Canard flyer

I was getting ready to maiden one of my planes and I always check the controls, batteries, etc before I leave the house and before I take off. I was checking the control throws before starting it up and I started hearing a clicking. I checked near the engine and saw the push-rod had broken and was only attached by a little piece (how this happened between home and field, I have no idea since the pushrod is mettle). I repaired that at the field and continued. Everything looked right but I noticed that the rudder wasn't traveling as far one way as the other so I thought there might be binding. Without moving the radio controls, I manually tried to move the rudder to make sure there was no flex or binding in the line. The rudder wouldn't move one way (which is good) but I could move it fully the other way. I couldn't figure it out at first, how could it move one way but not the other, I didn't see any travel anywhere where I could see the push rod. I decided to disconnect the pushrod from the control horn an pull on the rod itself, and what do you know, the push rod came right out. It is a nyrod that I put a solid pushrod in the center of. The rod had broken right in the middle. I was unable to repair that so I just packed it up. If I hadn't checked the controls again, I wouldn't have found the problems and would have crashed.