This afternoon, after arriving in Hartford, Amy and I headed over to the XL Center for the ING Hartford Marathon Expo. As we walked towards the expo from the parking deck we saw lots of marathon banners and fun signs along the sidewalks, pointing out tomorrow’s marathon course!

The ING Hartford Marathon and Half Marathon expo was such a pleasure to experience today with Amy and Laura, who we met once we arrived!  Even though we were there during the lunch hour rush, there were still plenty of friendly volunteers and coordinators answering questions and helping all the runners! We may have squealed with excitement when we saw the marathon t-shirts as they are an adorably soft orange creamsicle technical shirt in fitted women’s sizing. I can already tell that it’s going to quickly become a favorite! You know this is a smaller marathon when my number only has 3 digits! How the heck did that happen?

After picking up our bibs and shirts we were finally able to give Danielle a huge hug! Danielle is Amy’s sister-in-law and one of the race coordinators. She was the one who suggested Amy and I make a weekend out of the ING Hartford Half and Marathon! She is kindly hosting us in her home this weekend and has made sure that our experience is nothing but fabulous!

We spent the rest of the time at the expo chatting with the sponsors, including Cabot Cheese, Lara Bars, the Hartford Psyching Team, and the course guides! They were so sweet to answer my nervous questions about the route since I am unfamiliar with Hartford. Supposedly the out and back miles are through a small neighborhood with plenty of foliage and local spectators cheering in their yards! So let’s talk about this psyching team as it is something totally new to me! They literally stand along the sidelines screaming positive words of encouragement and wisdom which has been tested among athletes! They even gave out pieces of the finish line so athletes can pin it to their bibs and “feel close to the finish line” the entire race!

After exploring the expo we headed to a local deli to grab lunch for ourselves and Danielle! Just like last year, I went with a turkey sandwich on a soft roll, water and Food Should Taste Good chips we were given at the expo!

That was the extent of our afternoon adventures. The rest of our day has consisted of elevated legs on a comfortable couch, Law & Order SVU, Revenge, Grey’s Anatomy, candy corn, pita chips, stretching, a pasta dinner, some time with the foot massager, and lots of water! An 8am start time means plenty of sleep for us this evening in hopes of fresh legs and hearts tomorrow morning! It’s going to be a wonderful day! Strong heart, strong legs!

Thank you everyone for your amazing support and well wishes! The calls, emails, texts, Facebook, Twitter, and blog comments have me so excited and encouraged!