No breaking the 'Piggy' bank for Sunday's half marathon

Poster given as part of my packet.

"...Miles run in practice are like dollars saved in the bank. You can withdraw them when necessary." - Marathoner and author Hal Higdon on Facebook, 3/28/11

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It was touch and go for a while, but I'm ready to race the Flying Pig Half Marathon this Sunday, my second half marathon. In fact, I picked up my packet in downtown Cincinnati this evening.

Some recent bouts with back and neck pain have left me unable to properly reinforce - or even rebuild - my capacity for half marathon(ish) distances since I finished my first half in October.

A recent trip to the chiropractor to address said problems left me questioning not only my fitness for the race, but my fitness in general. (A second trip to the doc later confirmed that I was being paranoid. "You mean my head won't fall off anytime soon?")

Since Jan. 1, I have only run 44 miles. Hardly a proper requisite for heading into a half marathon in two days.

A backpack was also part of the packet.

My longest run since my 13.1, half-marathon run in October was Monday ... as in four days ago! It was two hours and 13 minutes' worth of pavement-pounding to reach 10 miles.

I've managed a few six- to seven-mile runs over the months, but I felt that if I could just squeeze-out a 10-miler before race day, I could do the race.

And I did.

I'm a little concerned about not having trained better, but one thing that I've learned above all else in endurance sports is that so much of the challenge is mental ... and I feel more than prepared in that regard.

So, I'm going in with a positive attitude, hoping that the 44 miles I'll be withdrawing from the bank will pay off in a decent (for me) finish line time.

Wish me luck!