Luke: Are Your Legs Tired? Because You've Been Running Through My Mind All Day...

We lay there panting, our bodies covered with sweat, her hair plastered to the back of her neck. I rolled onto my side and watched her chest heaving, neither of us wanting to break the silence of the moment as our hearts continued to pump and to thump a beat straight out of a Lady Gaga remix. This wasn't normally something I did on a first date, but it just felt so right, and frankly...it had been awhile since my last time. Finally she leaned forward supporting herself on her elbows as she tipped her head back, eyes half-closed, her breath steady enough to rasp out a few words at a time, "Oh...My...God...That...Was...Incredible." She smiled a toothy grin, her body glowing like one of the Cullens, "When can we do that again?"

"Well," I said, sprawled across the grass outside her apartment building, "I've got a 12 miler planned for Saturday, otherwise Tuesday is probably going to be a 25 minute tempo run." I checked my Garmin. "That was just over 5 miles. Nice!"

Hmm?

Well of course I was talking about running. What were you thinking about? Sheesh people, my parents read this, and that's NOT a conversation I want to be having around the table during Christmas dinner.

Until snOMG shut down the city last weekend, I was supposed to go on an "active" date - in this case snowshoeing - but alas and alack, we were forced to take a snowcheck. (Yes Alanis, it is ironic.)

Active dating can be tough though, especially during those first few awkward dates where you're trying to dress to impress. Forget picking out your favorite sweater or that one pair of jeans. You're going to be wearing spandex or running shorts (which leave nothing to the imagination), or bundled up in a zillion layers like the little kid in "A Christmas Story" (which leave everything to the imagination).

It changes the “flow" of dates too. I had a running date - a first date - with a friend of a friend. I started off peppering her with questions ("So how do you know Jen? What do your parents do?") but as the minutes ticked by, her breathing becoming labored (it didn't help that she was training for her first 5k and I was a month out from a marathon), I just started talking about myself, asking only questions that required her to gasp a single word answer ("Iowa." "Yes." "Ke$ha.")

Bike dates aren't much better. "Automobilus interruptus" forces you to constantly pull single-file, and shout attempts at conversation over your shoulder as the replies are lost to the wind, all the while realizing that she's stuck staring at your spandex-clad ass the whole time (could be pro, but more likely con). Even a leisurely ride around the lakes can be filled with more obstacles than the old school Nintendo "Paperboy" game.

So why do it?

Well, because they can be awesome. If you can't appreciate the sight of your running/biking/snowshoeing partner in motion, especially in glistening, short-shortsy motion, you probably shouldn't be going out with them. And once the relationship gets to that level, showering together is just the environmentally friendly, Captain Planet approved thing to do.

And there's something inherently sexy and fun about doing a shared activity that you both love (or at least tolerate enough to do with someone else. I'm lookin' at you ice skating). Most of my relationships have been with women who didn't run or bike, and yeah, it's cool to take them on their first bike ride in 15 years (or, because it goes both ways, to go with them to your first yoga class ever). But there's something even cooler – swoonier – about being with someone who shares your passions and the feeling of hope and possibility of building new shared memories together.

Running with someone - and I'm going to veer into generality here, not just getting into someone's pants - creates a closeness like nothing else. To butcher a phrase from Harper Lee, you don't really understand a man until you run a mile next to his shoes. When you're out there, side by side, step by step, you open yourself up, tipsy on endorphins to have a real conversation distracted by nothing else, your body on auto-pilot moving forward. It forces you to singletask in this multitasking world, acting and reacting in more than 140 characters and “Like” buttons.

It's why you can turn a stranger wearing bib #231 into a friend during a 10k race. It's why your lunchride bike buddies know what you got your mom for Christmas last year. It's why you can learn more about if a relationship is going to work from a half-hour showshoeing than an entire evening of dinner and drinks.

And if it means getting to shower together, well, that's not so bad either.