My heel seems to be ok. Â A little tender, and I’m sure it’s going to seize up all to hell following the marathon, but I don’t think I’ll be doing any lasting damage at this point.
Only a couple of days left now. Â I’ve been working on my equipment list for the past couple weeks, visualizing race-day and adding items as I realize I’ve left them out:
- 8oz bottle w/ water to carry
- 20oz bottle w/ nuun to sip in the hour before race time
- 8 gels (1 just before the start, 6 during, and 1 spare)
- race number & belt
- timing chip & shoes
- Garmin Forerunner 305 & heart monitor strap
- hat
- tri jersey / shirt / jacket
- gloves
- post-run shirt / hat / jacket / sweatpants
The weather is forecast to be partly cloudy and in the low 40s. Â This is excellent news. Â I should be able to get away with only 1 thermal layer over my tri jersey, plus gloves and a cold-weather running hat (both Nike). Â I’ll also have my running jacket with me in case the forecast is wrong, but hopefully I can leave it in the car.
The course will have water stations every 2 miles, stocked with gatorade, so I’m going to have water in the bottle I carry to keep it interesting. Â It’s nice to have a break from the flavored stuff every now and then.
I’m excited, but also really nervous. Â This is a far crazier thing than the triathlons I did this year. Â Just like with the triathlons, I’ve done the training, but it feels like the gap between the training and the actual race distance is much larger this time. Â The longest I’ve run is 18 miles, and Sunday I’ll be adding another 8 to that. Â 18 miles frakking HURT. Â I really just don’t know what’s going to happen when I go even further, but it should be interesting finding out.
I’m thankful for the journey.