Relationships are complicated, but most of at least hope we’ve mastered adult communication at 30 years old.
This couple has been together for two years and live together to boot, so this absolute breakdown came as something of a shock.
OP has taken up running and really enjoys it. Not only does he like the exercise and the clearer head, but he loves to challenge himself to get faster and better.
So, he signed up for a 5K with a specific time-goal in mind.
My girlfriend [31f] and I [36m] have been together for about two years now. We live together.
About nine months ago I picked up running as a hobby and I have since grown quite fond of it. I currently run an average of 25 miles a week.
A few months ago I decided I wanted to try a 5k or 10k, and after some Google searching found a 5k in my city that looked fun.
I registered for it, paid the fee, and decided to start training specifically for it.
His girlfriend thought she would like to do it with him and he thought that sounded like fun. When it came to training, though, she really couldn’t be bothered.
I mentioned it in passing to my girlfriend that night, and she asked if she could come too. I was psyched about the idea of running a 5k with her and said yes, but warned her that she would probably want to start training because I was going for a sub-27 minute time, which might be tough for a complete beginner.
She said she would like to train with me, which, again, sounded fun. The next morning I woke up at 5am for my run as I usually do, but my girlfriend was not up for it and told me she’d go later.
This continued for a week, and then two weeks, and finally I managed to get her up once for a run. She was miserable the entire time and I basically didn’t get any exercise.
The week of the race arrived and she shrugged and said she would get through the race the way she got through running assignments in middle school.
Last Friday, the day before the race, I asked if she was really up for it. She insisted she was. She then told me that she would just “skip-gallop” it, like she used to do with her mile runs in middle school.
I asked her to demonstrate what a skip-gallop was, and she showed me this bizarre side-stepping gallop, as if she had casts on her legs.
I told her it seemed like a really inefficient way to run, but she insisted it always worked for her.
He half thought she was kidding, but she definitely wasn’t – and when she realized she wasn’t in any kind of shape to finish a race, she asked him to walk with her.
He said no, he was trying to beat a specific time (which she knew) and took off on his own.
Saturday was the day of the race and right out of the gate she utilized her skip-gallop strategy. Two minutes in I realized that she was already completely gassed.
She started asking me to wait so we could walk together. I apologized, told her I loved her, and left her behind to finish the race. I ended up with a time of 26:43, beating my goal.
At the end of the race he found the car gone and had to Uber home, where he was screamed at for “ditching” her.
After the race I tried calling her but she wouldn’t pick up. When I made my way back to the car I realized she had left me. I took an Uber home, and right when I walked in the door, I was met with cry-shrieking about how I ditched her. I tried to calm her down and explain that she kind of brought it on herself but she was not interested whatsoever.
Yesterday she gave me the silent treatment all day. Do I deserve what I’m getting here?
Reddit is going to have fun with this one, don’t you think?
The top comment says the girlfriend totally brought this on herself.
Image Credit: Reddit
There was a lot of speculation about what she might have been thinking.
Image Credit: Reddit
While this commenter commended OP for not pretending like he didn’t know her.
Image Credit: Reddit
Some don’t think it was malicious behavior…
Image Credit: Reddit
But they still think OP should tread carefully going forward.
Image Credit: Reddit
I agree this is a red flag but not a glaring one.
Hopefully she was able to get over her embarrassment and apologize!