Anixety Rising, Mileage Isn't

It's official: I'm starting to freak out about the half marathon I'm supposed to be running one month from today.

That puts me in Week 8 of a 12-week training schedule, and according to all the training programs I have read about on the interwebs, I'm supposed to be up to nine miles already. Yikes. The most I've run is 6.2 on a few occasions. With a bum knee bothering me most days and a constant awareness of my injury history, I've been trying to take it slow-- a little too slow apparently.

Mother Nature has also impeded my progress: as the temperature rises, so does my anxiety level. What if race day is horribly humid and has a heat index of 105 degrees like it was the other day? That day I could barely walk the two blocks from the L station to my apartment without wanting a break, let alone running 13.1 miles!

However, there is one category of the race I'm prepared for: clothing. Thanks to the urging and advice of my friend Meg and the extremely hot weather--I decided to invest in a pair of running shorts, the kind with the underwear built in so the shorts don't ride up or cause too much "chub rub" on my inner things when I run.

I had been holding off on getting a pair of these shorts because they retail for about $25 a pop, but I found them for $7.99 at Marshall's! The day I finally tried them out, my running world changed-- I felt so free and light without all the extra fabric of capri pants weighing me down. I even shaved time off my run, finishing my 3.5-mile run in 35 minutes (I usually run a 11:30-mile pace).

Unfortunately, I know I'm going to need a little more than a fancy pair of shorts to help me on race day, which is 30 days from right now.

I think I just puked in my mouth a little.