Less Than 24 Hours Until the NWM

It's less than 24 hours from the marathon.  There's really nothing I can do now to help me get any faster, just setting up everything to prepare for getting out the door and driving the 1 hour or so into SF for the race.  I'm nervous, constantly trying to get information about the race, and also helping other runners on facebook with information to try to help them with the race. 

Half Marathons are "easy" for me, as in I can pretty much be assured I will physically be able to finish.  Full marathons, though, I've only conquered that distance twice, both times over 1 year ago, before I broke my foot.  I was fitter then, and I think more naive about how hard the distance would be.  About the only times I've ever felt really really spent were when I did the full marathon.  You just never really know if something will happen to stop you during the course.

I love the feeling when I finish a race, especially sweet is when you're not sure you can do it, and you find out you can and the medal is being put around your neck.  All those lonely long runs, waking up really early, begging off a late evening out to save some sleep time for training, culminating in one day when you either fail or you do it. 

This has been the race I've wanted to do since 2007.  Four years ago I was reading about this Nike Women's Marathon like a pipe dream, wondering if I could ever be able to do a marathon at all, much less being able to keep up a 14 minute per mile pace (my half marathon PR back then was a 15:30 ish minute mile...)  Tomorrow it's going to happen.  It must happen, because it's NWM or die trying!!!

On a less serious note, here's me messing around at the expo XD

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150504755012516.475293.633277515&type=3

T Minus 10 days

My longest run since the broken foot incident is 22 miles, two weeks ago.  Last Saturday when I tried to run 24 miles, I missed a turn at Back Back and ended up running in a not so good neighborhood in Santa Ana.  Being inland, the temperatures being high (for me anyway), and morale low from being lost for about half an hour ended my run at 15.5 miles, when my boyfriend ended up picking me up at a McDonalds (I enjoyed a nice chocolate milk.) 

This is interesting since I have never had this kind of a setback on a long run before.  I don't know if I'm just out of shape since I'm still always erring on the side of safe for my foot, or if it was the cross training I did that shredded my legs and it didn't quite recover in time for the long run, but it's demoralizing a bit.  I know in reality 15.5 miles three weeks out from a marathon is excellent taper, but I wanted to do 24 just to make sure I could really do it.

It's only 10 days from race day. 

I also heard that if you get picked up by the bus you still get the finisher necklace... I don't think I could seriously wear it if I was DNF and still got it.  Some people just really really want to get the necklace, but me, I want to be healthy enough to earn it.  Just finishing Disney was a big deal for me, and I want that feeling again, finishing a marathon, coming back from the broken foot and just be able to think of myself as a whole person again instead of still broken.