THE THREE LEGGED RACE
As children, we used to take part in the three legged race. Each team has 2 players who tie together a leg each : one person their left and the other their right as one. So there is a total of three legs. And then you run as a single unit.
This game is a lot more complex than you think. Even before you can begin to think about winning strategies, you must first build synergy with your partner. When running together, individual speed doesn’t matter. In fact, at times, it can even act as a barrier. Theres always that team where one person feels they can run faster than their team mate and carry more load and get to the finish line faster. This happens especially if one person likes winning more. What it usually results in is that the slower team mate falls flat on their face and gets dragged for a few brief mini seconds until the faster team mate comes crashing too. It’s fun for the audience to watch and laugh but never fun for the 2 teammates.
There is a way to train though. First you begin walking slowly. Practise that long enough until it really does feel like your “common third leg” is functioning as a single unit and not two units breaking out from a forceful tie. Once you’ve mastered that, it’s time to up the speed to a brisk walk. This will be a little more challenging than the first and will require a tad bit more practice. Mix it up with some slow jogging when it gets boring. Once you’ve been through all these steps, you can then attempt a short sprint. Practice the sprint long enough, and you’re all prepped for the race. Now, based on your strengths and weaknesses as a team, you can begin to build your game strategy. How fast do you need to train to be at which point in the race. Are you a team that likes to cover as much distance as quickly as possible in the beginning and the take a breather for a while, or would you like to pace yourself at a uniform momentum through the entire race? Would you like to start slow initially and then pick up the pace as you get to the finish line or have you managed to practice so efficiently that generate a high level of synergy that your bodies communicate and move together without the need to use words to formulate a racing strategy? The last kind is extremely rare to find, and are mostly people who seem to be disproportionately passionate about the sport that they wish to master it to a level of perfection. It’s a lot of time & commitment to practice for a race that’s held just once a year and gets over in a short 1-2 minutes. Yet, every once in a rare while, there comes such a team. While it’s not my cup of tea, it’s absolutely thrilling to watch.
Relationships are like three legged races. You partner up and run, but very few prioritise taking the time to train together or strategise together. Life is full of little tragedies like this. Love slips away, like the ribbon tied around your legs, and all of a sudden you are bruised and empty.