Friday, November 21, 2008

The Beautiful Finale

For some reason today, I am feeling totally at ease.

I woke up this morning feeling well-rested and peaceful. There was a gentle flurry and a light dusting of snow on the ground. It was something these Miami eyes have not seen in over 6 years and I was in love. Even though there was barely any snow and it soon melted, it was beautiful nonetheless. I was instantly happy.

I spent the morning and early afternoon running errands and cleaning the house so I could relax and focus on the marathon for the rest of the weekend. I always feel so much better after my entire house is clean. After all that cleaning, I made time to head out for one final run.

I decided to not worry about mileage and time and simply run up Main Street and back. Since I live in Manayunk, this run takes me on miles 18-22 of the marathon course. The turn around for the marathon in Manayunk (mile 19-20ish) is literally a quarter mile from my house.

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This could either be a really good thing, or a very bad thing come gameday.

It's good because I have run it so many times (as well as the remaining miles of the course) that I know exactly where we are and how far we have to go. But it could be bad since we all know that by mile 19 I will be exhausted and knowing my house is so close and EXACTLY how far we still have left to go could backfire on me. I'm hoping that the strong crowd support on this part of the course will help take my mind of it.

Since the temps were so cool when I headed out (36 degrees, feels like 30) I decided to use this short run to test out my final outfit for Sunday, right down to the underwear and earrings. So here it is. This is what I'll be wearing before I check my bag in the morning. When I check my bag, the jacket will go too. If you are wandering around before the race (or after) and see someone who looks like this, come say hello.

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During the race, I'll be wearing black capris, a black singlet, and a lavendar long sleeved tech shirt. Also a black earband. Oh and BLUE gloves. Totally does not match, but if you see someone running in a lavender, Easter-egg colored shirt with BLUE non-matching gloves, run up to me and say hi.

Here I am practicing for Sunday. Look how fast I look!

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I also made a final decision not to take anything that goes around my waist, which means I have to pin my Gu to my body. Since my singlet is super-long, it covered up the 5 Gu's that were pinned to my waistband and kept them from bouncing. I wore the Gu's on my run to make sure they wouldn't bother me and it was fine. I barely knew they were there and when I need one, I can just rip it off the pin. Brilliant!

It looks weird here, but when I pull down the shirt, you can't even see them.

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It was a beautiful afternoon for a run and since I was going short and slow I grabbed my camera as I headed out. I was happy I did so I could capture some pics of my final training run for Philly and also so those of you who are running this weekend could get an idea of what those miles look like during the race.

This is right by my house headed towards Main Street. I jog on the Towpath below by the canal and hit Main right after the big bridge.

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Do you see what I see??

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This looks like the opening sequence from "The Office".

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It was a great run. I ended up running a nice, short 3.35 miles. As far as slow goes...woops. I ran it in 29:35 for a 8:47 pace. But when I was done, I literally felt like I had barely run at all. I was meaning to go at a much slower 9:45 pace, but I really have a hard time when it's so cold out. My body felt great. For the first time in weeks I wasn't feeling lethargic and my legs felt like new, which made me happy with my decision to only run twice this week so my legs could rest. Those 3.35 miles were just the boost of confidence I needed to get my mind back on track for Sunday. Now I can't wait.

Tomorrow we head to the expo around 11am and then to the Reading Market to fill up on Chicken Noodle soup for lunch. Those of you from out of town looking for a place to eat, I highly suggest heading there. You can get there from inside the convention center and they have every kind of food you could possible want.

I'm sure I'll post again tomorrow night after the expo (cause I am in kooky, marathon-mode) but for those of you who don't have computer access tomorrow, J and I will be hanging out before the race by the huge fountain in front of the Art Museum steps (when we aren't in line for a port-o-potty). If any of you are around, wander by and try to find us.

Good luck!!! :)

21 comments:

Sonia said...

Exciting! You look great in your lavender shirt and fake running lol

I LOVE the pic of the bridge and its reflection on the water.

Unknown said...

Have a great time at the race! So close. WoooooHooooo!!!

Unknown said...
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Progman2000 said...

Oh great - I was going to wear a long sleeve lavender easter egg shirt with blue gloves. Now I'll just feel stupid if we both show up wearing the same thing!

Laurel said...

LOL!

Tall Girl Running said...

Oh, I'm so excited for you! Almost makes me want to run another marathon.... almost. :-P

Good luck, Laurel! Regardless of how you do, you'll look great doing it.

Unknown said...

Have a blast. I like the gel pin up idea. I have not heard of that before.

Anonymous said...

What a peaceful run, thanks for taking us with!

That Pink Girl said...

Good luck! Thanks for sharing the pics of your run - they are great!

Nikemom said...

Great pics! Good luck on the run. You'll do great - you are sooo prepared. Loved the GU pinups. When I bike, I tuck them into the bottom ofmy shorts. I always get lots of questions from non-bikers about what's coming out of my shorts. :D

joyRuN said...

I think I've told you how much I love your pics. In case I haven't, I LOVE your pics.

B/W you & Shoreturtle, everything looks much better through your camera lens. Definitely a talent I admire.

See ya tomorrow! YES GASP TOMORROW!

N.D. said...

Yay!! The snow was so pretty!! I agree! I didn't realize you live in Manuyunk - what a fun place to live! Running into there during the marathon last year, a bunch of groups had beer on the side to offer. : ) It was fun running through there - lots of fans. Now I have a visual of what you are wearing! I'll be on the lookout! I'm going to wear black pants, and start with pink on, but if I take that off, then I'll have a blue jacket. Good luck and hopefully I'll see you running by!

billdowis said...

Lookin good... hopefully I will be out there watching the race and cheering people on...

Those pictures are great and inspiring... do you hold your camera while running or is it in a pocket?

Have fun! Hopefully I will be running the marathon (or at least the half) next year!

Unknown said...

No question... Its going to be COLD. I am not thrilled but that leaves me very little choice but to go forward. I will be at the expo around 4. I was planning to go to Maggiano's for dinner but heard its going to be a FULL house. I plan to go to the Italian Bistro of Center City.

Hope to see you there either today or tomorrow!

GOOD LUCK !!!!

Jess said...

Best of luck on Sunday! Enjoy yourself.

Anonymous said...

Great pictures as always. I like like the before picture and during race picture of what you will be wearing!

The first snow fall is always pretty.

Have a great weekend. Hope J is feeling better. You guys are going to run so well.

Denise said...

I'll be looking for you! I'll be in a purple long sleeve shirt and black tights with a black headband. Just got home from the Expo...getting nervous.

Chic Runner said...

You are TOO CUTE! :) I love the outfit and those pictures are amaaaaaahzing! :) I'm so jealous of other peoples running enviroment!

Good idea with the gus too. you are too smart!

Denise said...

The nerves are really getting to me right now...and I'm being b*tchy to Andy. :-) I'm running with the 3:50 pace group so that would put me around an 8:45 pace. All along I thought I'd be ok with that, but now I'm freaking out a little. Ugh.

I went through some old clothes to find stuff to wear and throw away. I think I might wear my leopard print pj pants to the starting line!! With a bright periwinkle fleece from the 80's or something! I won't be hard to miss!!

Marci said...

Those pictures are so cute. I on the other hand will be wearing yellow honey bee long sleeve top and black compression tights, black headband that says '26.2'. Good luck!

Bert said...

Cute outfit! I hope the Gu pinning strategy worked well during the race. BTW I think I should move to Philly just so that I can run along that towpath!!

 
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