My 1st Expo

This weekend is going to be a "first" weekend: My first expo & my first marathon. I'm getting ready...

Today was my first expo. I got together with my trainer & a friend to pick up my race packet & shop the stalls. A few friends & I departed around 0800 for the hour drive to the expo.

I am Superman!

 Thanks to my handy-dandy GPS, whom I call "Nigel," we got there just before they officially opened. 

I clearly have no ups.

The first thing I did when we got inside was get my race pack. Since it was right at the beginning, I wanted to get my bib early to beat the crowds. And I did!

On line for my bib!

ZOMG!

Holy Crap I'm running a marathon!

 After I picked up my bib, I bought some swag.

Zip up Sweat Shirt & Polo Shirt (to wear to work proudly on Monday!)

Then I found a butterfly person. Not sure why/how she was affiliated with a bank, but she was!

Runner's World... in Italian! So all I could really do was grab my typical "Thumbs Up" shot.

The expo itself was way smaller than I thought it would be. In fact, we were inside the building for less than an hour. It wasn't quite what I thought it was going to be. After we hit all the stalls... where I didn't buy anything because Newton Running was not there (I wanted to cry), we stopped at the outdoor cafe for a brioche. Because carbo loading is fun!

Reading the fine print

2011 Venice Marathon: my bib

Next on my list of things to do: pick up last minute supplies. So I did.

Found everything I was looking for

And finally, I re-purposed my RunningSkirts mesh bags & got all my gear together for tomorrow.

After all that running around (no pun intended), I chowed down on prosciutto, bread, & cheese... watched the latest episode of The Vampire Diaries, Nightmare Before Christmas... & took about an hour long nap. 

And now, in the final hours before bedtime & the start of what will probably be one of the longest & most gratifying days of my life, I've got some final thoughts. I have no idea what's going to happen tomorrow. But I know I'm going to make it 26.2 miles. I spent all summer working towards this goal. And I can't change that training. All I can do is get up tomorrow, get dressed, & go the distance. So that's what I'm going to do. Am I nervous? If I'm honest, I really don't know... I'm focused on making sure that I have the mental fortitude to get up when the alarm goes off. Once I've won that battle, I'm 70% closer to winning the war. 

See you at the finish line!