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. 

Beware the madwoman

Ah, taper madness. Instead of fearing it or fighting it, I've decided to fully embrace it. So far, I've become overly emotional -- I cried over two movies during the weekend and essentially cried myself to sleep Sunday night. 

I've considered several major life changes, such as becoming a vegetarian or selling all of my possessions. 

I have a strange desire to eat only new things (this one I AM fighting, as I know changing my diet now could be a MAJOR problem) -- or to eat nothing at all, because at least 30 times a day I feel somewhat sick to my stomach.

I do have the John Bingham desire to buy new running gear and running toys. And along with that, I still want to change EVERYthing. I tried different gels during my 10-miler, I'm considering different socks for my 6-miler Saturday... and I desperately want to look at new clothes designed for cooler weather. Forget the things I wore last fall/winter! 

And have I mentioned that I'm scared out of my mind? Because I am. Except for the half of the time that I'm not. Because during that half of the time, I am confident and over-giddy.

Every five minutes I think I'm coming down with a deadly disease (well, maybe not deadly, but at least not-so-nice). It may just be possible that I will die of an incurable disease moments before the race starts. 

What if I were to attempt the first half of the race on crutches and then pretended to half a miraculous recovery? Who thinks of these kinds of things??

The madness has set in. Beware.