Inspiration is a wonderful thing - and nothing inspires like 50-degree air temps and the presence of the sun. Even I couldn't talk myself out of jogging the bike trail to Bug Light this weekend. I mean - it felt like spring. Spring!

With two slices of cinnamon toast in my belly (with real sugar for extra energy) I attempted the (approximately) 3-mile (round trip) trail on my own. Sure, 7 minutes running/2 minutes walking is easy to maintain when running in a group. The fear of public ridicule is an excellent motivator.

But it's just me - and I let myself cheat all the time ("Shannon, what's that over there?" "Where?" And down goes a tater tot). I'm not going to lie - it was a struggle, and I threw a couple extra one-minute walks in the mix when all the saliva disappeared from my mouth. But I kept myself honest the whole way through - I'm proud of myself, and so am I.

Of course, by the end I was roasting and it became clear that pants were just too much to wear. Not a big deal, seeing as I have running shorts from last year that were just the right length to a) not make me self-conscious when stretching, and b) not ride up (forcing the wearing to continually yank the inside seam down while running, which I must say is not conducive to proper form).

But alas, those splendid shorts have become too small for me (or I too big for them)! I'm not ready for shorts yet - I need a few more weeks of running before I can fit back into my running shorts.

Ah! The irony!

Please warm weather - come slowly!