The final countdown to the Nike Women's Marathon in San Francisco

Time certainly flies when you spend 5 months religiously training for a marathon. Countless early morning Saturday long distance runs, recovery runs in between during break at work combined with cross training days have come and gone quicker than than you can say Jack Robinson, and I now find myself a few days away from the start line with 25,000+ women in the heart of San Francisco.

6 days left to go. I’m actually feeling pretty good – for the most part.  All the hard work is now complete and aside from resting my muscles, all that's left to do is mentally prepare and eat right.

It's going to be a crazy weekend. Just received this email last night from Nike Women:

ONE WEEK! Yeah we said it. IT’S HERE! Well… almost. The big day is fast approaching and we’re giving you a snapshot of all you need to know for race weekend in this email, so GET EXCITED, because we’ve got one heck of a weekend planned.

NWM EXPOTIQUE & PACKET PICK-UP THURS, Oct 11: 12pm-8pm FRI, Oct 12: 10am-8pm SAT, Oct 13: 8am-6pm *Please print out your confirmation email with the barcode and bring it with you to Packet Pick Up along with a copy of your photo ID. College girls – make sure and bring the college ID you used at registration. THREE DAYS AND COUNTING! We’re ready. ARE YOU?

RACE DAY START: 7AM GETTING THERE 1. Park at the Start and take the Runners’ Shuttle from the Finish. Tickets are $20 at the Expotique. Parking is available in local garages, but not affiliated with nor guaranteed by NWM. Your best bet is to get there early and try these locations: 833 Mission St. 325 Mason St. 444 Stockton St. 2. Have a really, really good friend drop you off at the start and meet you at the finish. Suggested drop off spots are Market & Powell or Bush & Powell. The closest they can get to pick you up at the finish is Lincoln & 47th.

FINISH LINE Step One: Get that coveted little, blue box. Step Two: Party. NWM is pulling out all the stops for a finish line festival like no other. YOU EARNED IT! Get your official finisher’s photo by Brightroom; then head to the results tent for your official time and splits. Stick around and enjoy the entertainment and pampering we have planned just for YOU.

EXPOTIQUE DEFY THE ELEMENTS Come check out the Cold Weather Collection located in the center of the Expotique. First come first serve sign-ups each morning for one-on-one consultations with professional stylists who will advise you on the way to wear Nike’s cold weather products for your winter work outs and then tell you exactly how to make these looks all your own! #RUNNWM – RACE WEEKEND NWM FUELSTREAM 25,000 NWMer's will be taking over SF race weekend. With the help of #runnwm and the NWM FuelStream we can broadcast live to the rest of the world every minute of the NWM experience. Time to celebrate every obstacle, mile you conquered and tear of joy you shed. Charge those phones ‘cus it's time to Instagram and tweet all things NWM. DO YOU HAVE FRIENDS AND FAMILY THAT WANT TO FOLLOW YOUR EVERY MILE? Live runner tracking is back for race day! They’ll see your start and gun time, different checkpoints on-course and duh, the glorious finish. And since we’ve already discussed the many reasons why you’ll be running with Nike+, use Share my Run to get some extra kick on the course from your Facebook entourage. Sign up on site in the Expotique. (SO BE SURE TO CHECK MY FACEBOOK FOR UPDATES - FOR MOST OF YOU IT WILL BE 10:00 AM EST WHEN I'LL BE STARTING THE MARATHON - UK FRIENDS 2PM - Thank you ahead of time for the cheers!! ) I 'll be sure to take lots of pics from beginning to end - GAH I'm so excited, but as I am ending this post I'm starting to get anxious too! Breath just breath...