Dwindling Number of Excuses

It's spring (sort of, since it's 40 degrees and rainy today) and with one friend on a tremendous self-improvement drive and another about to kick into her wedding weight loss plan, it's hard to be the one slug in the group.
The fourth of our friend team was musing aloud the other day how she wants to run another marathon, and do I want to train with her? When I finished choking with incredulous laughter, she endearingly persisted by saying, "I'll show you the training plan, you could do it."
After running that 5k the other week, I realized that I have room for improvement, and a need for new running shoes. Saturday I addressed the shoes by picking up a new pair at the Nike store. (And helped the planet by donating the old pair to Nike's Reuse a Shoe program. The soles are recycled to make surfaces for basketball court and tracks.) I wanted a SUNNY yellow pair, but they only had blue in my size. Oh well.
To add to the dwindling list of excuses to not get out there and run, my new running shorts arrived in the mail the other day too.
And it's now a bearable temperature outside somedays, with the sun out. (Haven't seen that fella in six months!)
Jason's even been more outgoing, although we are still figuring out a compatible pace. He favors fast (hare) and I prefer a slow but steady approach (tortoise.) He's a little bossy about the route too. "Why can't we run by the lake? Why can't we run by the lake?!" I whine as I burdensomely slow his ambitious pace down. I might sign up for another 5k at the Lincoln Park Zoo, where I can run by my pace-mates, the Tortoises.