Five.

The weekend is getting closer, and my plans are falling into place. Homework is almost wrapped up, my last assignment is due tomorrow. The majority of my grading is done and out of the way. I have very little stress right now, which is great!

My hip is actually feeling really, really good today. I took some advice my dad gave me: to stop stretching my hip so much. For a while I was stretching it a lot, because it gave it temporary relief. However he thinks it might have been like licking your lips when they're chapped; feels good now, but ultimately makes it worse. I started alternating heat in with my icing too, which is providing a lot of relief as well.

I jumped on the old exercise bike today for 30 minutes too. Nothing notable, just enough to burn off some nervous energy!

The game plan is to run tomorrow with Stephanie, who I've been trying to schedule a run with since I moved to Kentucky two months ago, but somehow our schedules never match up. She'll force me to run a little slower, too. Although I'm not saying she's out of shape; from what I understand she's one heck of a rock climber -- she's gotten a few pro deals before; wow!

Tomorrow is going to be one last test run for my gear before Sunday. I'm wearing shorts I haven't worn since I started using Gu's, and I want to make sure it doesn't cause any rubbing on my leg with them in my pocket. I'm switching because these are shorts with a compression liner in them, which I've heard can help tame certain hip problems; think of it as damage control.

(Warning: This paragraph is very much a rant) On a non-running note, I continue to be really unimpressed by the foreign students here at UK. I finished a project last Friday, which is due three days from today. The professor wanted us to give a demo of it next week, but since I'm quite certain my legs won't be working next week; I wanted to ask him about doing the demonstration early. Well, I had to wait behind a crowd of FIFTEEN students, who were all begging for an extension. I swear, I'm not some genius; I even misspelled genius and the spell checker corrected me. I really think these people either aren't qualified for grad school, or they simply wouldn't know hard work if it bit them in the face (end rant).

To end on a positive note, my energy level is still rising! Watch out! My plane leaves in three days, then I get to hang out with friends and family Saturday, before kicking off the 26.2 mile celebration on Sunday!

Also, the vote for quotes is pretty even. The first and last one are out, the other three are tied at two votes each. In case you're being meticulous and counting, I have people voting at another site too. I'm going to throw my own vote into the fray and pick "Happy are those who dream dreams and are ready to pay the price to make them come true." VOTING CLOSED!

And finally, to answer the question that Nancy asked when I was half way through writing this blog: my bib number is........ 2435! If you want to track my progress, there ya go! I have no clue how I got such a low number, but I'll take it!

GO TEAM CICHON!