And so it begins....

So we went to our first team meeting at the Fitness Formula Clubs location in Lincoln Park a couple of Thursdays ago. The purpose: To kick off what is sure to be a cuckoo-nutty summer of training for the LaSalle Bank Bank of America Chicago Marathon.

We met our coach. We met our support team. We met Wendy Avner—mother of Lindsay Avner, founder of Bright Pink—and we met some of our fellow cuckoo-nutties.

For Joy, the nerves, a distant echo when we signed up for the race, have gotten a little bit louder. For Ross, he'll just be psyched when he can have a chocolate Zico again.

Our next step: Today's trip to Team Bright Pink partner (and one of our favorite stores) Running Away Multisport for some hydration belts and other goodies.

And now we await (anxiously) our training schedule via email tomorrow—our master for the next four months or so.

But who's counting?