The weather in Austin this morning was perfect for my run. Kerry and I met at 5:45 and ran the 7-mile loop around Lady Bird Lake. It felt easy, probably because I took yesterday off. I needed to. My body was tired from the Saturday trail run, Sunday run, Monday trainer session and swim, Tuesday morning run, and Tuesday night trail run. That was too much packed into a few days, especially given that I’m supposed to be tapering for the Portland marathon.

I’m excited to head back to Portland next week. I’m staying at a hotel downtown, which is a first for me. Since I’ll be downtown, I plan to visit the flagship Powell’s Books. There are a couple of book signings there that weekend that look interesting to me. I’ll also get to see a friend from Austin who moved to Portland and another dear friend from my Whidbey Island retreat who will drive down from Washington to hang out with me on Saturday.  I’m also hoping to have a chance to either walk or run my favorite mountain and perhaps take pictures of the beautiful city view from the top of the mountain. I’ve been up the mountain a bunch of times but never with a camera. I also want to visit the bike shop that helped me last summer so I can buy an Oregon sticker and bike jersey. Those two things have been on my mind for almost a year now.

Aside from that, I don’t really know what the weekend will bring, but I’m looking forward to the cooler temperatures, being in a city I love, seeing some good friends, and having an awesome race.  And by awesome, I do mean a personal best. I’m aiming for better than 5:12, which is what Erin and I did when we ran New York in 2010. I came close to beating that in Barcelona this year. I think I’m faster now.

I would love to associate Portland with my best marathon ever. That would mean a lot to me right now. A whole lot.