4 days until the marathon

Whoah, Like woah. It's almost here. I'll be at the marathon expo in two days. I feel ready. I have actually really enjoyed taper. I thought I would be getting the taper crazies, but it's been so nice to have a lower volume with less strength training. I actually feel like it's more manageable with my schedule. 

I know I should be stretching more. I know I should be hydrating more. I am trying to eat healthy. But there are so many things happening this week! My kid is sick again which means I'm going to be sick soon, hopefully not too bad on race day. My period is scheduled to start soon which means my hormones are going crazy. I had the most uncomfortable hot flash on Monday night but luckily it was a cold night so I could open the window. I'm guessing I am going to be doing some heavy bleeding on race day, of course. 

My husband had a colonoscopy and my son's birthday is Friday. And daylight savings time has messed up our schedules a bit.

It's really hard to drink and eat as one would like to when you have back to back labs to teach, but I'm trying to stay calm and carry on. I got my race day attire all together. I packed my nutrition. I packed my salt chews. The last thing to pack will by whatever I put in my gear check bag, which I will get at the expo on Friday.

I made a route sheet and a schedule like I have for many of my previous long runs. I will have enough time for all the bathroom breaks, I'm sure. I do plan to bring my hydration vest because otherwise where will I keep all the tampons? I might be able to finish in less than 6.5 hours, we'll see. The weather looks like it's going to be perfect. Overcast with a high of 60 degrees. 

We booked a hotel near mile 13-14 for the night after the race, so that we can rest, regroup, shower, etc. And get something to eat before heading back to the valley. I hope I won't have any trouble catching the bus from the finish line up to the hotel. I'm not sure what the finish line festival is going to be like, hopefully the crowds won't be too overwhelming.

I feel so privileged to have had a husband willing to support me through this training cycle. I feel I did meet my goals of weaning my son and trimming my waistline. I'm actually really proud of my body now. Yes it's not tiny and it's still pretty heavy, but it's done a lot of amazing miles over the last year. I've gotten to rebalance my time and reclaim my self-image.