When it’s just you and I, no matter for how long, that’s when I feel most alive together. Sometimes my mind wanders, but it always comes back to you. No matter where we go – from the roads, off to the countryside, the mountains, the gym – it’s us, and although the context of locations may change, and we adjust and adapt, we’re still the same together. There’s an undeniable rhythm between us. I feel like I know the peaks and troughs of spending time together, when it might be tough, or when we’re flying high.

Even when we’re spending time with others, I still feel that it’s the two of us first. After all, without you, we wouldn’t have all of these people in our life. Our quality time together has meant quality time with others.

What we share is both physical and immaterial; the connection is almost spiritual, but it’s in the physical touch that I get a tangible sense of ‘us’. The breeze on my face; the ground under foot; the rhythm of breathing in and out, cold air in my lungs; the feeling of a long day together taking over my body as I lay in bed, the exalted exhaustion of accomplishment, in the most wholesome way. And then there are the days where we just click, we feel the flow of one another, in sync, and there are no words needed, just the physical sense that we’re moving as one.

But it isn’t always easy. We both know that. There are challenges, but as long-held wisdom states, nothing that comes easy is worth having. 

I tell myself I can do it. I remind myself of that every day because even the smoothest times require effort and focus. And every time I said that we could do it, we did it, even when it was hard. Your silence often speaks louder than any words of affirmation that you could give. It’s that quiet trust that you place in me to let me know we’ll get through it. It’s always worth it. 

What I have learnt is that it takes effort. Sometimes I fall short. Sometimes we both exceed what we thought was possible together. Every time, though, I hope you know that 100% of my effort went into it. For me, it is my way of saying “I’m here for you” as my act of service. In return, I love how you share your reciprocation with little tokens of appreciation of what we do for each other. Small gifts mean the world since they come from all of our hard work. These gifts – the good times, the successes, the final results – mark how far we’ve come and how much we’ve grown together. We could spend days comparing with others, but together we’ve grown beyond needing this, and instead can sit with the contentment of our own personal journey together.

Dear, Running.

I love you.