Six weeks and four days.

When I was pregnant with Kyle, I'd find myself, in the waning weeks, thinking this a lot: "This will be the last time, I will..."

• just have myself to worry about.
• just have myself to get dressed.
• do a load of laundry that is just my and Russ' clothing,

And so on. (Of course, not included in those thoughts were, "This is the last time in a very long time I will go to the bathroom, alone," which is a very true and real thing.)

As the marathon gets closer, I find myself thinking the same things.

I pre-booked two hair appointments this past weekend, one for December 17. I thought, "I will be a marathoner by then."

I booked a couple of different work activities for December 10, and I thought, "I will be a marathoner by then."

The past few times I've signed up for marathons, I didn't really think I could do them. Even as I was putting my check card number in, I was thinking, "If I can get ready..." or "If I feel like it..."

Not this time. There is no doubt in my mind that I can do this.

That I will do this.