the beginning...

Last weekend I started building my 2008 race schedule when my wife Sena came into the room. There is some debate as to what followed (she says I talked her into it, I say she talked me into it), but in the end, Sena was signed up for her first ever road race... the Big Sur Marathon.

So a little background... Sena isn't a runner - period. I'm not sure why she is doing this - it probably has to do with her obsessive husband constantly droning on about how great it is. Maybe she was inspired by others crossing the finish line at some of the races she watched me run and said to herself - I bet I can do that.

She will have approximately six months to get ready. The first 2 months she will spend on becoming a runner.

Tactically we have done a few things wrong already - we chose an early spring marathon (it is more difficult to motivate yourself to run through the winter), we have chosen a difficult marathon with a lot of hills, we have chosen a marathon with a 6 hour cut off... I'm sure we will realize all of the other mistakes we have made at some point, but hey - you've got to start somewhere, right?

I was dumfounded/impressed/intrigued when I suggested some shorter races in the intervening time between now and the marathon and Sena responded that she wanted her first race to be a marathon.

I'm very excited about the prospect of having Sena do a marathon for a number of reasons... maybe she'll better understand my insanity (or just develop her own); maybe she'll understand why I don't want to do yard work after a 20 mile run (or maybe she'll realize it is just a painful way to get out of yard work); but most importantly, I really just want us to be able to do a lot of cool stuff together as we age and training for a marathon has a way of getting you fit enough to do many other fun and exciting things in life, not to mention getting you to feel better on a daily basis.

So I just finished my last blog on my first Hawaii Ironman and I'm hoping to capture some of the more interesting moments as I help her through her training. I'm also hopeful she posts her thoughts here too, to give the readers a balanced view as the memories unfold.

Finally, I hope other non-runners will be inspired to try their first race, whatever the distance.