Running Mate Pt. 01

She ran with me and picked up the pace. I dug deep and forced myself to push through the psychological voice screaming at me to stop. Running is a mental sport, it really is. Your mind whispers at you to stop. Just stop. Why are you doing this? You don't need this. You don't need to prove anything. You fight that. It also makes you think you are hurting. You aren't. But you think you are. The pain becomes real and you have to fight that, too. It's hard.

With Amanda beside me, it was easy. I wanted her to be proud of me. I thought of Betty and wanted her to be proud of me, too. I picked up the pace and drove my body. Amanda cheered and went faster. I kept pace.

Amanda cried out to sprint and I ducked my head and pushed hard. I drove my body and ran as fast as I could. The finish line swam before me and got closer and closer. My lungs were on fire and my legs burned. Amanda stayed with me and yelled at me to keep going. I heard the spectators yell out encouragement. I heard an amplified voice call out my bib number, telling me to keep going.

I felt alive. This moment was important to me. My whole life I had never managed to do anything of significance. Now I was running my first race and sprinting toward the finish line amid cheers and clapping. A grin spread across my face and I screamed out in joy. The finish line sped toward me and suddenly, with my arms raised high in triumph, I crossed the line! Amanda crossed a split second behind me.

We ran to clear the finish line area and then Amanda grabbed me and screamed her joy for me. We jumped around, embraced and then she kissed me.

My arms went around her, and I pulled her in tight. I kissed her with all my passion. It was sweaty and I could barely breathe, but I kissed her hard and she kissed me back.

She broke the kiss and grinned a wide, tooth-filled smile at me. "Way to go, Tiger! I'm so proud of you!"

I searched her eyes and then kissed her again. I had to know if the first kiss was accidental or not. She kissed me back and we stayed that way until the surrounding catcalls broke us up.

"Hey lovebirds! Get a room!" laughed a couple walking past us.

We laughed and gave each other a peck and then walked toward the recovery tents. We met the people handing out the medals and a 10K gold medal was put around my neck. I held it up to look at it. It was the first medal of my life. I was proud of it. It was cheap metal, manufactured in bulk, but it was mine and I had earned it.

"Look at you, the proud runner!" laughed Amanda. "Cherish this moment, John. You'll always remember your first race."

I looked at her. What I would remember most was her running beside me and the kiss at the finish line. "I could never forget this. Amanda, thank you."

She saw how serious I was. She stepped up and kissed me softly. "My pleasure, John."

* * *

I wish I could tell you that Amanda and I suddenly became lovers and fell into bed together and lived happily ever after. But that's not how life works. We connected, absolutely. We teased each other that day. Spoke of sexual things with lots of innuendo. But life isn't that simple. Emotions and thoughts get in the way and for good reason.

For one, we had two decades of life between us. She was a young and vibrant woman with her whole life ahead of her. I was a middle-aged widow. People like that don't find happiness together. That would be unfair to both of us.

We both knew that and without another word being said, we went back to our lives. That's how life works.

Don't boo or hiss. This tale isn't over. I started this by saying my wife died over two years ago. The 10K race was only four months after my wife had died. There's a lot more that happened.