The Bug

I bet you're thinking I'm going to start rambling on about cockroaches.

Nope.

I'm writing about a different kind of bug, the kind that infects on the eve of spring. Since Saturday, it's been in the high 50s here. I've been taking advantage and running around the national Mall. Tonight I had a near perfect run. It was a little humid, but it was in the low 60s and the breeze kicked in just when I needed it to.

As I was running, I realized that I wanted to be training for a long race, something along the lines of a half-marathon or marathon. That's what happens to me. The weather gets nice. I fall back in love with running. And bam, I want to race.

I haven't done that many long races. Nothing to brag about anyway. Fingers crossed that I'll get to run a 10k in May. I've never run one. It'll be an interesting distance, since I'm used to pacing myself for half-marathons. And I'm too slow to finish a 5k with a time I can be proud of.

So I've got the bug to go the distance. It won't happen this summer or even this fall, although I'm going to try to get in a 10-miler. But by this time next year, I hope to be training for the big one. That means I'll be getting up in the wee hours to run before work, sleep in only one day of the week and stop eating cinnamelts from McDonald's for breakfast.