Sorry for not updating yesterday. But I'm sure you'll understand I was a little preoccupied yesterday. :)

Looking back at just yesterday's experience, it almost seems like a blur already. Maybe that's just because I'm still mentally and physically drained from yesterday. But I can remember that the race itself was a lot of hard work. It was hard, but good.

I guess that's probably the best way to describe this whole experience that I've been through over the past six months. And just like the fact that I couldn't have done this race without the advise of our coaches, I couldn't have accomplished all I have without the support of everyone who's contributed through either financial or moral support.

I'm still a little lost for words at this moment, but I'm planning on writing a little more about the race itself once I get rested up.

Today kind of got off to a frantic start. I signed up to stay in the team's hotel downtown to prevent parking and travel hassles throughout the weekend, however I found out I should've checked in yesterday instead of today (I mistook 3 nights for 3 days). Good news was that they were able to hold my room. Bad news was that en route to the hotel, I realized I forgot my event tickets and wristband for the TNT functions. So I zoomed back home, got them, and got back downtown where I could FINALLY check into the hotel. At least I didn't have to bother with the expo today since today is supposed to be insanly busy.

After chilling out in the hotel this afternoon, we had our TNT Inspirational Dinner tonight. We had a nice pasta buffet which was very tempting when it came to eating more than I should, but I had my fair share. There was a program which recognized some key individuals. I was among them since I wound up being the top fundraiser in the entire country for this event (once again, a big thank you to all of you who donated). I got a nice plaque and hat out of it, so that was pretty cool.

Less than 12 hours before I need to wake up and catch my ride to the starting line. Time for bed because for tomorrow's long run, it's 13.1 miles or bust.

My race weekend experience began around mid-day today when I drove downtown to visit the Health & Fitness Expo at the Phoenix Convention Center. We pretty much had to stop by there since that was where we received our race numbers and did our formal check-in. I guess that's with the intention to save time on race day.

On my sign-in form, I predicted it would take me 3 hours and 15 minutes to finish the race. Since the 1/2 marathon uses a gate system to determine when you start in relation to everyone else, I found out I was in the 21st corral out of 23. Hopefully, I'll be able to move a little faster than that since the pace car will only be a couple corrals behind me.

After purchasing some race mementos from the gift shop, I walked around the expo for a bit just to look at all the booths. Aside from hanging out at the TNT booth for a little bit, I didn't stick around for too long due to the crowd. And today's actually supposed to be the lighter day for expo attendence. At least I won't have to find out how much more crowded tomorrow is since I'm all set for the race.

Tapering continued this past week with three more 30 minute runs at the Fitness Center. I guess the big New Year's rush which occurs at gyms happens more at the public and regular fitness centers because I didn't see much of a jump in people there during the week. Oh well. At least I'm already in the habit of going there. One thing I have been having to deal with is some pre-race nervousness. I'll be honest, I'm a little intimidated and overwhelmed with the thought of running along side 30,000 other people with thousands more cheering along the side. Hopefully, I'll be able to shake those jitters and be able to run my pace during the race.

Our last team run of the season took place yesterday outside of Arizona State's Sun Devil Stadium, which is where the race is going to end at. We only ran for an hour along the last 2-3 miles of the course and back. It was definitely an adjustment having to run not only at a different location, but also with traffic to worry about. I know traffic will be blocked off for the race, but hopefully I'll be able to quickly adapt to running the other 11 miles despite them being in uncharted territory.

This week should see quite a few updates since the race is a week away, so stay tuned!

With the tapering phase still in effect, things were fairly routine throughout the week during my runs at SCC. Pretty much the only things of note were that I ran my last mid-week run that lasts longer than 30 minutes (50 minutes on Wednesday) and the Oklahoma State football team practiced all week for the Fiesta Bowl at the school. They didn't use the fitness center though, so I never saw any of the players. In addition to the final 50 minute run, Monday and Friday saw a couple 30 minutes sessions. Like I said, pretty routine at this point.

The final run of 2011 also marked our last individual group practice along the Phoenix Canal at Granada Park. Next week's another all-team practice and the race is that following weekend. Anyway, the temperature was MUCH more forgiving than last week but I'm pretty sure starting at 7 am instead of 6 am was also a factor. We ran for 90 minutes (unlike last week where the cold cut me half an hour short) and I actually managed to go a little bit further than last week (6.8 miles).

Well, as you can tell from the sidebar, WE'VE HIT $10,000! (almost, but what I send in tomorrow should cover that last little bit) A big thank you to everyone who contributed and continues to support me through your warm wishes and your following of my progress!