Running

So I had an entire other post ready to go for this morning, but after yesterday, I decided to start off the amputation/prosthetic blogs on a really great note. Yesterday, we ran together for the first time. It was amazing & a little bit emotional, and I am feeling so incredibly proud of him. A little bit of a back story here...Before we starting dating, Joe and I became really good friends. We talked about absolutely everything from our families to politics to religion, right down to our dating lives: how to talk to a person of the opposite sex at the bar, who we were dating, what we were looking for. One day a midst this conversation, I mentioned that I really wanted to find someone who could run at least 2 miles with me because I was very active and wanted the person I dated to be active too (insert head smack here...I'm an idiot).

But at this point, I only knew a little bit about Joe's ankle (he kept most of his pain and situation a secret until I pried it out of him later, and then again later when his story went viral) and I definitely did not know the severity of the condition. So once we started dating, around the time he decided to have the amputation, he brought the topic back up about wanting to be able to run with me one day. I think he even said that he felt bad that he couldn't.

I felt awful. First, I couldn't believe he even remembered that, and second, I felt like the most horrible person ever because here Joe was getting ready to make this HUGE decision and out of all of things I was looking for, that was the one that really stuck with him. Well, this was honestly the LAST thing on my mind. There are so many other things going into this decision that should be about him, not about me and what I was 'looking for.' As cheesy as it sounds, Joe is my other half and I would still be with him even if he could never run again.

This past month has been really hard. Joe had a few minor complications with his stump (we'll get to that later) and he will be having another surgery in March. Between this, work, and dealing with the insurance companies (which is enough stress to make anyone wanna rip their hair in and of itself), it's been a really long Winter so far; full of stress and frustration. So when the insurance came through for his new running blade, it was so motivating and encouraging and exactly what we needed.

Lately, we've been really making a point to work out EVERY DAY as we've kind of gotten out of the habit with everything going on. Joe has logged a lot of mileage, and yesterday, for the first time we REALLY ran together since we've been dating. It was incredible. Just the greatest feeling. I ran farther and faster than I have in months because I was so excited and so proud to be running {kind of} next to him. It felt like we reached a huge milestone; a huge win.

Not only that, but we did more than 2 miles- we ran a 5k plus some.

And the best part was: I could barely keep up.

Oh, and one last thing. If you'd like to see a video of him running, check out his Facebook page: the Last Adventures of Joe's Left Foot.