BOSTON MARATHON!!!!: The marathon is finally a day away. We are well fed, well hydrated, and working on controlling our nerves. Thanks again to everyone who has called or offered their support over these past months.

Contacts: Bert Antonio will have our cell phone and will be following the race 5k splits by computer for the first part of the race. You can contact him at (617)347-2037 that day and he will let you know where we are. He will station himself at the finish line to take some photos, so call him if you want an update.

Jacques and Ruth will be at the Wellesley Community Center, where Jacques will run with us for a bit. We are so looking forward to seeing their faces at this important part of the race.

If all goes well, we are planning on having some pizza at Woody's that evening.... Any of you can call Bert for specifics in case you have time to join us!

If you look for us, we are hoping to finish with a chip time of around 4 hours- we will cross the start line around 12:40 p.m.. We will be wearing purple singlets that say Team in Training, and have put our names on the front. Thanks again to everyone who has said they would look for us and all the best!

-Marie

Almost There!!!!! And Race Day Instructions for the Internet:
Well, if you can believe it, there is less than A WEEK until the marathon! Thinking back on these past months, it hasn't seemed like we have been training that long, but looking at my log, it's been about 5 months since the start of our training!

We ran a short 8 miles last Saturday, away from the hills, and had a last chance to visit with our team members in Wellesley. I did a brief dedication for a friend of Ruth's who is dealing with a difficult stage of her CNS lymphoma, and it was great to get everyone's encouraging words on a card for her. If we could channel the energy and compassion of the people on our team...- they have been an amazing group of people to train with, and I will never forget them.

We will spend this week thinking about the race and trying to focus. It's tough when the taper is in full effect- in a way, you would just as soon get the race over with and not wait so long, but the scheduled down time is exactly what your body needs, even if your brain is telling you differently!

Just a quick word on race day: For those of you who are interested, you can track our progress online by visiting the Boston Athletic Association site at www.bostonmarathon.org. On race day, the face of the site will change, and you can input either bib numbers or names to get an update of our rough location:

Tim Horn: #19146
Marie Fukuda: #19132

The race is starting in two waves and we are in the second, starting at 12:30. Estimates by officials say that it will take about 10 minutes from the gun until the last wave runner crosses the start line, so don't worry if we seem a bit slow.

Jacques and Ruth are planning on waiting for us at Wellesley, where Jacques will join us for part of the run! We are so excited to think of running with him. Please keep us in your thoughts, especially around 3:30-4:30 p.m., where we think the race will be the toughest. The fearless Bert Antonio will brave the finish line crowds in his attempt to document our finish. Good luck, Bert!

Afterwards, we are planning (PLANNING) on walking home from Copley to work out the kinks. Maybe a drink and Woody's for dinner?

THANKS TO EVERYONE! LET'S GO BOSTON!!!!!!!
-M

ALMOST THERE:
Today was a great 12 miler- very good to run away from the Wellesley Hills, and also to get another run through Natick. Things will taper down greatly from here, and we'll be working on taking it easy and resting up for the final day. We went out easy and it paid big dividends in pacing- now to remember this on the 17th! We registered for bone marrow donations after practice- they take a swab of your cells and analyze them for compatibility for cancer patients who need stem cell transplants. One of those things that makes sense but we never thought about. Check out www.crir.org.

I will not be making many more posts to this blog! Almost there.
While I'm at it, I will list the
THINGS I WILL NOT MISS:

-Waking up @ 5:30 a.m. Saturday mornings and 5 a.m. on chiro appointment days! And the going to bed early!!!!!!!
-Catching up with friends on the PHONE.
-Not drinking that second glass of vino.
-The obsessive self-centeredness of marathoning- 'am I in good shape or am I getting an injury/cold? should I beg off my plans with my friend in order to rest more tonight?' While running: 'how am I pacing myself? how is my form? how well am I focusing? How well am I breathing?'After running: 'do I need to make another acupuncture appointment? do I need to make another chiro appointment? do I need to spend time stretching tonight?' Truly tedious and yawningly boring.

THINGS I WILL MISS:

-The camaraderie of our teammates- they have inspired, supported and been there through the trenches.
-Finishing a 12 mile run and thinking 'wow, how good to ONLY run 12 today!'
-Carbo loads- sans guilt.
-The momentary success of managing left and right brain activity to optimize in-the-moment performance instead of having them duke it out to its detriment . Now to apply this in other venues!

Best,-M