Wow you ladies have been doing great with your running this week! That's encouraging.

Lime What a cutie!! And to run a whole mile with such a tiny stride, that's amazing.

Crankin It's smart to carry water with you even on the runs under an hr. in that kind of heat. Can always pour it over your head if you don't feel like drinking it. That always makes me feel faster.

Indi Good luck tomorrow! I'm sure you'll do great with the encouragement of the spectators & not having to mentally keep track of a route.

Oak I'm with you on the smells of spring & manure. Last fall I did a 7miler out on the country where I grew up and a lot of my route had the barn musk. At least the smell of the fields & wild flowers between farms made up for it!

This morning was the last long run before the marathon. 10miles. We ran a good portion of the route we will be covering during the race. Some of it goes through the historic downtown which I love & 8th St. which has huge oaks lining the road in almost an archway.

Overall the run was really comfortable @ a 10:35 pace. Unless something goes wrong I'm pretty confident I will be able to hold that for 26.2 if not faster. My legs were feeling fatigued because of PRing my 7miler on Thursday & cycling 70mi. this week. Will definitely need to make myself taper hard next wk. to make sure my legs are fresh come race-day.

Since Maggy (my running buddy) was sick & decided to go with the later morning group I found myself paired with two other women.Thankfully. I hadn't printed off directions & they were definitely needed, so having them as navigators was a huge blessing.

Anyway, I realized towards the end of the run that out of all the ladies I have run with Maggy is the best for me. The pace, the encouragement & the conversation is wonderful. We plan to run together for as much of the marathon & as we can, given that our paces are in tune with one another during the race. I'm looking forward to it!!

Wishing you pleasant runs this weekend & perhaps even a running buddy.