The three most common questions as the marathon approaches:

How do you feel, are you ready?

I get this question a lot. Well, I have to say, it is 11 days until Marathon Monday and I would not be excited to run the marathon tomorrow. However with each passing day I feel a bit more motivated and excited for the run. When I look back over my training for Boston, I have logged over 500 miles since January (probably more weekly miles than I have ever run before a marathon), received over $6000.00 towards my fundraising for Dana Farber (also a PR for my fundraising efforts), and had many great running partners along the way. I have had a few nagging injuries here and there, but none that amounted to anything at this point in my training. I feel very fortunate, and I am starting to feel more and more ready for the marathon.

So, how much more do you run before the marathon?

All of us marathoners are in 'taper mode' now. When I say that to a non-marathon runner they kind of nod and smile. In other words, we are in rest and recovery mode, logging less miles than we have over the bulk of our training and allowing our bodies to get ready for the trek from Hopkinton to Boston. The funny part of this question is that when I tell a non-runner than we don't have any more long runs and that I will only run 8-10 miles this weekend, I get another look of yeah, right, that's not a long run?? However, when you put it in the context of how many miles we have been running on the weekends since January, 8-10 miles seems like a walk in the park.

This week I accidentally ran 8.5 miles in Newport on Monday because of construction on the Ocean Drive that made me reroute my run. Tuesday I did a great 4 miler with Betsy, last night, Wednesday, I did a great 5-miler with Dennis, tonight I will do 4 with Betsy with a little bit of tempo running thrown in, tomorrow-rest, Sat- 8-10, Sunday - rest.

Then next week I will try my hardest to stick to only a few short runs, mixed in with lots of reading and lots of rest.

Do you have a goal time?

I never answer this question. Mainly because I don't really ever have a goal time, I have a goal range. And, I often don't even like to admit what the range is, because most people automatically forget the range and focus on the lowest number. I will admit, I am not aiming for a PR (personal record). I am not feeling that this time around and I don't want that added pressure. This marathon is about running for my supporters and all of those people affected by cancer. My goal is to make them proud and to finish feeling strong and good!