I didn't do the race

I didn't do the race.

Yes, that's right.

This morning I was supposed to complete a half marathon. The Best Damn Race half marathon in Safety Harbor.

I was excited about it. I had my bag, my t-shirt, my gu; I was ready to run.

But I didn't do the race.

And I'm proud of myself for saying "no."

On Wednesday, I had a run-in with bacon. (I know, I know, even writing that sounds a little wacky...) But my morning had a dangerous encounter with some super organic, super-thick, applewood smoked bacon.  The bacon was greasy.  I was tired.  As I flipped the bacon in the frying pan (because, let's face it, cooking bacon in a skillet is always 100 times better than bacon in a microwave and faster than the oven), a HUGE spray of hot bacon grease SHOOTED up and out of the pan. And went SMACK. Right into my right eye.

I'm for serious.

And you know what bacon grease does to your eye? Well, first it made me look super sexy. Like someone had punched me in the eye super sexy.

Then, then I realized my vision was blurry. A trip to an eye doctor later and I learned I damaged my cornea. DUH. Because I had *burned* my cornea.  As a result my eye also isn't producing tears quite normally. And it's just kinda sorta hard to see with super blurry vision. Not to mention uncomfortable and painful.

The doctor said he "wouldn't recommend" doing a half marathon.

Now, he didn't say "NO ABSOLUTELY NOT. DO NOT do a half marathon. DO NOT!" But "wouldn't recommend."

Most runners would take that as a sign to still do the race. After all, it's been paid for. And it's a HALF MARATHON. You need to do it, come hell or high water.

But I'm a yogi-runner.
So I did what my body needed...
I listened to the doctor.

Today, while all my friends were running, I rested. I did some yoga. I went for a walk.

I missed the race.

It's not like it was my first half marathon.
It wasn't a destination race.
I wasn't carpooling with a friend or keeping pace with a friend for the race.

There was no reason, other than ego, that I would *have* to do the half marathon.

But letting go of ego can be the hardest thing to let go.
Learning to say "no" is NO easy feat.
Especially when it's learning to say no to your own ego.

It was hard not to run. I wish I was out there, going for a PR, running and socializing with my friends. I wish I was going to have another pretty medal to add to my pile. I wish for that post-race feeling of accomplishment. I wish for a lot of race-related things.

But I am happy I have been courageous enough to listen to my body. To trust my body. To take care of my body. And I was strong enough to tell my ego to skedaddle.

I can run another race another time when my eye is healed.
There will always be another race!

Have you ever stayed home from a race you'd registered for?