Rationalizing the Irrational

Mrs. Jogger has been giving me a bit of a hard time about how far I'm running. Why, she wants to know, do I have to run 18 miles to train for a half marathon, which is only 13.1 miles? Here are some of my answers, although I haven't tried these all out on Mrs. J.

• In January, I wanted to get started training. I had an 18 week marathon training program, which was just right, but no 18 week half marathon training program. And the marathon training program starts at a pretty low level. So why not? Of course, by now, I've built up to higher mileage than necessary, which leads me to some more rationalizations....
  
• By building up pretty high mileage, I'm expecting the half marathon to feel like only an intermediate distance. It should seem relatively easy.
  
• I'm thinking ahead to the marathon in the fall. I'll build up to pretty high mileage in the spring, run the half marathon, then back off and build back up to high mileage in the summer. By the time I do run the marathon, I'll be in pretty good shape.
  
• I want to see what I can do. Now. There's only so much one can defer gratification. As of right now, I'm a guy who can run 18 miles. If I never run another step, that's an accomplishment.
  
• (This is the one that Mrs. Jogger doesn't get.) It feels good. It really does. Yes, I'm sore. Yesterday afternoon, I could barely go up and down stairs. There's also a warm glow that comes from having really pushed myself. There's no comparable feeling, at least not in my experience.