21 Years and counting...

Every cloud has a silver lining. 

When I was in grade 10 I was kicked out of St Paul's High School, an all boys Jesuit High School. I ended up quitting school for a year, getting a job and decided to go back to school the year after. 

Then the Jesuit high school told me they wouldn't let me back until I completed grade 11, so I went to a regional public school were I ended up meeting my wife.

Had I not gotten kicked out of school, had I not taken a year off, and had I been allowed to return to St Paul's for grade 11, I would never have met my wife. 

Alice and I met in high school when we were 16 and 3/4 years old (we're only one month and one day difference in age) and it was apparent early on that we were soul mates. What seemed like my life being a little out of control at the time, was actually a tremendous blessing in disguise when I met Alice. I believe it was fate.

After we met and started dating, I told Alice about an experience I had when I was around 8 or 9 years old. At the time, my friend and I rode our bikes to a park that was about 3 miles away from my home, which for a kid, seemed like it was 20 miles away. It was a real adventure. My parents would have freaked out if they knew.

When we got to the park, from a distance, I noticed a girl my age on the top of the monkey bars. I didn't say anything to her but I had the strangest sensation. I looked at her and had this warmth come out of my chest and I couldn't stop looking at her . I never said anything to her and then after a while my friend and I rode home.

It turned out that that park was just down the street from where Alice lived and she played at that park all the time. She was a bit of a tomboy and loved climbing the monkey bars. When I told her that story, she told me that she too remembered that day. 

She remembers being on the top of the monkey bars and looking down at a boy with a bean shave haircut. (At that time my brother and I were the only kids in Winnipeg with a bean shave, most kids were growing there hair long in the 70's, but my parents made sure me and my brother and I looked like we lived in the 50's). Alice saw this bean shaved boy and also had a warm feeling toward him.

Once I met Alice in high school, we knew we were meant for each other, and discovering we both had the same experience at the park at a young age added to it. We ended up dating for 6 years before we got married and today is our 21st Wedding Anniversary. That means we have been together 27 years, which is longer than when we've been apart. We not only finish each others sentences, but one can be thinking about something and the other, out of the blue, starts talking about the same thing.

I knew I met the right person when on our wedding day she had no problem with me doing an Olympic distance triathlon in the morning. All she cared about was that I was at the church on time later that afternoon.

I sent Alice flowers today and I made reservations for dinner at the Powerhouse restaurant in Stoney Creek. I made sure I got my training done early. It was a track speed workout and I did it in a torrential down pour. I've never run in that type of rain and if I didn't have an anniversary dinner planned I would have stopped and done it later. It was so bad that Alice was in her car at the time and with the wind shield wipers going full blast couldn't see out the window, she thought she was going to get in an accident it was so scary. Meanwhile the track had about 3 inches of water on it, it was a huge puddle and my shoes each weighted about 5 lbs.

I needed that workout, it was my first running speed session in almost 4 weeks. I've lost a little speed and my quads were a little sore at times. My fastest 1600 was at a 6:11 per mile pace. I was just glad to finish, dry off, relax and enjoy the evening with my Pippy Longstocking.

Running Speedwork - 50:03 / 7.03 miles / 7.07 pace

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