And so it begins

The weather for our first marathon training run could not have been more fabulous: It was cool and overcast-y with a slight breeze and a low-pressure front of camaraderie. Barely a majority of our 17 runners showed up, but that just gave us a bigger pool of no-shows to gossip about.

And the run was great. Except for the part where I couldn't find my orthotics, which I'd hidden away last October in some drawer where I guess I'll never find them again. And I forgot to wear my house payment of a GPS running watch, which I'd at least had the foresight to charge the day before. And the 1.5 mile sign was missing where we'd planned to turn around so our three-mile run ended up being four. And we went to our default barely-qualifies-as-edible diner for brunch afterward because for some reason it can always seat a bunch of people on a moment's notice, and as I was sawing through my French toast I suddenly realized I was eating at the last place I would ever pick—aside from a David Vitter diaper fitting or a(nother) Rush Limbaugh bachelor party—for a birthday brunch.

But! I did remember my camera. And here's what our quorum looked like all aglow after our first four miles together:

300 miles from now, we'll be running a marathon together!