remember two years ago, when i said i didn’t run? well… it’s fair to say things have changed a bit since then. it started while cheering for the athletes on the berlin marathon, last year. some of the people running the course were quite old or didn’t look very physically fit… and yet they were doing this amazing endurance feat! and it got me thinking that i should be able to do it too, at least a little bit. i mean, i’m just a regular person, i should be able to run a few kilometers! so i decided it was time to quit my whining and just do something about it.

i like how easy it is to get going: grab some shorts and an old tshirt, some music, lace your shoes, and off you go. i run with the boy until i get tired (about 5km in) and then i let him go on for the rest of his (much faster paced) run. so far, i’ve ran a total of 155km, and i plan on slowly running my way to a total of 300km this year.

also, i confess i’ve always been secretly jealous of his running medals… which is silly, i know… but now i can enter competitions of my own and get my own medals! :D i truly love how democratic running is: anyone can enter these races, just sign up and run run run!

so i did! here’s my brother and me, heading towards the starting line for lisbon’s mini-marathon:

the race is just 7km, and filled with people enjoying this unique opportunity to cross the amazing 25 de abril bridge on foot, so the pace is slow and relaxed. while the boy sweated his ass off on the half-marathon, the two of us leisurely jogged our way to the finish line, stopping to take photos and admire the view :)

my grandpa helped build this bridge, back in the 60s, and i couldn’t be prouder of him for such a fine job! it truly is a stunning work of engineering.

and of course, there were medals! and ice-cream too, which was lovely! :)

(oh! and the boy ran the 21km in 1:28, breaking his previous record! humpf! :P )