Sunday 9/26

Long run, 9 miles, 1:43
Miles for the week: 27 (5/8/5/9) WEEK 14
Weight: 115

The taper begins! Although I was happy to stop after 9 miles. I could have kept going, but it was nice not to have to. I tried orange Gatorade, since that's the flavor that's going to be served at Steamtown. (It's great to get all the email updates that the organizers send out. Each one gives an updated estimate of the numbers of runners, and now they're saying probably 1,750.) Kinda yuck--more aggressively artificial-tasting than the lemon/lime--so I'm glad I tested it.

I saw a turkey buzzard in the road at the intersection of Moran, and as it flew into the trees it was joined by 5 others. They circled around and 3 landed in a dead tree right at the intersection, so I got pretty close to them. Huge, kind of neat-looking birds, although their tiny heads make them look dim. The weather started out overcast but then cleared, and it turned into a spectacularly gorgeous fall day. At Stanley Lake the blue sky and turning leaves were reflected in the water. The leaves are coming along very nicely; not a lot of the breath-catchingly flaming reds yet, but cherry red and gold and tawny and mahogany and dozens of others shades of green and yellow and orange and red.

I forgot to give an update on my toes problem. I did get larger shoes, moving up to a size 8, and that seems to have helped. The problem did spread, to 3 toes on the right foot and one on the left, but also stabilized even before I got bigger shoes, and I don't think I'll ultimately lose the toenails. They are varying shades of mottled dark pink and purple, but never actually turned black. I did try toe gel caps, but they seemed to irritate the toes on either side.

The combination of WrightSocks and Two Tom's blister powder has successfully kept blisters at bay. We'll see if it can hold up for 26.2 miles, although I intend to change my socks at mile 20.

I'm getting very excited! I'm looking forward to the Saturday almost as much as Sunday--driving the course, picking up my packet, the race expo (featuring a talk on the course), and Artists' Open House Weekend should make it an adventuresome day.

- posted by Hilary @ 3:39 PM