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Look above! I have a sponsor - Mizuno Canada! I am so excited and happy that they have decided to pick me up and provide me with some gear! I will happily be wearing my Mizuno race gear this Sunday at the Canadian Half Marathon Championships in Montreal. Actually, I am sitting in my hotel room right now (Thank you Canada Running Series) and thought that updating my blog was a welcomed break from trying to do homework.

I am really excited to race tomorrow - of course I have some crazy nerves running through my body, but I am attributing most of it to excitement. I do not feel as sharp as I did in the Fall, but I do feel really strong! I am hoping the combo of strength, proper racing flats, and "cookie cutters" (small wool inserts under my arches), will help me to a fast time and keep my calves from cramping up in the last few miles of the race. Of course the travel to this trip was not without some bumps, as my initial flight out of Lansing was cancelled. Having an actual ticket and not flying on stand-by (hello Hawaii trip), made things still go smoothly, however I did not even leave Detroit until my original flight was landing in Montreal. It made for a later arrival than I had planned, but the race coordinators here are amazing and Anh was a trooper for making yet another trip to the airport to pick me up at 8pm.

These last few weeks have been interesting training wise. My calves were totally messed after the ATB 30k, and it took about a week for them to relax to where they were somewhat run-able. Thankfully, the weather was clear enough for me to rollerblade! They were still very angry with me about a week later, so I went to the Playmakers Injury Clinic and was seen by Sue. What a wonder-worker! She worked on my legs a bit and suggested the cookie cutters. Within a day my calves felt totally normal again, and I was able to get back to running and do some mile repeats! It was perfect timing, as I was starting to feel like it was going to be another Spring filled with rollerblading. It also let me do a 17 mile long run with the Farmington group and do my London 2 Feet and a Heartbeat run-a-thon!

As it was my birthday weekend, it was fun to be home in London and see my family and incorporate my fundraiser. It was really great of Brandon Laan to let me meet up with his run group before I took off to Dorchester. Next up is the Georgia to Tennessee Run-a-thon at the end of the month. I am so thankful for all of your support and donations. I am still working towards my end goal, so if you know anyone who would be interested in donating, please forward the link (www.lannimarchant.wordpress.com). Ok, that's enough of a plug =P

I really am still in shock over the amount of support and assistance I have received these last few weeks! After this weekend I go into crunch time for exams and then the whirlwind of this final semester will finally be over! It has been a blast, but man, I am so ready to be out of school and on to the next chapter!

I'm not sure if you can follow the race live tomorrow, but if I find something out, I'll post a link for everyone here and on my facebook page! Regardless, it is going to be a pretty amazing race with some awesome competition! Ohh, I'm excited!

Wish me luck! I'll give you all a play-by-play when it's all over and done with!