Taper Madness

WTF is up with injuries appearing in the week or two before a goal marathon? My left knee is a wreck, but now my right ankle is giving me grief. Why don't I just throw in the towel and admit I will never get to the starting line in good condition?

Ok, let's try some positive thinking here. I ran 4 miles this morning, and by mile 3 the ankle didn't bother me. The knee did, but not too badly. I'm also very excited about the race because I just talked someone into running the race with me and pacing me. Audrey Christiansen ran Buffalo in '05, same year I ran it for my first marathon ever. I didn't know her then, but we both posted race reports on Runningtimes.com and got to know each other, though we've never met in person. She will be in Upstate NY this weekend visiting her family, and she was thinking about running the marathon. I pushed a bit, even offered her my hotel room since I could stay at Nan's. And yay, she's going to do it. I'm psyched because the first half is primarily through an industrial section. Company would certainly be a lot more fun.

Other positives: I have brand new running shoes and inserts, that should give me good support during the race. I have plenty of gels, bodyglide and lemonade gatorade. I won't be running much this week, maybe 5 or 6 more miles, so I should be very well rested by Sunday.

I believe I can do this.