It's just a piece of cheap metal, but ...

Just a piece of medal on a ribbon?

The timelapserunner slept rather well the night before the big race, waking once at 4:20AM only to fall back to sleep until the alarm went off at 5. Got up, went through the long run morning ritual of constitutional, stretching and Clif Bar munching. Ms. timelapserunner dropped me off on River Road nearest the State Capitol building. It was a bit cool at that time of the morning but between the special sweatshirt-made-arm-warmers and the space heaters near the starting chute, the cold did not seem to dampen my spirits. About ten minutes before the start of race, runners began making their way into the chute, lining up about where they would think they'd finish hours later. Excitement was building.

Last Chance Saloon

Last chance before the long expanse
(Courtesy susanvg @ Flickr)

Seems like every old Western movie had its Last Chance Saloon to entertain crazy cowpokes about to ride off into the sunset on a long trek from which they might not return. So it is with a modern day rendition of that ritual - the last days before a marathon race. As the timelapserunner writes this last blog post before his venture into the wasteland (just teasin') of the 2013 Louisiana Marathon, his thoughts begin to both wander and wonder. Will he return from this journey? Will there be excitement all the way or just excruciating trauma? Or a little of both? Will he drop to the ground and kiss the earth at the finish line? (Gee, that's a bit extreme, isn't it?) There are less than 36 hours to pursue those questions at this point. This truly is the point of no return.

If you can do it, then you know you can do it.

The next significant point of departure

The pace of blog posts here by the timelapserunner has slowed dramatically as the big event approaches. My goodness, we had a super long weekend run last week and didn't even report on it. Perhaps all that can be said has been said. Perhaps we're entering a more spiritual zone around the upcoming event, one where words are less meaningful. Perhaps we've just worn out on writing blog posts. In any event, we're just about on auto-pilot now, with very few training runs left and very few decisions left to be made as well. Now, a brief summary and look at the punch list.

In Memory of My Godmother

Almost to Aunt Leona's

The timelapserunner is overdue for a blog post. It's been more than two weeks now since the last. Somehow, today, all things running seem like so much vanity.

Yesterday afternoon, my aunt and godmother Leona passed from this life to the next - on a Wednesday, around 5PM, like her husband nearly 13 years before her. She outlived her two adult brothers by a good many years, not unexpectedly of course. Most of my memories of Aunt Leona are from my childhood, but all my memories of Aunt Leona are from experiences that were positive and live-giving. She was a great woman, possessed of many virtues. Most notable to me in reflection on my memories are her kindness, hospitality and strength. Perhaps I particularly note these because the timelapserunner senses his personal deficiencies there. Still, let me recall some memories.