( Las Vegas Marathon!! )
So there you have it. Las Vegas Marathon 2005. If I remember anything else of note, I'll post it. I'll have pictures galore for you all soon. I'll also post all my official split times and things once I get those results.

I've been in training for 10 months. I'm not kidding. I started training during the first week in February. I've been running races steadily since then. (5K in March, 8K in April, halfmarathon in June, marathon in October, marathon in December.) It's been a long 10 months of watching what I eat, and running, and stretching, and worrying about my physical condition for racing. I'm really looking forward to my winter break from school, when I can do whatever I want. Ahhhhhh, yes. Time to relax.

You know, for a couple months. *grin*

I'm off to Vegas. Catch you on the flip side.

Think of me at 8 am Sunday morning, since that's when I'll be starting my marathon. (6 am Vegas time. Bah.)

I'll have my cell and my laptop if anyone needs me urgently. Ta!

xoxo

Oh yeah, AND.

The toenail on second toe, left foot is coming off. It was blue for 2 weeks after the TCM, and then it sort of faded to purple and then just kind of faded away. When I took the pink polish off my toes yesterday, I realized it was wiggling like a loose tooth. It wants to come off. It's getting looser and looser as the day goes by, too. It's very white too far down the nailbed, and there's a white ridge at the base of the nailbed; looks like a new nail, maybe? I've never lost a toenail, I have no idea.

I have Vegas 2 weeks from today. I don't know if I should pull it off now and then bandage it up and let the nail grow as much as it can before Vegas, or try to keep the dead/old one on with tape until after Vegas. *sigh*

ETA: Some elite runners (I mean sub 3:00 marathoners, yow) have advised me to soak my foot in hot water for awhile and then yank the nail off and out. They say it won't hurt for more than a day, and it's much better than it ripping off midrace. I'll keep you posted. Who wants pictures??

I'm not much of a pessimist, but I think I may be fucked for the Vegas race.

My left knee is *killing me. I've run twice; the first time, my knees were sore and achy, but I chalked it up to the first time back post-TCM. The second time, they still hurt. And they hurt differently than usual. Generally, my knees ache when I'm *done running, but don't hurt when I'm actually running. Lately, they hurt all the time. The pain ranges from dull aching to acute sharp hurting, and is on the outsides of my knees. The left one is *very bad, the right one is just a pale echo of its twin.

I haven't yet picked up new shoes, and am going to do so this weekend. I'm hoping that a good part of the pain can be attributed to the old, used-up shoes, but a growing part of me is afraid that I'm pretty fucked. Last year, I didn't run for 2 months post-TCM. I'm wondering if my body *requires that much of a rest.

Either way, I'm going to Vegas. And no matter what, I'll be on that starting line and I'll try my damnedest to finish the thing. But I'm doubting I'll even beat my first TCM time of 4:20; I'm even doubting I'll be able to make the whole way. Keep my chin up, try to look on the bright side.

Looks like I won't be doing the full-on Higden training after all. If they hurt this much after a couple of 4-milers, there's no way I'm going to attempt the long runs and risk injury before the race. Fuckall.

( Okay, that's a damned lie. You can walk after. )

If I can think of/remember anything else, I'll toss it at the end here later.

MORE: Oh, I forgot to mention that my official time was 3:55:43.