I’m scurrying and hurrying to get ready to leave for NYC tomorrow. I’m traveling with my sister and we are really excited about this weekend away and oh, yes, there is a marathon to run.

I just reminded my son that I’m off to New York and he said, “Oh ya . . . you don’t blog anymore.” Like my husband it seems he has been relying on my blog to keep track of what I’m doing even though he has returned home for his final year and a bit of school.

I finally felt perky today on my 4 mile run to and from the Salvation Army to buy my “throw-away-gear”. This is the warm up outfit that I will wear until the race start which will be tossed to the side and collected to be donated to a perhaps the NYC Sally Ann. I bought a boys soccer wind jacket from an Oakville league, boys nylon rain pants and a girls hoodie for a total of $12.

I’ve printed out splits to run a 3:36 marathon. I bought a pace calculator that is terrain adjusted for the rolling NYC course.  Apparently one’s time will be three minutes slower than on a flat course.  My half-marathon time gets me about a 3:33 on a flat course.  I went for a Shiatsu massage today and my bag is almost packed. In my bag is another set of warm-up clothing which is the stuff I might not pick up if the line-up is too long after finishing the marathon. If there is a long line up I will be tempted to hop in a cab asap.

Conditions are looking ideal with a low of 1C and a high of 11C.  In my book the ideal temperature for a marathon is between 2C and 12C and there is nary a rain cloud in sight. I’m in the range of my ideal marathon weight of 102-105. Joan Benoit is 1/2 an inch taller than me at 5 foot 2 inches and races in this weight range. People consider this on the heavy side for a serious marathoner. I’ve stayed away from sweets and alcohol for the past week but tomorrow at noon – let the carbo loading begin. I’m wondering if I have the energy to bake my carbo-loading oatmeal cookies.  I usually travel to marathons with smoked salmon-cream cheese bagel sandwiches which I’ll make tomorrow morning. Two-thirds of my suitcase is running apparel for every possible variant of weather for this time of year.

I miss blogging and I guess my family misses it too. Wish I had more time to say more but I hope to be less busy by the end of November. Life is good, I’m as ready as I can be. I feel blessed. Gotta bake . . .