5 days!

Okay, I'm good and exited now. I'm checking the weather sites as though they actually mean anything (currently 55 with a high chance of rain and a headwind) and packing one of everything just in case. Or rather, planning on packing one of everything since I haven't actually started packing yet . . . At least I don't have to worry about single digits, snow, mud, and river crossings like some of my friends this weekend. Not that I don't also wish I was able to head to Zumbro, too . . .

I don't have too much of a plan for the race itself. I don't even know what a reasonable goal really is right now. I feel as though I'm in good shape but I don't know about good road marathon shape. And I had those 10 days of sick in March. So . . . under normalish weather conditions (no raging heat, no brutal head wind the entire way) anything under 3:50 sounds good with a preference to rock it out and see something 20 minutes faster than that. If we get not normalish weather, then it will probably become time to just have fun and enjoy.

Now, my old shoes were getting rather flat feeling and once I checked my shiny mileage spreadsheet I saw that they did, in fact, have probably a good 350 miles on them (I got them before I started using the spreadsheet, so I'm not positive on the exact mileage), so I decided on getting new shoes this last weekend. Since they're the same brand/model as usual, I'm not too concerned about switched to new shoes so close to a race. I've been on a couple of test runs and the problem area from my previous pair don't seem to exist on the new ones, so I'll probably wear them Monday. Granted, the runs were nothing too long but what I was worried about was a tight and sharp part of the heel that needed a couple weeks to bend back/soften up on the old pair and made itself apparent from the first three mile run that rubbed my heel off. I might wear my old shoes to walk around in this weekend and that way I have them with me if I change my mind. Though really, I'm checking a bag that will be probably mostly empty (since all race clothing will be on my carry on) so I could always just pack them, too.

If you don't know, I'm an over-packer for short trips. Especially for races. I want to have everything with me that I might possibly want. Now, come a longer trip and I'll probably have the exact same amount of stuff, so I'm not a heavy packer for those! It's New England in the spring - we don't really know what the weather will be like. So my racing jersey, t-shirt, and long sleeve. My roll down sleeves. Shorts, half tights, skirt. Boston has a .7 mile walk from where you drop your bag to the starting line so not only do you want clothes to put on when you finish, you ALSO want clothes to wear to the start that you can just toss (they have loads of collection points and donate everything that gets dumped to charity). Last time I found a zip up hoodie at Savers and it was great because I could keep in on for the first mile but still have my number showing and then toss it when I warmed up, so I'm planning on doing the same thing again. If it's even chilly enough to not toss it right at the start. Is it going to be 70? 50 with rain? Who knows! I've seen both predictions today!

Alright, I work a half day Friday. Then I take the Skyline Shuttle to the Cities (yay for not stressing about driving in gross weather or making a friend or sister worry about emergency snow parking with my car), fly out Friday night, arrive crazy late in Boston. I plan to sleep in late Saturday, spend too much time at the expo, and then hang out with friends until Monday. I may or may not update again before then, depending on how fast I pack tomorrow (ha! I'm a slow packer!) and what kind of time I have over the weekend.

If you want to track me, you can get texts or emails by going here. My bib number is 15438. Looks like it sends out at 10K, half marathon, 30k, and finish.