Marathon Prep

Everyone in the house is ill. My nose cannot stop running. The forecast is 45 degrees and partly cloudy. I have disposable sweats and gloves (which I need to wash) but do not plan to carry a bag. This has confounded me, the idea of carrying a bag, like a small fanny pack, fills me with dread, so I haven't even gotten one. But I will be hungry long before we hit the mile 18 gel packs.

I was concerned whether to go with glasses or sunglasses, and luckily it would appear the weather will not require sunglasses. Contacts are out, I do not want my eyes to get dry and they can give me vertigo. I've never had a problem wearing glasses on long runs, not even in rain. And my new hat works fine, it's black, so, again, the weather works with me, it won't act as a solar collector. It also keeps sweat out of my face pretty well, and has a small visor.

Tomorrow we fly to NYC early, which affords me time to get to the Expo to register tomorrow afternoon, when it will be hideously crowded, instead of Saturday, when it will be impossibly crowded. I need to register, get my bib number, get a bus pass (I thought I had already signed up for one when I registered way back when, but apparently I hadn't, regardless, they have no record of it) and sign up for a pace team.

A pace team is headed by an experienced marathoner who will get you there in plus or minus two minutes from the time you choose. That means I'll be locked in to a finish time, but after all of this training, I believe it is reasonable to assume it will take 4.15. Remember; the goal is to finish.

I need to remember to bring:
All running gear, every conceiveable conbination.
Registration info (arrived in the mail last week.)
My ChampionChip.
Official Handbook.

I run three miles later today. Two in Central Park Saturday morning. And then Twenty-six point two miles through all five boroughs of New York.

UPDATE: Okay, here's the big question, iPod or no iPod?