But go to sleep, wake up and run 26.2 miles.
I am nearly overwhelmed by an odd, unreal feeling right now on the eve of running my third Chicago Marathon. I've taken good care of myself this week, and topped it off with a fantastic deep-tissue massage this afternoon and then a nice dinner. As you can see, I've got all my gear laid out for the morning, down to pinning my number to my shirt and lacing the timing chip into my shoes.
My transportation situation has just improved greatly. MizBubs, girl genius, is going to drop me off and pick me up from the race. I had planned on doing that myself, but after reading the second weather advisory emailed to me by the race organizers, she's decided to make sure I make it home safely by doing it herself. What a sweetie. She's going to take advantage of the 5 hours of free time that my lumbering pace allows by visiting the Field Museum. She's really looking forward to not having a big goof with a short attention span rushing her through the exhibits.
I occupied myself last night by compiling two disks worth of music to work myself up for the race. What that really looked like was me sitting at the computer, glass of bourbon in hand, just plucking whatever songs I could remember and putting them into a playlist. Here it is, alphabetically (I shuffled the tunes before burning):
A Little Less Conversation—Elvis Presley
Ace of Spades—Link Wray
Black Math—The White Stripes
Blister in the Sun—The Violent Femmes
Blitzkrieg Bop—The Ramones
Chills and Fever—Tom Jones
Clampdown—The Clash
Cornfed Dames—The Cramps
Crackity Jones—The Pixies
Everybody’s Happy Nowadays—The Buzzcocks
Funtime—Iggy Pop
Get Rhythm—Johnny Cash
Gone Daddy Gone—The Violent Femmes
Going Out West--Tom Waits
Here Comes Your Man—The Pixies
Heroes—David Bowie
Hey Porter—Johnny Cash
Hoist That Rag—Tom Waits
How Far Can Too Far Go?--The Cramps
I'm So Free—Lou Reed
I Can't Stand It—The Velvet Underground
I Fought The Law—The Clash
I Found That Essence Rare—Gang Of Four
I Wanna Be Sedated—The Ramones
Jack The Ripper—Link Wray
James Bond Theme—Monty Norman Orchestra
Laywers, Guns and Money—Warren Zevon
Little Acorns—The White Stripes
Lust for Life—Iggy Pop
Mystery Train—Elvis Presley
Not Responsible—Tom Jones
Peter Gunn Theme—Henry Mancini
Play It Safe—Iggy Pop
Pump it Up—Elvis Costello
Radio Radio—Elvis Costello
Run Run Run—The Velvet Underground
Seven Nation Army—The White Stripes
Shake Rattle and Roll—Elvis Presley
Sister Ray—The Velvet Underground
Smells Like Teen Spirit—Nirvana
Success—Iggy Pop
Sweet Jane—The Velvet Underground
The Crusher—The Cramps
The Hardest Button To Button—The White Stripes
The Passenger—Iggy Pop
The Sickbed of Cuchulainn—The Pogues
Thunderball—Tom Jones
We Love You—The Psychedelic Furs
Walking on the Sun—Smashmouth
What Goes On—The Velvet Underground
Wild Cats of Kilkenny—The Pogues
You're Pretty Good Looking—The White Stripes
