It's the Final Countdown...

Hope I just put an amazing song in everyone's head with that title. :) Yes, the final countdown is here. In 3 days, I will run the 2010 Chicago Marathon.

This morning I did my final training run. It was only two miles, but thanks to a reminder from my dear friend Anne last night, I got a little emotional when I finished the run. Stupid, yes. It was just weird that after months and months of being a slave to a training program, this was the final run. The next time I start running, it will be at the start line of the marathon.

I started out the week feeling not so pumped about the race, and my confidence was kind of at a low. After getting out and running on Tuesday and Wednesday though, I started to feel better. And yesterday, I got two "good luck" emails from friends that really started to get me excited. Then last night, Marc and I started game planning where he and everyone else would be along the course. As we were doing that, I got 2 phone calls from friends saying they were coming down to watch. To top it off, I had a student bring me some Jelly Belly "Sport Beans" this morning and said, "My mom says, 'Good luck in the marathon!'" So cute! That put me over the edge, and now I am super energized for Sunday.

I now have more people coming down to cheer me on than I ever thought I would, and I am soooo incredibly thankful for everyone who is coming, or even thinking about coming. I know that everyone has their own busy lives, so the fact that so many friends and family are taking a big chunk of their weekend to come cheer me on really means a lot. Between the people that are coming down specifically for me and the people who I know that will be there anyway, I know I will have plenty of motivation to keep chugging through those mile markers.

I hope to write one more time before the race, probably on Saturday from the hotel. If I don't get around to it though, the next time I write, I will officially be a marathon runner. :)

Mile this week: 8 miles
Weeks of training finished: 29 weeks
Total miles of training: 453 miles