Dreaming of a "Half"

It's Monday, and to start the week off right, I went on a 10-mile run with a friend. It was unexpected, I was really planning a shorter trot when I woke up this morning. But we bumped into each other in the locker room and she cheerily invited me along, so off we went.

I was initially reluctant. Last time we went running I couldn't keep up. I had to walk up hills and she would go on ahead, and then turn around until I caught up. But she promised we'd run slow, as she's training for the Middlebury half-marathon in late April.

Thankfully, a winter on the treadmill and getting outside to run early last month has put me in good enough shape to run with her again. And we ambled along, up hillsides with lovely views of the mountains, along a picturesque reservoir, through quiet neighborhoods with magnolias in bloom, until we were back in our sleepy college town.

Half-marathons are not easy. You can't just roll out of bed and go run one. A 5K, or even a 10K I could probably do without any sort of training "schedule" but a half-marathon is thirteen point one miles, not just a zip around the block.

Can I really run a half-marathon in two weeks? I hope so! I've signed up.