48 hours

Well, only 48 hours (actually less as I post this) until race time. 48 hours until we see if all of the training, running in cold and snow, the six mile walk home against gale force winds, etc. has all been worth it. And by worth it I mean has it prepared me to finish the marathon. I hink it has, I HOPE it has.

And yet I'm still nervous. Sure, I've done some things in my training I never thought I'd be able to do (run 20 miles, for example), but this seems like a whole different level. I know from the half I ran last year that the excitement of the day, the adrenaline rush, can get you through to the end. But this is 26.2 miles. It's extremely intimidating to me right now.

I don't mean to sound like I'm not mentally prepared, because I think I am. I know it's going to be hard. I know it's going to hurt. But I also know that when I finish, I'll probably be like the fourth most happy I've ever been in my whole life. And that's something I'm looking forward to feeling.

My sister flies in tonight, so we're going to hit the expo in the morning, pick up our packets, and run some other errands. Then mostly hang out. We've got dinner reservations at an Italian place here in town, so we'll have dinner with my family, and then crash.

And in another 52 hours from now (hopefully) it will all be over. Then I'm going to take a little bit of time off from running and figure out what's next.

Be back in a few days with a race report. Wish me luck!