Welcome to the balanced athlete blog

First, I would like to introduce myself. My name is Iliana, and in my "free" time, I will manage this blog.

My husband (Eric) and I own a cute little running, walking and triathlon store in historic downtown Kent Washington. We specialize in fitting shoes by analyzing biomechanics and foot shape using a treadmill and a video camera.

We both love running. We see running not only as a sport, but as a way of connecting with nature, people, and our inner self. We also love to teach others about running, walking, and simply put, discovering how putting our bodies in motion can improve our mental and spiritual condition (we call this type of exercise "moving meditation").

Our dream is for our store to be more than just a store. We want to build a hub for a community of people who wish to get together to run, walk, bike, or do any other type of physical activity.

We have formed a running group that meets three times a week (on Sundays, after our running practice, we enjoy a wonderful breakfast at a bakery located in front of our store). We also have formed a walking group that meets three times a week. We go to races together, and we support and encourage each other. Even though our group is composed of individuals with various levels of fitness, everyone starts together, and no one finishes alone.

The purpose of this blog is to further build our community by sharing our running or walking experiences, race plans, running/walking advice, and any other relevant topics. Registered users can also post their own messages, and hopefully in this way we can grow our group and stay connected.

I hope that you enjoy reading our posts, and that we can, even if only in a small way, keep you inspired to put your shoes on and get out to discover something new every day.

-iliana