The thought had been in my brain for a while, rolling around in my head like a little voice, constantly prodding me.

It all started last summer, when I covered the story of Ed and Linda Sproull , a Bellevue couple who one day decided to live a healthier lifestyle. It wasn’t without its challenges, but within a year the two had lost a combined 130 pounds and were preparing to participate in the Issaquah Triathlon.

Complicating matters for Ed was the fact that, due to a motorcycle accident in 1981, he would be competing with only his right leg.

But that hadn’t stopped Ed in his journey thus far, and it wouldn’t for the race.

“If I can inspire other people to do it,” Ed told me, “being there, doing it on one leg…I’d like to show it could be done.”

I couldn’t shake a thought from my head after I left Ed and Linda’s house that day in late May. Here were two people who had changed their entire life in the course of the year. And with Ed, here was a man racing in a triathlon using three different prosthetics.

So naturally, the thought hit me that probably hits each person who spends a little time with the Sproull’s.

Why couldn’t I do that?

Let me preface this. I’ve never been a distance runner. Growing up playing hockey and football, I’ve always been a “go fast in a short amount of time” guy. There’s no doubt I wouldn’t fool a soul into thinking I was a runner.

I began looking for an event and it was my wife who finally suggested we look in our own backyard – the Kirkland Half-Marathon. The race, which starts just 200 yards or so from our house at Juanita Beach State Park, begins May 9. And so now, my wife and I find ourselves in week five of a 16 week training program.

I mentioned before I’ve never been a runner. But I find myself doing things I hadn’t done before and I’m watching my wife do the same. Sure, it’s getting tough, but at the end of the day, I know Lynn and I will be ready for May 9.

I’ll be keeping readers aware of our training from time to time, if only to perhaps inspire someone else to begin their own journey.

Just like Ed and Linda Sproull inspired mine.