Finally!

Early tomorrow morning, before the sun comes up, I will officially be off the injured list. It has been 4 weeks since I've had any pain in my right foot, 8 total weeks since I've run "for real" (I don't count the disastrous results of the Jonas Cattel Race), and tomorrow, I have a short 30 minute run, 2/1 run/walk.

Although I am excited to get back to running, I am also a bit nervous. I feel like I am starting over all over again. The week before the stress fracture in my foot, I had run 20 miles to prep for a marathon and now 2 months later I'm reduced to a 30 minute run where 10 of it will be a walk. By all accounts, the first run coming back from injury rarely goes well. How am I going to react if it goes badly? What if my foot doesn't hold up? What if I no longer have what it takes to be a runner?

I've been looking forward to tomorrow morning for weeks. I've imagined what tomorrow's run will feel like, how it'll make me feel, and I know I shouldn't have such high expectations but I just can't help it. It feels like the night before a big race!

I'm going to sleep tonight an injured runner with my fingers crossed that tomorrow morning's run will meet my expectations and put to rest my doubts and anxieties over my running.