Fourteen hours from now I’ll be making my way towards the start line of the marathon. At 6:52 we’ll get to hear Angela from our AustinFit group sing the National Anthem (sure hope she makes it back to us for the start), and then - we’re off. My ForeRunner is charged, my clothes are ready - including a new pair of commerative marathon socks (my normal brand, washed twice) that match my Sauconys. My clothes are laid out, my delightful wife has the support crews organized, everything is ready.

Am I nervous? A little bit, sure. My knee is still somewhat swollen from the shot on Wednesday, and a little sore. I haven’t had as much practice in the last few weeks as I would have liked to have. And it seems like all sorts of people are going to be watching for me to come past them on the route. I also haven’t put any miles on my new, improved, cortisone-injected knee, and so don’t really know how well its going to hold up.

Am I confident? Yeah, that too. My cardiovascular strength is doing very well, and I feel that I can comfortably breathe through the entire race, especially at a 10:30 overall pace. My knee did pretty well throughout the 21-miler three weeks ago, and seems even more flexible now. I’ve got all of my gear laid out, and it looks like the weather, while a little cool to start, is going to be pretty good tomorrow. Unlike today, where we had snow and ice on the ground - in Austin, in February: who would have thought it? I’ve trained, I’ve run, I’m ready to do this.

I wish that I could better predict my time. If I had stayed healthy this whole way, I think that I’d be eyeing somewhere in the 4:20s. As it is, my goal is to break 5:00. My quota, which I will meet come hell or high water, is to finish under my own power.

See you tomorrow!

Days remaining: 1/2
Miles remaining: 26.2

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