T Minus 4 Days

Every day I'm tapering, tapering. The St. George Marathon is this Saturday! I am in full Hanson "Tapering" Mode.  I will only be running 49 miles this week, including the 26.2 on Saturday. This means I have a lot of time on my hands to be restless and perform questionable acts that someone in her right state of mind might find offensive or disturbing. Eating as though I'm still peaking would be an example. Phish Food, Ben and Jerry?  Did you have my demise in mind when you concocted this devil's delight? So sinful no amount of Hail Marys could save me. At least I didn't finish the entire container in one day. Oh wait, does 24 hours count as a day still?

"a chocolate ice cream with gooey marshmallow 

and caramel swirls, and a school of fudge fish"

I also have a lot of time to peruse the internet. I have celebrated National Daughter's Day, National Coffee Day, National One Hit Wonder Day, and National Eat A Quart of Ice Cream Day with friends real and virtual (Are you questioning the validity of that last holiday? Who are you to judge?). I also have read every topic on the Runner's World Marathon message board (RWOL), putting my two cents in when necessary (or unnecessary). I also bought a pair of Pro Compression socks on sale that I won't be wearing on race day because I have never trained in them, however they were too cute to pass up. $30 well spent.

...maybe I will wear them race day after all...

When you have a lot of time, you can also check weather forecasts for cities all over the world online. What does it say about St. George, Utah, you ask? Well, at the beginning of last week the forecast was 86 degrees. Yikes!  Marathons have been known to be cancelled in those temperatures (see Chicago). A couple of days later my iPhone had a different forecast, 95. Was this a joke?!  A RWOL member from Colorado said they were actually expecting a cold front in the area which would bring the temp down to the mid-70s by noon. Still hot after running 26 miles, but sooo much better than the other forecasts.  I'll go with him. (However, as of today, weather.com says 89)

Today is my day off, then 6 easy miles tomorrow. I fly out to Vegas on Thursday where I'll run another 6 (and catch the Cirque du Soleil show Love). Friday I drive two hours to St. George where I plan to run the last 3 miles of the race course. I'm hoping to also drive the course if I have time. Then Saturday is Marathon #5...a little bit of Monica in my life, a little bit of Erica by my side....did I mention I was tapering?