I Refuse to Psych Myself Out

I refuse to psych myself out, although this week it would be easy to do.

I have a half marathon scheduled to run on Sunday, November 8, in Fort Worth. I have three things potentially working against me:

1) Lower mileage than I would have liked the last 6 weeks

With race directing late in September and sick for a few weeks in October, my running... well... it's been mostly absent.

Here's my running by week for the last two months and you'll see what I mean:

Aug. 30-Sept. 5: 9.5 mi
Sept. 6-12: 17.0 mi (includes last run of more than 5 miles, a 15K race on Labor Day)
Sept. 13-19: 4.6 mi
Sept. 20-26: 8.0 mi
Sept. 27-Oct. 3: 0.0 mi (race directing, and then got sick immediately after the race with a bad cold)
Oct. 4-10: 9.0 mi (thought I had gotten over the cold)
Oct. 11-17: 0.0 mi (was SO not over that cold and relapsed again badly)
Oct. 18-24: 10.0 mi
Oct. 25-31: 10.2 mi
Nov. 1-7: 6.7 mi so far for the week

So for a half coming up, my mileage has not been ideal the last 6 weeks. And coming off being sick, I wasn't able to build back up the weekly mileage the way I would have liked. There is still time before White Rock on Dec. 13.

2) One of those little physical "tweaks"

Late last week, I developed a knot in one of my shins (referred pain from Achilles and plantar fasciitis problems I constantly fight). I've had a hard time working out getting into the sports chiropractor's office between their packed patient list and my own schedule. I've been best friends with my foam roller for the last week, been icing regularly, stretching extra, and after taking it easy the last two days, it is feeling a little better. I also get to go to the chiropractor tomorrow and hope to get the last bits of that knot broken up and any fluid buildup drained in time for Sunday.

3) Mysterious "off" feeling

The last week I've been having some problems with feeling particularly tired, lethargic, lightheaded when I stand up, a little dizzy at times. Normally I would question my current nutrition or hydration, but I've been thinking about that a lot and at least nothing seems more off than normal (my nutrition and hydration are never ideal). I'm continuing to pay attention to it and am just staying cognizant of that feeling of something just being a little "off" going into Sunday.

But why am I not freaking out? Because I'm not going to put pressure on myself. Of course I would like to have a good race day. But as a wise runner has taught me, I'm just going to take what that day gives me and do the best I can within that day's conditions and given what's been happening. And that's really the best I can do!