Today’s workout was another run. It was the second run with my wife. Today, I made up a game: Scouts and Wagons. I’ll explain more in a bit.
She is hoping to run a marathon next year. I love running, and have always been a solo runner. Date runs with my girl are fun, but I get frustrated when she starts to lag way behind. I am try to maintain a slow pace of 11:something per mile when we run together. So, when she slows down even further, I start to grumble under my breath. To her, I only say, “Let’s go girl!” and, “Come on, Tiny!”
You can see the run here, on Strava.
Instead of bringing out my inner Drill Sergeant today, I prayed. “Give me grace, Lord.” He knows I have lagged behind, deviated, even reversed course, along the race set before me. I am no stranger to Prodigal sojourns along goat paths to nowhere. God is patient with me. So, I need to be patient with others, and especially with my wife of 22 years!
I jogged along slowly, praying about it when inspiration struck. Have you ever read the book Lonesome Dove? If you haven’t read it, then I have already lost my patience with you. Let me pause to ask for forgiveness for myself, and for mercy on your soul.
Scouts and Wagons
Lonesome Dove tells a sweeping story, the main device of which is a cattle drive from south Texas all the way to Montana. The main body of men and cattle make their way, slowly along with the wagon. A scout, usually Josh Deets, ranges far ahead in various directions scouting for water. An image of Deets off alone scouting while the wagon and cattle lumber along popped into my mind. And, that’s the inspiration for the game, Scouts and Wagons.
Instead of grumbling about going slow, I told the wife, “I’m going to scout ahead,” and took off running. After a short while I circled back to her. Sometimes I got off the main path for a while. She kept her pace along the main trail. I circled back. “I made up a game,” I said. “Scouts and Wagons. I’m the scout and you’re the wagon.”
“That’s perfect,” she said, jogging along. “I’ll go slow with all the cooking gear, water, the tents, the rope.”
“You mean,” I said, “you got the junk in the trunk!” I swatted her backside and took off.
The result was a super fun run, punctuated with nice slow jogs filled with good conversation. I tried to push myself on my scouting missions. Got nearly as quick as a 6:12 mile for a few seconds in the park. I never scouted off long enough to get a mile on my own. Each mile (after the first) divided into fast times alone, and slow, steady times with the wife. The graph below shows my various scouting missions. The blue parts are where I caught back up to my wife and jogged along.
Scouts and Wagons in Technicolor!
Its because I know you’re tricking me into running more than I bargain for.