Ode to John Bingham

Where would I be without the wise council of John Bingham? (To paraphrase:) "Don't go out and buy new clothes. Your body has been conditioned for a long distance race, not a ten-year reunion." 

Had that thought not been running through my mind, I may have come home from Target with a new wardrobe yesterday. Which is perhaps better than returning home with a new car or a GPS/heart rate monitor/watch/cup holder. But still, not the best idea =0)

I think some of the madness is wearing off -- or at least changing. I haven't had any sudden desire to eat toasted snails or any indication that I'm coming down with the plague. 

And while I feel like I'm alternating between eating myself out of house and home and completely forgetting meals, I've actually lost 2 pounds in the last few days. It figures -- I cut my mileage and throw structured eating out the window and I lose weight. It does give me hope that the rest of the 10 pounds I've gained while training will come off in the weeks following the marathon (and hopefully not due to the loss of limbs!).

I'm still strangely emotional and wanting to go on a shopping spree, however. Although I had to REMIND myself to place an order for Hammer gel (tropical flavor!) -- which I actually NEED for the marathon (yes, it is what I used throughout training, and happened to run out of after the 20-miler -- so nothing new here). Is it MY fault that Hammer always includes free samples of other things in their orders?? Hopefully I'll regain some control in the next few days so that I'll ignore it when it arrives.

Ooh, AND I'm actually looking forward to running 6 miles tomorrow. This is a drastic improvement from "can't I get hit by a car instead?" 

Have I mentioned that I'm now in the single-digit countdown? NINE days to go. 

Gettin' crafty

My new Nathan Speed 4 fuel belt FINALLY came in the mail yesterday. I'm so excited about having it with me on Saturday's long run. It's far too hot to be running for an hour + without water / sport drink.

Because I'm impatient, I ordered the small -- because it was the only one in stock at Performance Bike -- knowing it would be, well, too small. I figured I'd be able to rig up some sort of workable extension. 

Luckily, I figured right. I purchased some industrial-strength velcro to add to (what I believe is) the front. With the extra few inches, the belt fits comfortably around my hips, AND puts the bottles low enough and farther back enough that I won't constantly hit them with my arms. 

The belt has a small pouch in front and a larger pouch in back to carry keys and -- I hope -- a Hammer gel flask. If I use it to bike, the pouch is also perfect for my mp3 player.