To run or not to run

To run or not to run. That is the question.

I went to the doctor a couple weeks ago, and he prescribed rest, ice baths, stretching. Thankfully, I don't have a stress fracture or full-blown shin splints, but without making some adjustments to my gait and training and shoes, I was on my way toward both. For now, it's just posterior tibial tendinitis---in both legs, but a bit more severe in the right.

He told me I'd come too far and worked too hard to give up outright on running the half. He said I could try as long as I wasn't in pain come race day. He made me promise not to go out too fast, to go for negative splits. (Can I just pause here to say that I love me a doctor who uses the term "negative splits" when discussing my prognosis? The man gets it.)

So I've followed the doctor's orders. I've iced and iced and stretched and stretched and rested to the point of insanity. And the pain has diminished quite a bit. Not entirely, but still a huge improvement from two weeks ago. But here's the thing--I'm totally undecided about whether to run on Saturday.

The whispery-ridiculously-calm voiced lady on my Yoga for Runners DVD tells me over and over to listen to my body. But you know what? My body has no freakin' idea what it's saying. One minute, my body's all, "Let's run! Let's run like the wind! C'mon!" The next minute my body is screaming like a baby, "What do you think you're doing! Get off this blankety-blank eliptical or I'll send you straight back to ice baths and ibuprofen before you can say 'tempo run'!" Also, as my sister Robin elegantly pointed out, "It's not like bodies are eloquent communicators. I mean, really, bodies fart."

So in lieu of listening to my body, I thought I'd listen to my dear readers. What do you think I should do? Should I go for it, hope for the best? Should I play it safe and stay home, sleep in? I'm afraid that even if I do run, I'll be disappointed if I don't PR--considering I was training at a considerably faster pace than the last half marathon. I don't want to run this just to finish. I want to run it well. And between two weeks of lost fitness and a nagging injury, I'm not sure I'm still capable of a PR. So am I better off just sitting it out until I know I am at my best? Or will I kick myself if I don't at least try?

So come on, runners and non-runners alike, please tell me what you think?