The weather outside is rather mild. On my way to the subway station earlier today, as soon as i stepped out of my building I was greeted with a couple of drops of water on my head. At first I assumed I was just getting hit by water dripping from the power lines up above, but I quickly realized that it was actually light rain; it was far too warm for the moisture to actually be snow. The day before, the sidewalks were caked in snow. Back then, as I walked my ankles were being bent this way and that. It’s a wonder I didn’t break anything because the thick unshovelled snow was making my ankles bend in ways that they were not meant to bend. Well, today, with the milder weather, the snow on the sidewalk turned into pools of cold slush and collected water.

My biggest problem with all of the weird weather at the moment is the general fear of stepping on something that will cause me to lose my footing. How, or why is this even a fear? Well, I’m getting really close now to the Chilly Half Marathon in Burlington, and after last year’s disappointment I really don’t want a repeat of what happened. If you recall, after months of dedicated training, I had slipped on an ice patch just outside of a subway station. I wasn’t even running at the time. I was just walking along minding my own business, then *BAM*. I thought I’d be able to continue but the act of limping to the hotel to pick up my race kit on the day before the race was enough to make me reconsider. And so, that’s why I have this fear this year.

As a result of me teaching the clinic, I’ve really trained cleanly this during this cycle, making the majority of the required runs. I’ve put much effort into getting things just right, and I’ve made so many improvements. We’ve been so fortunate weather-wise this year. Instead of getting beaned continuously by volley after volley of heavy snow like last year, or like the United States this year, we’ve gotten off fairly lightly. That’s part of the reason why I’ve been able to train like I have. And now it’s getting so close to the time where I have the ability to test out how well I’ve trained. Perhaps I’m putting way too much pressure on myself. Sure, it’s rather normal to want to do well, however, more than ever I just don’t want to fail due to something out of my control. I don’t want to be disappointed again. Yes, maybe I could just hide out at my place and not venture outside for the next week, but that would just be silly, would it not? All I can do is trust that I’ll be able to make it to next Sunday without any issues. No injuries, right?!