T-minus 10 hours and counting...

Here I am at the Galt House in downtown Louisville on the eve of the race. We had a great pasta party tonight, where we had a lovely dinner, collected our race bags and jerseys, and recognized our Honored Heroes (people battling cancer for whom we're running). My special hero is Ricky Westman, a friend from the ASP days who truly makes the best and hottest rice dishes I've ever had, Louisiana-style. I just tried to get a pic of him for this post, but the hotel computer won't allow it. I'll add it later.

I guess I should be nervous, but I'm really not. Perhaps because my training has been somewhat spotty, perhaps because I'm just not very competitive. Or perhaps because we've been busy lately, and getting ready has been just another thing on my to-do list. But now that we're here, it's feeling much more real -- and much more fun. Tomorrow will be here soon enough, and worrying won't help anything. I'll just do the best that I can.

My goal is to finish in under 3 hours, which translates into 4.4 miles/hour, or an average 13.6-minute mile. Hardly an Olympic pace, but I will truly have to push myself to achieve this over 13.1 miles, especially considering that the first 6 miles are in Iroquois Park, which everyone says is a killer. I guess it's better to have it at the beginning and get it behind you.

I'm drinking tons of water and have a bagel, PB, and a banana ready for breakfast. Plus a few Aleve for dessert, and I should be ready to catch that bus at 5:45 tomorrow morning.

I'll post tomorrow and let you know how it turns out!