Holy shit. I signed up for a half marathon in Florida.

You read that correctly. I signed up for a freaking half marathon in Florida! I can't believe it! I can't believe it for several reasons...

1. I have never traveled this far for a race.

2. I barely ever race.

3. I have only run 2 "road" half marathons in my life, 

the last one being 7 years ago!

4. I am going all by myself- 

Paul is staying home.

5. I have to FLY. 

OMG I HATE FLYING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

6. I have never been to Florida! How exciting!

The race is called the Best Damn Race Cape Coral and it is on December 13th. There is a full and a half marathon that day. 

What led me to sign up for this race? Well, my friend Kristina commented on my post about Race Dreaming and said I should come down to Florida and do the race with her and Ali. Kristina will be doing the half and Ali will be conquering the full. After Kristina and I are done running the half, we could turn into cheerleaders and cheer/crew for Ali as she finishes the marathon. The thought of meeting two of my favorite bloggers and cheering on Ali was something I couldn't pass up! I looked around online for some budget friendly flights and finally found what I was looking for.

IT'S ON!

I am extremely nervous. Not for the race (I will just be running for "fun"... although I am sure in the back of my mind my goal will just be to not have it be my slowest half marathon yet), and not for meeting new people, but for the flying part.

You guys, I hate flying so much.

As I was booking my flight, American Airlines allowed me to choose my seats on all four of the flights (there's a connection in Charlotte). I was literally shaking as I was choosing my seats on the map of the plane. I also Googled "safest place to sit" before choosing the seats. Row 1-7 are the death seats, but that's okay because I am not flying first class anyway. The safest seats are on an aisle in or near the exit row so you can escape quickly after a crash and before an explosion. The exit row seats are more expensive (I guess because of leg room) so I picked the row right behind the exit seats. I will just have to move quickly if the plane crashes. Yes, these are the things I think about.

I normally take Ativan to help me calm down on flights, and it seems to help a bit. But I have never flown without Paul. This is scary, but at least if the plane crashes, we both won't die and the kitties won't be orphans. That is one of the biggest things I worry about when Paul and I fly together- what will the kitties do if we die?

This is so over dramatic and has turned into more of an "I'm afraid of flying" post than a "I'm running a half marathon in Florida and I get to meet Ali and Kristina!!!!" post, but hey, that is where my rambling has taken me!

So the bottom line: My excitement to meet Ali and Kristina trump my fear of flying.

Are you afraid of flying or do you have another irrational fear?

Have you ever met one of your favorite bloggers? I also met Heather at Boston in 2014!