They tried to stop me

It's been a really wild couple of weeks for me. I'm pretty sure the universe was hell bent on trying to stop me from running my first half marathon.

Not only has training been hard, as I'm sure it is for many people, but I've experienced so many crazy aches and pains while preparing my body for all kinds of brutality the likes of which it has never seen...

Then the foot tendonitis happened. We had the crazy ice storm thing, so no running outside and no power at my house to do any other exercise (kinda need to be able to shower afterwards!)
So I took a week off to rehab my foot. It was getting better, and then...

I got sick. I have not been sick ONCE this fall/winter season, while everyone around me has been sick 2-3 times. Sure picked a hell of a time to get sick... Luckily it was not bad, I am getting over it just in time for the race. I'm coughing up tons of stuff and it's painful, and also won't be fun to run with.. but really I'm just thankful I am feeling well enough to run.

So this morning, after only running once in the past 2 weeks, I went out for a test run of 2 miles and some change. Unfortunately.. my foot has started to act up again. Once again, no great pain, more like a discomfort and it's all creaky again. Grr. What the hell!

Take all of that, and add in the fact that I have *horrible* pre race anxiety. Half marathon - huge scary distance, all the "What if's" creeping into my brain. I am doubting myself. I am worried I might injure myself/hurt my foot/not be able to finish - you name it, I'm scared of it.

But you know what.

Screw all of this. I didn't come this far to be weak now. My foot is not in serious pain. I can't justify not running on the grounds of "my foot feels weird". Maybe it'll be ok. I'm sure it will hurt badly during/after the race, but I can always take care of it. Seems like this is an injury that needs some time to fully heal anyways. So yes, I will go out there, do my best, and see what happens.

I also went to the expo to pick up my packet today. I had never been to a race expo before, and I think it was pretty good (for it being Augusta Georgia) Got the usual freebies, and I even got a free calf massage with one of those cane thingies! I didn't buy the massager because it was $37. Got a free pearly ice pack thing (MUCH NEEDED), Tshirts, signed up for a free post race yoga session - how awesome is that??? Almost bought some topical pain cream, but checked it out online first and realized it was a scam. Went up to a booth for a gym and the stereotypical Mr. Macho Gym Man burst out with "WHAT ARE YOUR GOALS THIS YEAR?" Hello to you too??  I said umm... to do as much as I possibly can, run lots of races... "WHERE DO YOU WORK OUT??"  "Umm.. at home, outside... "
Dude, you are going to scare away every single potential customer if you keep doing that. It was pretty humorous.

Anyway.. about to go get some rest before the big day. I'm so scared.. excited.. everything!