update on 1/2 marathon... and question for you gals

Well, I'm one month away from the Music City 1/2 Marathon that I've been training for. Things are going good and I'm feeling great for the most part. The distances are fine on me in general... but not my ankles/feet. The past week I've had to take it pretty easy because the stress is causing some nerve pain in the arches of my feet. I'm not concerned, I have just realized that the arches of my feet are abnormally high. And while I have fantastic running shoes... they are not meant for someone with high arches. I've never noticed this before now because I've never run these distances before. Anywho, I'm going tomorrow to buy new shoes and I'm thinking that next week I'll be as good as new.

But now to the huge bummer. All this training, planning and hard work was meant to be shared with my hubs. We had planned to run it together. He hurt is hamstring in late February and we knew then that it meant he would probably not get to run with me anymore. It sucked, but he said he'd at least be there at the finish line for me or he'd jump in the last mile and push me to the end... and I was content with that. NOW, the awesome Army is sending him for a train up and he will be gone that weekend. I am not running it with anyone and have noone to go to support me. How on EARTH do I still do this??? I'll be darned if I trained this much and don't run, but this is a big milestone that I just don't want to do on my own. It will suck to complete the race and have noone to congratulate me or hug me... or hell, just get me ice and carry me home! lol.

Sooooo.... do you all think I should still go by myself? Or do I enter another race at another time and hope that hubs can make that one? Or even just when a friend or family member can be there? I'm so torn over this it's not even funny.

Are you going to a specialty store for the shoes? I say go for it yourself. I bet he wants to do this with you but since he cant I bet he'd be proud to watch you do it and cheer you on.

Steph... he can't be there to cheer me on, that's the thing. He'll be away training and I'm not sure he could even call me to congratulate me. If I had someone else that could go to support me that would be one thing, but I don't and I'm just not sure if I'm feeling the whole journey completely by myself.

And yup, there is a specialty store here in town that will have you run on a treadmill in front of them and they watch your running techinique and then look at the width of your feet and the height of your arches and get you the sneakers that are best meant for you. I'm very excited!

Do it for yourself then. Look at what a huge schievement that would be. If you have the Ipod and stuff, put on inspirational music and you'll probably be done before you realize it.

Do it for yourself. This is a big deal.

I say do it for yourself! Even if he can't be there, he'll be there in spirit supporting you! And when you do get to talk to him, you'll be able to gush about what you accomplished and what you did!

So all you gals would run your first 1/2 marathon without a single person there to support you? Meaning, driving the hour to the location... running the 13.1... recovering.... and then driving the hour home by yourself? It's not that I don't want to do this for myself, I by all means have been doing this for myself from the beginning. But what if I need somone to drive me home afterward? What if I have a hard time and don't recover quickly and don't have anyone there? These are my concerns. Maybe I'm just over thinking it, but I do everything alone and this is something that I feel I should have someone there if I need anything... ya know?

Jen when is it??? I'll totally go with you!!! You could be my motivation. And if there's a 5k, I'll start training for that and run that part and be there for you at the end!! Just let me know if you want company!

I think you should still do it Jennifer!!! Josh and I will be there to support you!! We were gonna do it but we have limited funds..

Even if Josh can't go, I'll be there girl!!!

Update to my Update

Mike and I were chatting about this yesterday and he really gave me the confidence to push through and just complete it. We decided that if I'm tired and don't feel like driving home then I will just get a hotel room and stay for the night. I also found an ex-girlfriend of one of Mike's teammates who is coming to town to run it with some friends. Mike doesn't think it would be weird if I met up with her... so I messaged her and she is more than willing to meet up with me either before or after the race (or both). Which makes me feel better. For whatever reason I just felt like I needed a 'contact' of sorts to feel comfortable.

Heather and Bonnie.... you two are SO sweet! I didn't post this to fish for spectators, but if you're interested I certainly won't turn you down. But plllllease don't go out of your way. The race does start obnoxiously early in the morning! lol