Head and shoulders, knees and toes

On Thursday morning, I opened my email to a message from the Nike Women's Marathon. I'd entered the lotto for the race last month, and I figured it was yet another rejection email. I've taken my chances with their registration lottery for the past several years, and I've never gotten into the race.

Until Thursday, when I opened an email that didn't try to console me, but talked about the massive sum of money Nike was about to charge my credit card.

Gulp. I'm in. I'll be racing the Nike half in October. I haven't walked more than a 5K in almost a year. My knee is still a little wonky and my foot, though mostly healed, isn't 100 percent. I haven't done speedwork in months. But I am stoked. My head is in the game, and I'm hoping my body will follow.