Thanks! The Galloway group has been great for building my confidence, my base mileage, and my long runs, but I've been doing long runs on my own the past few weeks and going a little faster than I was with the group. I tend to be a loner when I run, so carrying on conversations with the other Galloway groupies (VERY nice people, BTW--a big plus in joining Galloway) every Saturday could be distracting sometimes for me sometimes. (I'm an introvert in an extroverted job, so my runs are usually a great time for me to recharge.) I do love race days, and have missed doing extra fall races because of scheduled long runs on Saturdays. I'm looking forward to picking up more races after the HM is over.

The family and I are scheduled to work the late shift (10-2) at the post-race food tent, but we've been warned we may be moved if they need people elsewhere. Look for the middle-aged wannabe with a mustache.

I'll be there bright and early. Well, maybe not so bright. It's going to be a long morning since I expect to finish the FM in about 4.5 hours. Being it's my first, I just hope to finish strong w/o bonking or hitting the wall.

Congratulations to all finishers - and to those who gave it the old "college try." A few people complained a little about it being too hot for them, but it really was a nice day- for the second year in a row! The family and I wound up passing out finisher's medals for the full marathon from about the 3:15 mark until about the 6:00 mark; we then moved back and passed out water and space blankets at the end of the finisher's chute. If you got your medal from someone NOT wearing a volunteer's shirt, it was probably one of us.

I ran the half, which was my first, and thought it was a great race! The course was pretty, and the crowd support, all in all, was very good! The water stops and portajohns were well placed, too. I'm glad I ran this first half marathon in my home area. Full race report here: http://runlesleyrun.blogspot.com/2008/11/race-report-2008-city-of-oaks-half.html