I’m on my way to London! To run my second marathon! I’ve got about 4 hrs left in the plane ride…..goo. These take forever. Wanna know something funny tho? Mom was talking to me about the trip and she asked, “are you gonna be ok? On the plane?” As if that were the hard part of this whole affair. Iunno mom, watching in-flight movies or snoozing for 7 hrs is really hard, but I’ll pace myself. OF COURSE I’LL BE OK!! Hahaha! It’s the 26.2 miles after I land that’s cause for concern.

Altho there was a scare when airplane security tried to confiscate my energy goo. (For non runners, energy goo is just that….goo that runners slurp at mile 17-ish to get a purported boost). Yes because I was really going to squirt that into the Pilot’s eyes. Get out of my mastermind head.

“Just taking it in, out the window of a hotel bedroom again, the tv’s on and my bags are packed. I’m in a world where it all can change just like that” –Right now, by Fort minor. Those lyrics seem apropos right now.

I digress, back to the point: So tomorrow I’ll be doin’ a lil jaunt, some like to call it a marathon. I prefer to refer to it as a distinctly suboptimal idea. I am scurred. And some who know me might be thinking, what are you worried about? You did run a marathon last year, yes? True true. But that time around, I was on a team of 200. That’s a big arsed support network. A posse to make P.diddy green. I had an AMAZING coach, Don Megerle. The Tufts team really takes care of you. They hold your hand the whole way. It’s a fail safe process that entails you showing up to practice starting in September and you being ready come April. For this marathon, I’m going it alone. When that fact sunk in, bout a month ago, I panicked and wrote a Londoner I know through myspace (It’s really not that odd, Christine initiates hang out sessions between herself and internet strangers/long lost friends/ppl she’s not seen in years all the time). His name is Matt and he’s run the marathon 5 times, this year was to be his 6th. I asked if I could possibly hang out with him before the race just so I didn’t feel so alone, could glean some wisdom from his experience, get some tips on the course, and at least start it out with him. He was more than fine with that. However, turns out now he’s had to withdraw, he feels ill. With him having pulled out, I’m back to being solo. Whatevs.

Other causes for concern: it’s in a whole ‘nother country. I’ve never seen the course in my life. I weigh more. And to say the weight gain is from muscle is laughable. I’ll prolly have jet lag. I’m on my period.

On the plus side of it all, thank God they it’s an English speaking country, no language frustrations to add to stress. Thank God I’ve been here before (Junior year study abroad), so there’ll be no culture shock, it really isn’t that jarring at all. Thank God there’s no elevation on the course (no notorious “heartbreak hill” Boston Marathon equivalents). In fact, I was researching the course on a website awhile back and one post voiced my question, asking about the elevation of the course. Someone answered that there’s tons of switches in elevation, yes, you have to jump up and down from the curb all the time. Hehehe. And that’s as bad as it gets. Thank God it’s easy transit from the race finish back to the fanciest hotel ever (where I’m staying, more on that later). Thank God weather forecasts raining and hailing (like last year!)…. Wait, is that a thank God? Meh, I suppose I prefer it to extreme heat.

All things considered, the concerns seem to outweigh my cause to be thanking God at this point. It’s like I’ve got a date with Failure come the 13th. If he were classifiable as an entity. He might get stood up tho. I might prevail.

This line from Aladdin sums it up nicely: “Abu this is no time to panic……….start. panicking.” Abu = my subconscious, Aladdin’s voice = my rational mind. They both are panicking. But my rational mind is trying not to….but still doing so. Hah.
Arrite, now there’s three hours left of this plane ride. My computer battery is almost dead. 4% remaining. I wish I had a longer battery life.