Exercise and addiction (or the gift that keeps on giving)

I am married to an addict. No, he is not addicted to drugs or alcohol. He is addicted to exercise. And...he likes to share. Just ask all his buddies who he drags along on various adventures. Cycling, running, roller and ice hockey, rowing, judo, sailing, flag football, soft ball, lifting weights, hiking,  cross fit,snow skiing, water skiing, wake boarding,  skating... You name it, we have the gear or he has medal, scar, or t-shirt.

For the first three birthdays, Christmas and anniversaries that we celebrated while we were dating, every gift involved exercising. Roller blades, cross trainers, a gym membership, aerobics classes, a bicycle...I started to get a complex. Then I realized, he was sharing his heart and I embraced it myself.

So, as a girl who played outside, climbed trees, and hiked, but never played a sport, it was very foreign. But, I started down the path to addiction and I too dabble in it.  I had never run more than a mile in gym class, and he urged me to try a 5k. 15 months later, I had run a 15k, and a marathon. I got it bad.

I love to run, to clear my head and kick up my heart rate. The gym membership has lasted for 15 years and I miss it when I don't go.He has introduced our kids to his addiction and they too are junkies.

We skate as a family, have skied as a family (well at the end of the day... my husband is a daredevil and I am not) and have ridden bikes, run and rode scooters together. THEY all skateboard ( I took all the skin off my already broken toe this summer skateboarding in flip flops and have given it up). The kids do summer swim and play soccer. We all have the addiction and I cannot thank him enough. My life is better and I hope, will last longer because of my husband's addiction.

Now if I can get him to embrace my addiction to putting the laundry in the hamper...