Ten!

Ten days to go!

I am in taper, which has meant significantly less miles. Apparently a common occurence during taper is odd pains and strange dreams. I have already experienced the latter. A week ago I had this dream:
I was running the marathon, which apparently became a multi-day event which included sleeping in an inner-tube in the ocean. And someone was teaching me how to feed the sharks, which surrounded me, without dying. Needless to say, it was a traumatic marathon dream. However, I am quite confident that Marathon Monday cannot get worse than that!

I am starting to excited/anxious for marathon day, but need to keep my emotions in check. I am starting the countdown. I have already stopped drinking soda until after the marathon. I am also trying to be very concious of being gluten free. We have post-marathon dinner reservations made, and we are conference calling Matt & Jess this week to talk final details regarding clothes, times, etc. for the day of the race. The 10 day forecast for race day comes out tomorrow, and my two biggest hopes are for no heat and no wind from the East! We leave on Friday!

In other news, our spring Trailblazin' Runners running club has started at Tomahawk! The students ran one mile yesterday, and are working their way up to our culminating 5K! I love seeing children excited about being active and running. It's so great!
So many thanks to go out this week! Thank you to:
The Henson Family - Lauren Henson - world's best training partner, we've decided we need to train again, and actually do the marathon together next time :) and Mr. & Mrs. Henson - they donated after having met me only once!
Anonymous - your ambiguity is intriguing :)
Tomahawk people - Lindsay Blanchard, Teresa Aley, and Staci Miller
Terry Metzger - Big Cheese Reader extraordinaire
Zeeland people - Gary Feenstra, Todd & Nancy Kamstra, and Garry & Beth Nykamp
School psychology people - Bruce Milford, Peggy Hess, and Carissa Ekholm
Lauren King - neighborly support
Meghan Malloy - fellow Boston Marathoner, running for Team Ally charity
Sharon Warner - encouraging words and donations!
My mama - for giving me life, and so much more!

I am now $430 from my fundraising target! I would be thrilled to reach that within the next 10 days! Help out here!

I plan to update the blog one last time before the race, so be sure to check back in for final thoughts! I would appreciate prayers and thoughts in the coming weeks for: safe travels, comfortable running weather, endurance, and the ability to manage my emotions! Thank you!