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My Final Thoughts on the eve of the 112th Boston Marathon
Directly from the left side of my brain tonight, my final thoughts on what will be coming up in 16 hours or so, the 112th running of the Boston Marathon.. It is 6:07 PM on Sunday, the 20th, the eve of the greatest and most celebrated marathon on earth. All of the hard work that I have put in over the winter has come down to tomorrow.
I hope that the experience of my 1st marathon last fall and additional weight training will carry me to the finish line early tomorrow afternoon. I am in the finishing stages of packing my bag with everthing that I can think of to counter anything that may arise. I hope I remember to trim my toe nails tonight!
I did 5 runs this past week, Monday through Friday. The first four days were cold predawn runs. Friday's run was in the afternoon and a little more like what we should see tomorrow on the course. I only worked out once last week as work was busy and I was feeling slightly tired and did not want to overdo it on the final week leading up to the marathon.
What am I packing? A couple of products that cater to the nipples, lots of hydration fluids (mostly spring water with electrolyte / enegry powder mixed in for pre and post consumption. Change of clothes, pants and jacket. I am still kicking around the idea of taking a camera along but that would require me to refocus my concentration and energies. Other stuff include, salt packets for later in the race and flexible straws for better water stop consumption (new technique, we will soon see if it works, if it does it could shave up to 3 minutes off my time).
Last Supper? Yep, coming up soon. I am not quite hungry enough for it yet but it will consist of the following. One whole package of potato gnocchis, PN (all the good stuff) spag sauce, turkey meatballs, and a huge loaf of Italian bread. I am planning to eat dinner around 8 PM tonight. For the weekend I have been pigging out on anything with carbs in it. Including 4 beers and a pizza on Friday night.
Not running at all on Saturday and today Sunday, has made me very antsy. I almost gave in today. It was tough not to run on a beautiful spring Sunday morning.
I just finished dinner. Wow it has been a long time since I stuffed myself like that. : ) I ate half the loaf of Italian bread by myself. I am so ready now. As I joked with my wife, Carla, while scoffing down my third helping, I ate so much I am gonna need to run a marathon to burn this off! It has been a very surreal weekend. I still can't beleive the big day has arrived. Wow.
The Lowell Sun and the Brockton Enterprise both carried my story in todays addition. I thank them both so very much for doing a really excellent job of writing and photography. I especially would like to thank all of my supporters for rallying around me and embracing my goal and supporting a great cause along the way, The Lowell Spinner Charities. A very special thank you to The Lowell Spinners and John Goode for making this all possible for me to run tomorrow on behalf of thier charities and a big thanks to Erin Lewis of the The Lowell Spinners for coordinating everything and for hand delivering my awesome running singlet. Last but not least, my family! Thank you guys for putting up with me and supporting my quest. I will see you at the finish line tomorrow. Thanks to my favorite watering hole, Tin Rays and Joe Murray for their support. I feel like a local legend. : ) Huge thanks to my personal trainer and mentor in the world of fitness, Prakash Pandian!
It is now 7:45 PM and I am really getting into the concentration phase of the work that lies ahead. Only positive thoughts now. My worries of the huge crowds have subsided for now. I am more worried about what to wear. It is currently forcast for 55 F and cloudy at the start line in Hopkinton around 10 AM tomorrow. That is the upper range of where I would like it to be. Hopefully as we run and close in on Boston that temp will stick or go lower closer to the water. At any rate I am packing extra wear just incase I decide on a last minute change. Shorty shorts and my singlet along with the Saucony Paramount Progrids are ready for the run. Let's do it!!!