It's Here!

Holy Cow!!

The day I have been thinking about, training for, eating for, planning for, talking about, reading about, writing about for five months is here!!

Well... tomorrow it's here, but you know what I mean.

I can't believe it's been more than five months since the day I woke up, decided I needed something constructive to do, and figured I should run a marathon. I've blogged before about why I decided to do this so I won't bore you with the details... plus, I don't really know why. As I've mentioned before, maybe it was because I hated running so much that I chose this particular goal. Yes, I'm a little kooky like that. But anyway, I said I wasn't going to blog that again.

When I decided to keep this blog about my marathon training, I had no idea how many wonderful runners out there in Blogland would come to my side, virtually speaking, and offer their support. So thank you, everyone, for your encouragement and words of wisdom. I will be thinking about you while I run tomorrow. And you. And you. And you. And, yes, especially you! If that creeps you out, get used to it because I'm going to be out on that course for a looong time!

Right now I am excited, scared, antsy, and feel like I should be doing something physical in order to be ready. But I'm just trying to relax, drink my water, and get my mind prepared for tomorrow. I still don't know what to have for dinner this evening... but I'm sure I'll think of something. :D

Goals

I read somewhere that it is good for runners to set goals for each of their races. My goals are simple and few:

• Finish
• Finish before the broom pushers sweep all the trash out of the finish line area.
• Finish with a smile on my face.
• Finish with pride.
• Finish in an upright position.

Expo Excitement!

Yesterday (Friday) I went to the Expo down at the San Diego Convention Center. It was fun! I got my bib, my goodie bag, and my free race shirt.

I also got to meet Irene who is a fellow citizen of Blogland. We had fun looking at the exhibits, shopping, dodging people, and shopping some more. It was a busy place yesterday... I'm sure today is crazy-crowded!

That's Irene, in case you don't know.
We were standing like we didn't really know each other.
Oh wait- we didn't!

By the end of the Expo, we were good buddies.
And princesses.

Helping the Economy

One thing I learned about Irene yesterday, is that she loves to buy running stuff just like I do! We got some cute stuff at the expo. There was so much I wanted to buy! There were all kinds of gadgets and clothing items I wanted... but I was good. After all, two people alone can't take this country out of a recession all by themselves.


I bought this shirt:


In case you can't tell, it says "marathon mom" on the front. On the back it says, "run along now".

As in... "I'm cooking dinner, run along now." Or "I'm going to the bathroom, run along now." Or "Yes, that is a beautiful snail, run along now."

Ch-ch-ch-changes
After reading your comments on my last blog, I decided to carry more food gel. I also decided to wear my hydration belt during the race. I know a lot of runners who are against running with the belt because it slows them down. I'm just worried that I will be so slow during the race, the aid stations will close or run out of water before I finish. My hydration belt also carries more stuff in the pockets (like more gel packets). It holds four water bottles but I'm only going to use two of them. You know, so they don't slow me down. ha ha

I also might wear my black Nike hat instead of my pink hat. I've been wearing my black hat since I started training and I feel like I owe it the honor of going with me to the finish. I was concerned about wearing black because of the sun but it has been cloudy and drizzly here for the past couple days. I don't think I need to worry about the sun making my head too hot.

And She's Off!
I am done blogging for now. Thanks for all your well-wishes and kind words! I can't wait to tell you how it goes! Have a great weekend & to all you others who have races, Good Luck & Have Fun!