from sand to santa barbara

This is what I've been doing with my running shoes lately. (Yes, they're under there, buried in the sand of Wadi Rum.)

In other words, I haven't run much since Annadel.

Which is why I am completely freaked out over tomorrow's Santa Barbara Wine Country Half Marathon.

First of all, I only ran once in Jordan. (Women don't really seem to run outside there, so my workout was on a hotel treadmill, which was in kilometers, which made me so confused that I think I only ended up running about 2.5 miles.) I feel incredibly out of shape.

Second, my body is completely off from the almost 24 hours of traveling to get back to the U.S. My knees still hurt from sitting for so long.

And finally: The weather. It's heating up here in Chickenland -- 70 degrees at 6 p.m. -- yuck! And I can't imagine it will be any cooler in down south. And running in the heat is no fun.

Tomorrow will definitely be interesting. At least Neveia and a few other Turtles are running too (we're all staying in a condo together), so the trip itself will be fun. The race, however, may be another story.