NatNews

While runners often become friends with and frequently socialize with other runners, not every area of their lives involves the running community—in fact, many of them are dating or married to non-runners.

Like plenty of other individuals in the world, runners typically have at least a few quirks. After all, many of them willingly wake up before the sun is even close to rising to go run more miles than some people with commutes drive to work. Voluntarily. And on weekends. But while significant others don’t always see eye-to-eye on the notion of running being an enjoyable activity, many of them respect the dedication their loved ones have.

“Being married to a runner is great,” Jonathan Finke, Dallas resident and husband of runner Becca Finke, said. “She can be so inspiring on a day-to-day basis with her commitment and mental strength. The weirdest thing is also the commitment to drag herself up at 5 a.m. every day to go run.”

Whether it’s through letting alarms sound off at ungodly hours, cheering at races, putting water bottles out along routes, or a number of other selfless acts, many non-running wives, husbands, boyfriends, and girlfriends show tremendous support for their partners in their running endeavors.

“Any encouragement goes a long way toward helping her reach her goals,” Ethan Celuch, Dallas resident and fiancé of runner Paige Ryder, said. “Any way of not supporting would make it harder for her to stay motivated or disciplined to reach her running goals.”

And that support often comes with rewards and reciprocation.

“I support her by meeting her at the bar after her runs—where she buys me breakfast,” Celuch said. “She supports me by giving me plenty of free time to do my activities while she is running.”

Christie Trilla, Dallas resident and wife of runner Javier Trilla, said she makes all of the pasta to fuel her husband’s long runs and is frequently along the courses to cheer for him at his races.

“It’s a lot of early bedtimes, which is fine with me,” Trilla said. “I cheer at some local races but not all. I travel with him to some non-local races and will cheer where possible—some are easier than others. The Chicago Marathon is great for cheering!”

For Finke, being alongside his wife as she pursues her running goals is an integral aspect of their marriage.

“It’s important to support each other because you know how much your spouse loves that activity, and you want them to know that it’s part of the reason why you are with them,” he said.

And, like Finke, Trilla said she hopes to contribute to the continued joy that her husband finds in the sport to which he invests so much time and energy.

“I think I’m a good runner-supportive spouse because I used to be a runner myself,” Trilla said. “I understand the grit and dedication it takes to train for these races. Hell, I wanted a wife (read: support person) when I was also training, and I am happy to be a support person for him. For me, running doesn’t jive, but it jives for my person, so I want to make his journey as good as possible.”

Q is the only letter that doesn’t appear in any American state name.

A recent debate on Reddit regarding whether or not the thumbs-up emoji is passive-aggressive sparked quite a generational controversy, raising the question of whether or not certain emojis can be interpreted as anything beyond their literal meanings—and highlighting the significant disconnect that is often present in communication between different generations.

Though the use of emojis is a personal preference, that preference is often in direct correlation with the time period in which an individual grew up.

“I think younger people tend to use emojis a lot more because they grew up with them, and they became part of their initial language and ways of communicating,” Josh Odegard, IT specialist and member of Generation X, said. “Older people didn’t start using them until they were already adults and having more adult conversations.”

His assumptions are not far off for today’s current teenagers.

“I use emojis probably in almost every text conversation I have—at least three or four times, usually more,” Mithra Cama, local high school senior and Generation Z member, said.

And with more than 3,600 emojis available, individuals have a variety of emotions they can convey without the use of actual words. Some of these, such as the aforementioned thumbs-up emoji, have the potential to be misinterpreted based on how the recipient takes it. That’s the case with words, as well, though. If someone reads a reply that consists solely of the letter “K,” he or she might reread what was sent right before that to see what could have upset the other person. Punctuation can also send a message to the individual receiving it.

“It would depend on the context of the conversation,” millennial Lyndsey Kohn said. “I’ll interpret a text response “okay.” as passive aggressive because of the period. A thumbs-up emoji could definitely give that type of energy."

What millennial Rhett Bruck has discovered is that it’s quite possible that the miscommunications and misinterpretations resulting from texting occur simply because of the nature of this form of communication.

“The older generations don’t understand the usefulness of texting, while younger generations don’t understand how convenient and meaningful a call can be,” he said. “I have found that giving friends my age a call to make plans or just check in on them means a lot to them.”

As Cama points out, though, younger generations don’t make as many calls simply because they haven’t done so in the past and often don’t feel comfortable on the phone.

“I think the communication standards are different between different generations because of different preferences and different habits between generations,” Cama said. “For example, people from older generations may prefer to communicate through phone calls, as opposed to text messages or DMs, but younger people often feel intimidated by phone calls. I think it just depends on what people grew up with and what they are used to. Since older people didn’t grow up texting and using emojis, they take more time to analyze and put effort into their texts, whereas kids my age could text with their eyes closed.”

WEEKLY PHOTO OP

National New Friends Day is this week—you can be friends with these people