Ten days til go time. Ten days from RIGHT NOW it will be over, and I will be drinking a beer somewhere in Anchorage with two hours of sunlight ahead of me and a lot fewer toenails.

My run today, as per usual, felt mediocre. I think I used to finish feeling tired but strong. I don’t know what has changed. It might be something ominous and I’m just shit out of luck, or it might be that I’m pushing myself a bit harder. I can’t tell. I have no sense of my pace, and I don’t like the treadmill. But for the past two weeks I’ve felt like I hit a plateau. Half way through my workouts I wish deeply that they were over. It could also be that the whole point of training is that you constantly push yourself outside of your comfort zone in order to get strong. But shit. Enough already. When do I get to feel strong?

I sent out an email soliciting running songs and running thoughts. It’s only been a few hours, and the collection so far is highly amusing. You wouldn't believe some of the music people actually pay for. Some of the music that in a few days I myself will pay for, and that a few days after that may save my ass. Cause really, is there a way not to laugh that your grown friend put Justin Timberlake on your mix? I mean even if you've been running for hours and oxygen is at a premium, you would still have to laugh. Justin Timberlake and his peers are my new allies in the defeat of marathon despair.

For the moment, though, I am munching on peanut butter and planning my evening, which – for the first time in as long as I can remember – involves neither thesis work nor a looming workout. Perhaps I will make some of my clothes clean. Perhaps I will rediscover the flat surfaces of my room. Perhaps I will return one of my weeks of backlogged messages. The options are endless. Hoorah.

Goodbye, double digits of days to the run.