One Day Left

But who is counting, right. Below I talk about the marathon I did the other day, the list of my schedule for the next few days, and how packing is going.

Marathon

Why would anyone purposefully run 26.2 miles. I am not sure bodies are actually built to handle it. That being said, two days later I feel great. I finished the marathon and I ran 9 minute miles finishing just under 4 hours. That was the goal that I set for myself so I am ecstatic that I was able to do it.

Running for that long is largely a mental task. Physically I knew I would be able to do because I had done two 20 mile training runs. I started out feeling great and running under 8 minute miles, then around mile 10 I broke down mentally because I decided not to get water at the last station. Regretting that decision, I had to make it to the 12 mile marker. But then I got my mind back on track around mile 13 and felt pretty good for the rest of the race.

So even though the race was mostly mental, I could definitely feel its effects physically. I waddled for the rest of the day and all day yesterday because my hips did not want to do their job. But now I do feel much better and looking back this marathon went much better than my first. And training for this did a wonderful job of keeping me sidetracked while waiting to leave for Cameroon.

Schedule

Now I only have a little bit of time left in the states and no more time left to waste.

Tomorrow, Wednesday 16, 2009:

10:30am – leave with Mom and Mary for Philly

12:00pm – lunch with Katie, Mom, and Mary in Philly

1:30pm – registration with the Peace Corps

3:00pm-7:00pm – introductory staging

Thursday 17, 2009:

6:30am – check out of hotel

7:00am – leave for clinic

9:30am – leave for JFK

5:50pm – plane departs for Brussels

Friday 18, 2009:

7:35am – land in Brussels

10:20am – plane leaves for Cameroon

4:05pm – land in Yaoundé

Friday afternoon I will be in a completely different continent, where I will be spending the next two years of my life!

Packing

Fitting all of my stuff in two checked bags and two carry-ons is proving very difficult. My checked bags cannot weigh more than 80 pounds together and either one by itself cannot be more than 50 pounds. Then it must fit the requirements set for linear measurements. The length plus width plus height of both of my checked bags cannot exceed 107 inches. While this may sound like it is plenty of weight and space; I can assure you it is not. I have to fit my things that I need to live for the next two years.

So I think that I have fit everything within the framework set by the Peace Corps, but it depends on whether I measure conservatively or liberally. I hope that at the airport everything goes well!