Explaining myself.

With the marathon just a few days away I find myself fielding lots of questions from interested friends, co-workers and family about all aspects of the race and race day. A common question this week has been along these lines: So, what do you do this week? Do you run/not run? Are you resting all week? How many more times do you run before the big day? As many of you know, the answer varies so much between people and depends on how you are feeling at this point in the game. 2 yrs ago when I ran NYC I had a bad sinus infection the week before and didn't run all week, no biggie. This time I'm feeling good and am going with however I feel, in fact I played soccer last night.

I came up with a good answer today to the variety of questions mentioned above, I told a co-worker this: Nothing you do this week will make any difference on race day, at this point any running is to stay sane. She thought that was a good answer and offered the analogy that it is "like trying to cram for an exam the morning of, it's too late- you either know it or you don't." Excellent analogy for the taper if you ask me. I used the same line about sanity a few more times today and it worked like magic. People understood, even if they couldn't grasp exactly why running keeps you sane in the first place. They get that it probably helps with nerves and staying loose- mentally and physically.

Here we are, 5 days til the starting cannons blast into the sky at Fort Wadsworth. To answer some other questions I've gotten this week: No I am not nervous, Yes I am ready, No I will not pee on myself while running, Yes I'm carbo-loading, Yes I am running for time, and best of all- yes I am EXCITED!