The date is getting closer.

As of this issue, I’m a mere 45 days away from my half-marathon (the one my lovely wife signed me up for), about 1/2 of the way through my training.

And things are going great.

Endurance is getting better. Distances that seemed insurmountable mere weeks ago are becoming dust in my trail.

The turning point came last weekend on a quick vacation to my hometown of Richland, Wash.

Our training regimen dictated Friday as our long, slow distance day – a two-hour run at an easy pace, one where conversation can be maintained at all times.

We were both looking forward to this long run – neither of us had ever run continuously for that long and were eager for the challenge, to see how our training had progressed us.

And, what do you know? It’s working.

We completed a two-hour, 8.06 mile run along the beautiful Columbia River. I don’t know if I was inspired just from the scenery or if the program has really been that great, but I felt I could have kept running forever.

Suddenly, 13.1 doesn’t seem that far away anymore.