The Home Stretch!

I'm entering the home stretch leading up to the big day! I can't believe it's almost here, and I'm really excited. A lot of folks have asked me if I'm nervous about it... well, I'm not. There's nothing to be nervous about. I've trained hard, I feel great, and I'm as ready as I'll ever be. As long as I prepare (sufficient carbs, lots of hydration and a good night's sleep), I should be all set. I'm told that the biggest mistake some people make is to start the race at a pace that's too fast for them, which can prohibit their completion of the run. The advice I'm getting is to start running at half the pace I think I'm running, and I should be good to go... let's hope I can remember that advice in the excitement and hoopla of the starting line!

For any of you who are interested, you can find tons of information on the race at http://www.thebaltimoremarathon.com/. If you're coming up to watch, you can find info on spectator parking, directions, etc... it's all right there on the site.

This past week, I hit a milestone in my fundraising... I surpassed the $1000 mark! I'm making one last push now for any additional donations. I know the economy is crap right now, so please know that I (and the Yellow Ribbon Fund) appreciate every penny that's donated!

Since I started training in May, I've run well over 300 miles... it would have been more, had I not taken several weeks off to recover from an over-use injury, but that is so far behind me that I've actually forgotten I was injured! What a great feeling to not remember being hurt! :)

With this being my final week of training, I'd like to send special thanks out to some key folks. In no particular order, many thanks go to the following people:

~Ed, Marti, Kevin and Christy K, for giving me their blessing to run this race and raise all this money in Scott's honor
~John Q, for so many things, primarily his support in this endeavour, as well as for taking care of my dog Holly during the weekend of the race so I don't have to walk her
~The folks at YRF, for the wonderful work they do to help support our Wounded Warriors
~Craig C, for his friendship and support, as well as for all his help (and patience!) in setting up this blog site for me
~Brian H, for all his advice and help with my training
~Jon T, for his support and his understanding of what it takes to train for this (as he's been training for the Marine Corps Marathon on 10/26)
~Jess T, for her cheerleading and uplifting words, even from 2500 miles away
~Marchica & Deppa LLC, for their pledge to match the donations I've taken in
~The folks at Planet Cotton in Gaithersburg, for their patience with my ignorance of the screen printing process for my t-shirts
~Mike at Grind On Cafe in Baltimore, for his yummy coffee and bagels after my early morning runs
~Nikki A and Julie L, my downstairs neighbors, for not getting upset with me when I've unintentionally (sorry!) woken them up as I headed out for my 5am training sessions.
~The makers of Gu Energy Gel, for providing much-needed sustenance during my super-long training runs... I could not have finished without it!
~Most importantly, to Scott, for running alongside me all these months and all these miles... I miss you buddy, and I love you, always.
~... and to everyone else who has donated funds, sent inspiring messages, or simply said, "hey, cool!" when I've told them what I'm training for... I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Your generosity and support mean the world to me.

--Suzy Q