I get it now

Something strange happened to me last night. Something I've never experienced before. I was walking home from the shop (where I totally did not purchase a pizza and a beer for tea) when two people ran past me in the opposite direction. It was cold and it was dark and it was almost half past seven. The rush hour traffic had moved on. Headlights and tailights glowed in every direction. The world was tinged with the orange hue of streetlights. Dark clouds hung overhead, blotting out the stars and threatening rain.

Kinda like this, but less blurry.

The two runners both both looked pretty damn miserable, like they were trying to get this over with and go back home to be warm. Their cheeks were red. They were breathless, but trying to talk as they ran. Both of them looked like they would have given anything to have traded places with me, to be going home with dinner - which, again, was absolutely not a pizza and a beer.

And you know what? I would have traded with them.

For the first time in my life, I saw someone running in pretty crappy conditions and my first thought was, Damn, that should be me. That's never happened to me before. Even just a month or two ago, I wouldn't have felt that way. But now I get it. Now I understand the drive, the motivation, the desire. My body is bursting with energy. If I don't run - or even make the time for a short workout at home - I can't sleep. I keep glancing at the calendar, watching the date slowly draw closer, knowing the enormity of the challenge that lies ahead. I really want to do this.

It's now almost six pm on a Tuesday evening and I'm glancing out the window to check the weather. It hasn't rained for a while (absolutely hammered down while I was in town earlier with my lady, smashing the Christmas shopping). A little voice in my head is telling me to do it. Go for it. When else are you going to get the chance to train?

If you're out in the cold, dark night and you see people running for fun, don't be too harsh on them. I'm one of them now. I get why they do it.