Yeah, so this post is a week late. Sue me. I’ve been busy. But yes, that is me, joyously gliding over the finish line of the San Diego Rock ‘n’ Roll 1/2 Marathon, approximately 2 hours and 20 minutes after passing the starting line on a lovely, overcast, cool Sunday morning at Balboa Park.

Long-time observers will recall that just about two years ago, I couldn’t jog a half-mile without nearly passing out. I did the From Couch to 5k training program beginning on my birthday in 2010, and ran a respectable 30:35 5k in my first race a few months later, March 2011’s Run Away with Cirque du Soleil. Along the way, I went from being a “guy who runs” to a “runner,” I guess, and while I trained for the Las Vegas Rock ‘n’ Roll 1/2 Marathon last fall, I missed the registration cut-off and didn’t run it. So I signed up for the San Diego joint, and here I am on the other side, with a half-marathon under my belt.

When you’re dating someone, people around you ask when you’re going to get married. When you get married, they ask when you’re going to have a kid. When you have a kid, they ask when you’re going to have another. You get the point. Running seems to be the same way. After I did my first 5k, people asked when I was going to do a half-marathon. And after the half, people asked when I was going to do a full.

Well, the last thing I wanted to do right after running 13.1 miles in less than two-and-a-half-hours was think about running anywhere (and admittedly, my hamstrings wouldn’t let me anyway, not for most of last week). But the more I get away from it, and after talking to others who did run the full marathon the same morning in San Diego, I realize that, yeah, I probably will go for the full 26.2 miles at some point. Probably not in Las Vegas this December, as has been suggested. Honestly, guys, December in Las Vegas can get really cold, especially after dark (as this race is), and with the variable weather, who knows? But I’ll probably do some shorter races in the interim, work on improving my speed (now that I know my endurance is spiffy), and … well, MAYBE take a shot at the full somewhere like San Diego next year.

In the meantime, though, it’s almost summer in Vegas, which means it’ll be unbearable to even walk outside for the next few months, let alone run (I’ve seen you people on the road at high noon, and you’re out of your minds), so maybe I’ll cash in on that yoga studio gift certificate Sara got for me recently …