The long distance bug

It seems like everyone runs marathons these days - or at least half marathons. The truth is that 13.1 miles is an attainable distance for almost any runner. You just have to love running, train properly and dedicate yourself to the distance.

I remember the first time the idea of running any more than 5 miles popped into my mind. I was on the ski lift at Wilmot one day in December 2005 with Bill and Laura. Bill told me he ran the St. Louis half marathon that past April and suggested I do it with him the coming year.

That's crazy, I told him. Humans aren't supposed to run that far, I said, echoing a line my dad always used to say in regards to marathons (I think he's changed his mind a bit since then).

No, Bill assured me, it's not that hard. He told me about the Hal Higdon training plan he used and said it was actually really easy to follow.

I was definitely intrigued. I tried to picture myself running 13 miles. It still seemed so, so far, but over the next few days as I thought more about it the distance became more attainable in my head.

Within a week I was hooked on the idea. I printed out Hal Higdon's novice plan and started training right when I got back to school. I even convinced one of my roommates to train with me.

Up until that point I was a casual runner. I ran cross country in high school. I wasn't particularly fast. I think my fastest mile was around 7 minutes, in a 3-mile race. That's nowhere near varsity level.

It took the idea of that half marathon to make me a real runner. I stuck to that plan, pounding out laps on the track at Stankowski Field, right behind the Zeta house. I got up to 7 miles - around a track, nonetheless, and then injury struck.

So the 2006 St. Louis half marathon wasn't my race. But I had been bitten by the long distance bug, and I knew someday I would do it.

And two years later, I did. Except it was the Madison Half Marathon. Then in 2009 it was the Sheboygan Full Moon Half Marathon. And the Chicago Marathon. And I've discovered all these people in my life who have been bitten by the same bug. Everyone, it seems, is a runner these days.

It's great. I wonder if everyone was a runner 4 years ago when Bill first mentioned the idea of a half marathon to me. Is this a club you only know about when you're in it? Maybe. And if so, I think that makes it even cooler.