The Group becomes a Team

Almsot slept through the 9am "fun run" this morning, but was glad that we hustled to get there as it actually was fun. And it was sort of a trial run - a chance to feel out the temperature and feel out the lay of the land before race day.

Race day. Right. That thing that has been driving me for the past six months.

The Group spent the middle part of the day at the biggest tourist trap in Iceland - which, as tourist traps go, is quite delightful. Rather than being tacky and leaving you feeling a little sick, this is a tourist trap that is truly beautiful and makes you feel great. (Never mind that it´s the effluent from a co-generation power plant... or maybe this is part of the charm.)We spent two hours floating around this giant hotspring, chatting and getting to know each other, all the while with white silica slathered all over our faces.

As with any large gathering of people, The Group is a totally mixed bag – old, young, extoverted, introverted, wild, laid back – you name it, that combination is probably here. But there is one thing that we all share - the time and effort we´ve put into our fundraising and training to bring us to race day. Tonight we had a dinner with lots of motivational speeches and valuable tips on things like race etiquitte and how not to get nipple chafing, but the most important thing I walked away with was the feeling of being a team.

So far I´ve managed to stay calm and not think too much about it – hoping this will carry me through the night so I can have a decent sleep... when I wake up there will only be so much time in which to get myself all freaked out. About the race. Tomorrow. Holy shit.