T-minus-10 hours and counting.....

Well, the 5K is tomorrow morning and I am starting to become nervous. Not because I'm concerned about times (I just hope to finish strong, no matter what time it is), but because I'm a little nervous about logistics. I take a bus to where, now? Metro to what? Who? And what do I do when I get there? And the Web site says I have to check my bags by 7:30 am but isn't that just for the 10 Miler at 7:50? The 5K doesn't start until 8:40!

I'm also a little concerned because the forecast calls for lower 40s and rain, and I haven't really run in the rain in a while.

Mostly though, I'm just curious about how my high-maintenance calves will act tomorrow morning. I jog/walked 2.5 miles this morning, mostly downhill, and it turns out they dislike running downhill almost as much as they dislike running uphill! They're like a prissy girlfriend I used to have: everything has to be just so, they need to be massaged twice a day, and they need The Stick on a regular basis.

Speaking of The Stick, I went to my first race expo ever today, and encountered the Stick guys! They were massaging people, sometimes forcibly. My friend Heather refused to fall prey to the Power of the Stick, but I was giddily trying them all out ("This one is the Big Stick, look at how stiff it is! Great for back massages! This one is the Little Stick! Perfect for shin splints!")

The whole thing was a lot of fun. I bought a nifty Nike shoe wallet I've been wanting for a while, and got my race goodie bag (which I haven't really looked through yet). And I heard a talk by Catherine Ndereba, known in the running world as "Catherine the Great" -- apparently one of the best Kenyan women runners ever. Fascinating Q&A session, in which I asked her why Kenyans are so good at running. Her response?

In Kenya, people run everywhere from the time they're kids because there is no good public transportation. Her school was 4 miles away, and sometimes people would run home for lunch, and they'd have to run back fast because if you're late the schools have corporal punishment! So that's 16 miles of frenzied running a day from the time Kenyans are little. Yeah, I'd say that would help breed fast runners!

She signed my race number and let me pose for a picture with her. I told her this would my my First Race Ever, and she seemed genuinely excited for me as she wished me luck!

On that note, it's off to bed for me. Wish me luck. Look for my first ever post-race write-up soon!!!