Slowly But Surely

I didn't write earlier because I didn't want to jinx it. I'm not normally someone who believes in the power of  your lucky socks that you never ever wash because they make you win,  but you can never be too sure. So, I kept things to myself until it seemed like a sure thing, and, it seems like a sure thing.
*Knocks on wood*.
It would appear that I have a part time guide runner.
I'll give you a moment to take that in.
Are you good?
I'm still not sure I completely believe it, but after two runs, one of which was 4.5 K, the woman I met for coffee almost two weeks ago has asked me to make a more solid running schedule with her. We'll call her Laura. I am very excited about this.
As of right now, we are running twice a week, Wednesdays and Fridays, with Laura's boyfriend offering to step in on days when she can't make it. I've never met him, but I'll take any help I can get. She's a bit worried that once I reach higher fitness levels, I'll be able to outrun her, but we'll cross that bridge if and when we get there.
Currently, she is training for the Berlin Marathon to be run at the end of September, so our runs together are more of a favor to me than to helping her train as I'm obviously running at much lower volumes. However, I'm sure the double runs she's getting on those two days will help her as well.
I haven't asked her about guiding in a race because I figured that we should get more comfortable with just training together. Running is a recreational thing for her and so my goals of competing competitively may not be up her alley, so to speak, but right now the training is the most important part. It's so nice to get two runs outside instead of being inside every day.
Last Wednesday when we had our run, she had asked me if I still wanted to go because it was raining. She said it didn't bother her and it didn't bother me so we went. It was just good to know that a little bad weather won't stop her; especially since we live in a country where it is almost always raining. Not to mention, we seem to get along quite well. We chatted the whole 4.5 K and that certainly made the time go by. I struggled a little on the last .5 kilometres, but she was encouraging without being too pushy. She was also good with her verbal cues and describing some of the scenery as we passed by. All of these things help a blind runner be distracted from the discomfort she/he may be feeling. Sighted runners can obviously receive these distractions via their own eyes, but we ocularly challenged folks need a little help and Laura did a great job.
So, where do I go from here?
I'll continue training twice a week with her and hopefully meet other runners along the way who would be interested in training and/or racing. I have researched the London marathon and thought that I'd love to run it. It may be a bit of a push since a half marathon before it would probably be a good idea, but it's something I really want to do. So, I'll keep moving forward and see if I can put the infrastructure into place to get me there by next April. If not, I'll keep training and make the 2014 marathon.