How one couple trained to run a marathon

My first step was taking short walks after dinner, once or twice a week. They were just leisurely strolls, and I never went very far. I set the smallest goals for myself: I'd get to one telephone pole, then try to make it to the next one.

After a few weeks, Al noticed a difference in my body and in my spirit. I'd walk through the door refreshed and invigorated. Emily, then seven years old, noticed a change, too. She had come to see her parents as largely sedentary. When she was a little girl, Al and I would sit in the backyard and watch as she ran circles around us. She was always scampering around the house and it was hard to keep up with her. By the time she was five, she was doing gymnastics and running at school while Al and I sat at home. Thankfully, our idleness didn't rub off on her. I think she just thought all parents were overweight, sedentary folks.

One day, after I had been doing these walks for a few weeks, Al got up from the dinner table, put on his shoes and said, "You know, I think I'll join you."

Al knew he had to do something about his health. He's only five foot seven but weighed as much as 210 pounds. He also has a family history of heart disease and diabetes; his dad died of a heart attack when he was just 52. I remember Al saying he didn't want to end up that way. But the idea of eating well and exercising daily seemed impossible with his busy schedule (he is a counter representative, which keeps him away from home for up to 10 hours a day).

Two for the road
When Al decided to join me, I knew our routine would stick. The walks went from potentially boring to adventurous. We'd challenge each other to go up a hill, tackle a rougher trail and go a little farther each time.

I needed that challenge. I have Usher syndrome, a genetic disorder that gives me severe tunnel vision and moderate hearing loss. But with my husband by my side, it's impossible to think of it as an obstacle.

In those first few months, Al and I gave each other the fuel to keep going when it was sometimes difficult to get motivated. It would have been so easy to just flop on the couch. After work, Al would sometimes lie down and say, "Honey, let's just forget the walk today." So I'd remind him how great he feels after he gets out there. And he often pushed me when I'd feel especially drawn to the couch.

We were making small, tangible strides every week: I never bought a scale, but I could tell by the way my clothes fit and by the increasing level of energy I had every day.

And Al started looking like the boy I fell in love with decades ago. Al and I met when we were in the same high school in a small logging town on the west coast of Vancouver Island. We've been here – and together – ever since.

As kids, both Al and I were pretty healthy, but by the time we graduated from high school, we were both heavy smokers – sharing about three packs a day for more than a decade. We quit cold turkey the day we decided to start a family in 1993. Quitting smoking together taught me that Al and I were capable of doing great things when we worked as a team.

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