours on a weekend to go run a race means a lot. To the both of us.

It shouldn’t really matter what each other decides to do in life, as long as we do it together.