Just a few days left....

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First, as always, a thanks to those who have donated recently (with witty quips for each one):
- CASEY ROEDER (soon-to-be cousin-in-law)
- Dan Murphy (Chi Phi is forever etched in my memories...)
- Mallory Pelletier (the gatekeeper to the office)
- Catherine Shaw (got me an interview!)
- Igor Kheyfets (SAS extraordinaire... 'tis a skill I never hope to possess)
- Mark Collins, Jr. (forever "livin' the dream")
- Mary Harrington (forever a family friend)
- Emily Becker (crew bows before running)
- Leslie Evertz (providing my daily sugar-rush... which I actually provide... wait...)

aaaaand ERIN MARTIN (my massage therapist, my cheerleader, my fiancee, my love)

We're now up to $3,320!!!! That's awesome! According to Fisher House statistics, that would provide for about 330 days of free stays for military families at Fisher Houses across the country while their loved ones receive medical treatment. That's nearly a year of free stays for them!!!! THANKS EVERYONE!

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So now we are just days away. 3 days in fact. Well, actually 61 hours, 41 minutes, and 20 seconds (according to the official countdown clock on the race website). Gulp. Tapering has, in fact, been rather arduous for me. I am not good at winding down, resting, and relaxing with stuff coming up. I want to get it done with. And of all the ironies, as I was doing a short 4.5 miles on Saturday, my hip really started hurting. Right where the femur meets the pelvis. Kind of a grinding feeling. On top of that, I am guessing I might have a slight hairline fracture or a severe bone bruise in my left foot. It hurts a lot when I move my big toe, and is kind of a dull pain when running. But alas, nothing can be perfect all the time. In spite of this, I took an extra day of doing nothing, have done 2 runs this week of 6.5 miles apiece, and I'm feeling better. We'll just have to wait and see how it goes.

As I mentioned briefly above, I must give props to Cat Shaw for providing me with an interview this week. Lelia Crosby is writing a piece on me that will hopefully/definitely be published (look for it in Time, Newsweek, the Washington Post, and every hometown paper from here to L.A.). If it gets published, it should be fun. Most importantly, fingers are crossed that it gets more donations going into the Fisher House and Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund. Regardless, it's fun to have a chance to have people hear about my running and the charity.

Tomorrow morning, Erin and I will fly down to Tampa Bay to meet up with my Mom, than drive out to Okeechobee to stay a couple of nights before the race begins. I'm going to have a solid sleep tomorrow night (2 nights before the race is most important). Generally, I sleep a solid 10+ hours 2 nights before, then usually get only about 3-4 hours of sleep the night before. It's just really hard when you're nervous and anxious as I am.

So that's where I am. Tomorrow's flight will include me trying to get through security with a large bag of powder (HEED sports drink mix - kind of like gatorade), 20 gel packets (Clif Shot gels), and 12 bags of little gel-like cubes (Clif Shot Blocks)... we'll see how that goes over. Always keeping a smile on my face, though.... what else can you do?

Here's one last hope for a "left foot, right foot, repeat" for 118-miles. I'll let you all know how I did as soon as I can. Thanks again for the support, best wishes, and donations.


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