4 days

I don't know how my sweetie can live with me. I don't know how my coworkers can stand me. All I can think about is the marathon, and I am just good for absolutely nothing else.

I didn't bike in this morning. I'm not sure if that's good or bad.

Last night, I was busy thinking about how crummy my knees felt, and thinking that perhaps the bicycling was going to be the ruin of my marathon. This morning, I read several posts in the forum about how this week, every little ache and pain becomes magnified into this awful, horrible thing that (you believe) will keep you from marathoning or marathoning well—but in fact, everything is going to be fine once you get yourself to the starting line. It's good advice for life in general.

Since I'm tapering, and I can't do anything to make the time move any faster, I'm obsessed with what I can do in the meantime. Like, for example, dying my hair. I decided a while back that I would dye my hair purple for the marathon. Once I bought the hair dye, I started to have second thoughts—what if it was permanent? am I, at 41, going to look ridiculous with purple hair? What if it ruins my 6-month old highlights and lowlights? Maybe I should just do streaks— but how stupid will that look?

(I need to just channel Clementine Kruczynski!)

This looms large for another reason, too. I've decided I am going to send out an email to friends in town that will have my expected times at expected mileposts and what I'll look like, so if people want to come cheer me on, particularly in my hour of need (miles 20-26), they can do so. Of course, I could take a picture of my PFit shirt and link to my skort and say I'll have purple hair and nails, and a grey hydration backpack... or I could take some pictures. And make it into a Flash movie (never mind that I've never done anything in Flash, but I've done video editing—how hard can it be?). Oh yeah, and send it all out by Friday. Do you hear the maniacal laughter?

I guess it's good to keep busy...