How do you cope without support from your partner ?

Reading this, I realise (more than ever) how lucky I am with my wife.  She supports me in my running, and I support her in her activities.

A few years ago, we noticed that we were getting unfit so together we decided to do something about it.  She wanted to do exercise classes (they weren't for me....I tried once but I was hopeless on that blasted step! ) and I started running and joined a gym.  She was nervous about joining a gym, but after a while she let me take her to the gym and then she gave up the classes, and also started running.

It hasn't always been easy.  She works very long hours (school teacher), so we've had to work out a "schedule" for chores etc.  I.E., I do most of the cooking and shopping in the working week, and she does most of the other chores on the weekend.  It seems to work for us.

Lucky that my wifes from New Zealand. The fact that her future husband emulated Snell, Walker, Quax and Dixon went down a storm. 15k before breakfast! 'bring it on!

As Big_G has said, this thread makes me feel lucky. Although my wife doesn't take a massive interest in my running as I don't think she really gets why I do it, she never moans about me disappearing off for an hour or so, which, as we have an eight month old, is very understanding of her. She'll always come and see me run in any races, including an hour stood in the rain this morning. I think she's just glad I'm doing something healthy. I've told her she should take up running and that I'd happily look after the baby while she was running (we'd have to alternate days) but she really can't understand the appeal!

Might as well mention that at the Aldershot Road Relays where it rained the whole time and was forecast, my wife and son appeared to be the only ones supporting their menfolk, and had volunteered to come along too. The team was lucky she did as when we had won the event, she produced a camera to snap the winning team.

RRR, that's a good point. It's not just our immediate partners that can be less than supportive. Probably a question of how people identify with those around them, like smokers identify with each other as smokers. Once we break the status quo we discover how narrow minded are many of those around us. If you have a lifestyle; for want of a better expression, than encompasses diverse interests, then you might find yourself having to stand back as members of respective groups makes disparaging comments about the other. If you have a foot in both camps, you get caught in the crossfire, which you have.

I don't have a partner, but my friends have all been supportive of my running. I mean they do think I'm mad, but they always want to know how I got on or what I'm training for next. Although before I started running if someone told me they got up early on a Saturday morning to run 20 miles in training I'd have thought they were mad too.

RRR - I think that is easy to see why. Outside elite racers almost all coverage of big events such as the London marathon, GNR, Manchester 10km etc is focused completely on charity runners. The story behind that person running for charity. In work and other places when I've mentioned I'm running any marathon the first question I'm asked is "for what charity?". A lot of non-runners assume you'd only run these events if raising money, not for personal sporting targets.