The Beginning

I am so excited that Kalem and I have started this blog. We have decided to run as a way of getting healthier. (I think that Kalem is thinking of looking into other forms of exercise, too, so that may be discussed later on). Our main reasons are to lose weight and to get healthy. We want to have the happiest, healthiest, longest marriage that we can. In addition, we want to be healthy in and when we decide to have children. WE ARE NOT PREGNANT (I realized Kalem's entry may have given that idea)! We want to have a healthy pregnancy and raise healthy children.

Our first marathon will be the Richmond Marathon on November 15th. I am really excited and nervous about it. I think it will be a great goal to have as we get in shape. We also are tentatively planning to run the Pittsburgh Marathon May 3rd. This depends on how we feel after our first--if we aren't too broken after this one (!), it may become an annual thing.

Well, Friday's run was certainly a kick in the butt. In case you didn't know, I had taken a three week off to nurse a painful groin pull. I was really ready to get back in the swing of things--before my injury, running had become an important, almost integral, part of my life. I missed having the outlet for stress and way of centering in a fairly busy life.

So. It was a difficult run, but I am so glad we did it! It was wonderful to watch Kalem run--he was always ahead of me. He has such beautiful form. At one point I got teary, because I know how hard he was working and that his main goal is to be healthy enough to play with the kids we are seriously discussing having in the next few days. I am so proud of him. When I saw him sprinting the last of his run, I thought I would burst with pride.

As for me, I too, like Kalem, had a heck of a time on the second-to-last lap. My leg was bothering me a bit after, but I feel fine now. I ran at a snail's pace, but I did it! I think that, with time and more muscle, I will be able to increase my pace to the necessary 16:02. I look forward to increasing my mileage and rediscovering the peace I used to feel while running. We have what feels like a kabillion miles to run during training for this marathon and, though I may complain a few (ha!) times, I can't wait for each and every one of them.