YES! I DID IT! I'M THERE! Over the weekend I reached my $2,500 fundraising goal for Team for Kids. Thank you so much to all of my friends and family members who donated. You will all be receiving thank you notes and keychains after the marathon. For those of you who donated $52.40, I'm just about ready to have my special race t-shirt printed with all of your names on the back. I can't wait to sweat you up!

It has been a good week. On Saturday I did my 20-miler with Olga. I wasn't recovered enough from the 1/2 marathon to do it on Thursday, so I took an extra couple of days off and it made all the difference. I felt strong during the run.

Two weeks ago after my 20-miler I was ready to give in. I took a beating. I couldn't believe I was going to have to feel that way three more times. It took me days to recuperate both physically and mentally. This time, however, I felt fine both during and after the run. It's nice to know that the recovery is getting faster. I was starting to worry that I was getting a little too old for this marathon stuff.

It's hard to believe it is only one month until the marathon. Rob asked me what I'm going to do when it's all over. I said, "clean house." My house is a pit. I don't have the energy to clean when I'm not training. It could really use a good scrub down. I start my taper in another week and a half. I won't know what to do with myself (but I have to rest so NO CLEANING!).

The last few months has gone surprisingly quickly. I spent the first two months obsessing over the fundraising. I was losing sleep at night because I was so worried about meeting my goal. I spent a good month fretting over whether I would qualify for Boston or not. I lost a few nights over that too. Now, I'm just trying to chill out. I'm done fundraising, although if you haven't donated and would still like to do so - the kids will REALLY appreciate it. (OK...I guess the obsessive behavior never ends). As for Boston, we'll see what happens. I think I'm ready, but I won't make any decisions until I get the final race day weather report. More later.