23 days...

   The countdown has begun! 23 days until the Chicago Marathon!! Woo Hoo! I'm not exactly sure how I'm feeling right now. I'm excited, because I think it'll be a really fun experience. But I'm not nervous. At all. And I feel like I should be.

   I think I'm not nervous now because I was so nervous before I did Ironman Chattanooga and I survived it. After IMCHOO, it's kind of hard to faze me race-wise. However, I also know better than to disrespect any long-distance race. Running 26.2 miles is going to be hard and hurt no matter what the speed.

   Of course, I get to look forward to the Marine Corps Marathon two weeks after Chicago. That's right. Rather than being logical and dropping out of one race, or deferring to next year, Dudley and I are going to race both Chicago and MCM back-to-back. Because that's what we do. 

    I hate to say this as to jinx myself, but training has been going pretty well.  In fact, I had my longest training run to date (even for IMCHOO) last Sunday and it rocked. 18 miles at a 9:36 pace. If I could keep that up for Chicago, I'd be thrilled. However, I know many, many things can go wrong on race day so I'm not really thinking about a goal finishing time right now. The plan for now is to go and have fun. Maybe if my final few long runs go well, I'll allow myself to set a goal finishing time. But for now, it's just to show up and finish with a smile on my face. 

   Of course, my goal for MCM is just to survive.  We'll see how that goes!