Trip Reminders and More Taper Stupidity!!

OK, someone slap me…I wanted to post this yesterday but ran out of time at work and at home as it was a busy day. I wanted to run yesterday, 4.5 miles and I was going on the treadmill at lunch just to be easy. Got down to the locker rooms and there were people on both treadmills, I didn’t want to wait and come back later, so I figured OK, I’ll use the elliptical till one of the treadmills opens up. It’s similar to running and I’ll just transfer whatever distance I make and cut that down from the mill…Went in to change and had everything but socks…oops, I remember that I had needed to throw them in and forgot. Well, I REALLY needed to run as I had a top that I had somehow not worn all summer even though I bought it ages ago and it goes really well with the race ready shorts I want to wear, so I wanted to wear it (see, don’t try anything new on race day!) and try it out and have time to wash it and let it dry before I leave tomorrow. So I decided, I’ve run barefoot in shoes before, not a big deal. I went out and .25 on the elliptical and the mill freed up so I switched. It felt way too easy. I sent it for just under 9 minute pace at 6.7 miles per hour, left the incline at 1% and things were good, except I could sense blisters maybe starting…well, I cut the run to 3.25 on the mill instead of the 4.5 miles I had wanted to do and went and changed, sure enough, the start of some blisters. Good thing I stopped when I did, too bad I had started at all!! It wasn’t too bad tempwise after work, wish I had run after instead but I had thought my roommate and I were going to go out for a burger for her birthday but ended up she had gotten things going late and hadn’t gotten her run so instead we met later for a drink and appetizer (she drank a drink, I had water) and chatted a bit. While she had been gone I had taken a nap instead of finishing up my packing, so I get to do more of that tonight. I have no clue what to bring!! Sigh…

I should be able to get one more post in tomorrow (and heck, maybe I’ll get another in later today even as I think of things I need to remind myself of) but this is how the next few hours and days are going to go down.

Work, of course I have to work today yet and tomorrow morning, but I’ll leave today around 4 and tomorrow around 11
I’m going to run to B&N at lunch and pick up Flags of Our Fathers. I was contemplating getting it to read on the plane (not that I don’t already have a ton of things to read anyway) for inspiration. Figure this is the right marathon for that book and how often does that happen?
I’m seeing Madonna today!! Not the pop star and not the mother of Jesus, but the wonderful massage therapist that I saw prior to my last marathon…the one who loosened up my IT Band so well that it felt like a new leg, oh yes…and I’m bringing my stick along to keep it loose!!
I need to finish my packing tonight. I need to print my check list to be sure I have everything, most things are already in the suitcase, but will bring just a few more things in case of different conditions and/or who knows what else might happen. But I do have one set of clothes and my shoes in my carry on, along with sport beans and fruit bars
From now till the marathon I will not be without a water and/or Gatorade/Powerade near me. I have my 34 oz work mug full of ice and water and I filled two other bottles so I can refill without having to make the trip to the café too much today.
I’m going to see Connie in just over 24 hours now…my flight is leaving Minneapolis at 1:05 tomorrow and I arrive in DC around 6:20 pm…I cannot wait to be out of here.
I have my confirmation for bib pickup, my itinerary and training schedule all in my folder with any other things I need…I’ll probably print a bunch more from the website too and just have it to look over if I want to.
I have my Garmin charged, I’m going to load my MP3 (although I don’t know that I’ll use it, every little bit that I don’t have to carry with me might help!!) and my digital camera battery is charged. Maybe I should bring my film camera too…
My roommate is giving me a ride to the airport, we are meeting at home at 11 to go tomorrow, I should be there no later than 11:30 and flight at 1:05 gives me time to buy water, Gatorade and get a snack of hopefully something somewhat healthy and good carbs before I fly
I have to remember to trust my training and listen to what Kurt and Ginger Breadman have stated to my last post, work will be forgotten the second I set foot in the airport. My focus is going to be seeing my friend and catching up with her, seeing a few friends from running group and one that is a work person but we won’t talk shop, and having a great performance…visualization and lots of rest and something good to celebrate at the Irish pub we will be hitting after the run!! And nope, no scissors will be used by me till after Sunday!!
Oh, one more purchase, Airborne, I’m not taking any chances getting sick while flying out to DC!! I have a friend that got sick prior to Chicago and had to stop at the halfway point, he made a gallant effort up to that point and if not for a bad flu/cold he’d have met his goal…

Anything else I’ll post later, and like I said, probably one more tomorrow…