At some point in the past couple months, I decided to become a runner.

This has now resulted in me signing up for two races this month, one of them this coming Saturday and the other in a few more weeks.

Now, my dear friend Sadie is coming into Charleston and staying the weekend to run this race. The Cooper River Bridge Run is a big enough deal that people come in from all over the world to run it.

Needless to say, I am slightly panicking.

Not only is the race a 10k, but there are a lot of people who run it. Granted, I have done the Peachtree Road Race (another 10k) in the past, but I didn’t know where I was going and basically asked my mom to stop and walk every 3/4 mile. It was an “Are we there yet?” scenario, but I did make it to the end in one whole piece without completely collapsing.

I think the reason I am panicking this time is because I think I am in way worse shape. Although, I have been able to run several miles lately without needing to fall down and collapse on the sidewalk after, so maybe I’m not too bad? Either way, I just know that I am going to be swarmed in the mass of this:

And this:

The claustrophobia aspect of it also freaks me out: I can barely handle being on a machine directly next to someone at the gym.

I’d also like to add that unlike other 10k’s, this one requires me to cross a bridge with quite an intense incline over a wide body of water:

How is this fun for people? In my mom’s running heyday, she used to do things like this all the time. She was also one of those people who would keep going and going and going, so by the time she was at the end of the 6+ miles she would be like, “Oh hey! I’m done – what’s next?” without breaking a sweat. (Even if this isn’t quite true, Mom, you should just smile and nod.)

Anyway, I am doing what I can to psyche myself up for the actual race, even though the 6 a.m. arrival time is currently putting a damper on any of that potential excitement.

Mostly, I’m just looking forward to the fact that the finish line is only several blocks from my house. Let’s just hope it won’t take me all morning to get back there.

(This might just be Jamey rubbing off on me, but does anyone else think I sound like him in this post? That man needs to get back from his business trip and come home right about now, since clearly he is just infiltrating all of my life – including the way I write. I must miss him or something.)