I've managed to make it through about 26 weeks of training, 2 fall marathons, a bunch of minor injuries and yet here I sit the day before the Philadelphia Marathon, ready to go. Its been a long marathon training season, and i'm definitely ready to take a few weeks off. Its ironic that my hip and back have felt good for a week or two and today its kind of sore again ... it might turn out to be a struggle tomorrow for the race, but we'll finish one way or another. You would think it wouldn't bother since i've been consuming so much ibuprofen over the last few weeks, i've probably burned out a kidney or two...

Regardless, i'm packing up the gear and getting ready to head out to the Expo in center city Philly. My hotel is about 2 blocks from the expo, so i'll probably head to the expo, check out where I can park tomorrow morning and then head to the hotel. I considered walking over to the start, which I still might do, but i'm not sure ... I'm just not sure I want to walk like 8 blocks after the race, we'll have to see how the distance looks when we get there.

It does look as if the temperatures are going to be around 42 degrees for the start, with a 55 degree high for the day ... no rain, THANK YOU! I've made up my pace band, and am shooting for a 4:05 finish like I did last time .. that puts me at a 9:20/mile pace, which is probably a little slower than I can actually do, but I do have to run smart. I picked up a throwaway sweatshirt at Walmart for $5, and intend to wear that over my base and mid-layer along with my skull cap and gloves. I'll probably lose the sweatshirt after a couple miles, along with the hat and all by the end (since it should warm up after awhile). I am wearing shorts, as i've said before, I refuse to wear the pants before December if I absolutely can.

I did finally break down and buy a new Ipod Shuffle last night, although I found that its the 3G model .. not the 2G model I was used of. It turned out to have the only place you can control the music, volume, etc ON THE HEADPHONE WIRE! This would mean I'd have to use the crappy earbuds that come with it instead of my tried and true clip on headphones. I ended up returning it with the hope my old ipod shuffle can hold out for one more race (I think it can). I've put together a killer playlist I think, I finished testing out new songs to make sure they are good for the road, so i shouldn't get bored with the music.

So 20,000 runners are expected to be there ... should be about the same size as Baltimore. The runners handbook states that there are crowds all along the course (basically no lack of spectators)... and it also states that the course is 'fast', but again, that's a subjective statement. We'll find out tomorrow I guess as I think i'm trained up about as good as I can be... I was happy that I was able to setup notifications for my family to know where I am in the race. They're not able to make the trip with me this time, so they'll know how i'm doing at least

I expect to head out in a few hours, next stop ... Philadelphia! I probably won't get another update in before the race, watch for my post-race report sometime Sunday or Monday (with pictures I hope)....