Finally!

I think that next to the actual run itself, my favorite thing about doing races is picking up my bib and packet.  It's so exciting.  I love seeing what kind of fun schwag is in the bag, what the shirts look like and going to the expo and feeling the buzz and nervous energy of all the runners around me.  Granted, this marathon is kind of a small one, comparatively speaking.  There are only about 450 people doing the full marathon, another 400 doing the half marathon and 300 or so doing either the 10K or the 5K.  So that means the race expo is actually just a few vendor booths, but it's still fun.  One of these days I'm going to do a big race - like Los Angeles or something.

Anyway, after picking up my packet, complete with a sack of Idaho potatoes, we took Sophia to get her cast put on.  While we were driving to and from our different locations this afternoon, the clouds were swirling overhead and by the time we got home it had started to thunder storm.

We didn't get a ton of rain, but looking at the weather forecast for tomorrow, there's still a 40% chance for more storms tomorrow.  It figures.  We've had one of the driest summers ever, and the one day it's finally supposed to rain - yep, race day.  Oh, well.  I can run in rain.  The tricky thing might be if it's too warm to wear a rain jacket, then I'm just going to have to deal with my clothes being wet.  Yuck.

I've got all my stuff laid out and ready to go for the morning.

I really have a good feeling about this race.  I have had a great week of low-impact workouts and rest, getting to bed at a decent hour every night, healthy eating and I'm feeling good.  My plan is to fuel during the race starting out earlier and more often than I usually do.  I'm kind of notoriously good at under-fueling while on long runs.  I feel like I have to force myself to take something because I don't have an appetite while I run, even sometimes a mild stomach ache. But I know that I would feel better towards the middle and end of the run if I fueled better.  I'll be putting that to the test tomorrow.

Tonight is another early night; my husband will be driving me up to catch a shuttle to the starting line at 4:30-5am!