T - 16 hours and counting!

I am in Toronto but not without incident, Let me stress that I don't enjoy flying...okay, my stomach doesn't enjoy flying!!! I didn't have any Gravol at home, but did have candied ginger (nature's stomach settler)...I lasted the whole trip, until the pilot made the final approach to the airport. Then, and this is my story and I'm sticking to it, the pilot did a loop-d-loop with the plane, and stopped it so hard, we did a tire stand in the front wheel!!! Sadly (for the people around me) I do not get a lot of warning when I'm about to blow, and blow I did!!! This is the second time my friend Cathy has greeted me, all covered with vomit. I did clean up better this time, but still...what is it about Toronto?! I already have some natural travel sickness pills in my purse (purchased this morning) for the flight home.

After I got my bag and changed, Cathy and I went down to the race Expo to pick up my race kit! This was Cathy's first expo, and she thought we would walk in, pick up a bib and leave. Oh, no, my friend! There's gu's and juices to sample, protein bars to choke down, clothes to look at, people to meet. Speaking of people...I met, shook hands with and have an autograph to prove it, Katherine Switzer...yes, the KV Switzer, who fooled the Boston Marathon boys in 1967 and broke ground for all female runners the world over. She is funny (she was joking that the woman from Boston was still alive, she heard) and looks fabulous. She and Roger Robinson were there selling their book 26.2, a book of 26.2 marathon stories...so of course I now have a copy. Also met up with John Stanton, bought a jacket and a shirt ("does this shirt make my butt look fast?"), and the package of course. But what I also learned is that I have to watch my sugar levels...I suppose I should have figured out that there 'may' be a problem when I ate at 6:30am, barfed it all up at 12:30 pm and hadn't replaced it (other than a peppermint tea) by 3:30 when we were still in the expo. One minute I was standing, the next I was sitting on the floor. Thank goodness the swag bag contained some fruit mash "drink", which I sucked back (yuck, but sugar I needed), as well as a small box of Vecture cereal. Munched on that till I started to feel better and then went to the Vegan booth to get some drink with electrolytes and some protein bar. Started to feel much more human again...sorry, Cathy...didn't mean to scare the crap out of us both!

Got to Cathy's, ordered a pizza, and met up with some of the ladies from At the Park, Caroline and Sunshine. We sat and drank beer (carbo loading!), ate some munchies and just got to know each other. Good fun.

Today Cathy and I wandered around the downtown of the community she lives in, checking out some local antique shops and such. Gorgeous day, and that just means tomorrow is going to be perfect for the marathon! Yay!! After a quick stop at home for lunch (excellent cooker, Cathy is) she, her hubs and I headed out to the country so that I can see what fall really looks like. Checked out many small towns and shops, a place they call Mars (Terra Cotta) and enjoyed a fabu afternoon. Getting dinner ready now (pasta, with a garlic tomato sauce, shrimp, bread, salad) and then a quiet night at home. Something I have learned about Cathy, despite knowing her for many, many, many (is that enough manys, Cathy??) years, is that she likes Nascar. I would have never thought that, ever!!!

I am going to get my race gear out and ready (I think I'm wearing the tank...I think!) and then aim to hit the sack nice and early. We have to be at the race starting point by 8 (it's a point-to-point race, which I've never run before...exciting) and I don't know how long it'll take to get there from here, as well as having to fight traffic. The great news is Cathy managed to get the day off, so will be there with family to cheer me across the finish line! Andher cousin is running the Half, so she'll have another to cheer across. I'm getting pumped!

T -15 hours....argh!!!!

Later,