Day 2

It's about an hour before I head down to start Day 2. I am much less anxious today than I was on Monday because it's not a mystery anymore.  Here's what I mean:

In 1994, I ran two marathons - Houston and New York.  I ran Houston first and I was terrified about the race.  In training for the race, I had run a 30K as part of the Marathon Warm-Up Series, but I never actually cracked the full 26.2 miles.  I had been told that the "wall" that marathon runners hit was literally your body running out of fuel and turning on itself.  

There was also the fact that the first guy that ran the race - a Greek named Pheidippides - had run from Marathon to Athens to announce the Grecian victory at the Battle of Marathon (26.2 miles), said, "Joy, we win!" and literally dropped dead.  I ran the race, all the time waiting for that mortal moment.  

It never came - although I was really sore (never run in Asics Gel-Lyte Ultras when you weigh over 200 pounds), I finished the race.

Ten months later, I got to run the New York Marathon with my dad and my brother. It was not scary at all. In fact, it was a great time, running with my dad for four and a half hours and seeing the sights.  If I had brought the same fear from the first race to New York, I would have not enjoyed it nearly as much.

It's the same today. Yeah, I'm sitting next to guys who pass the Malcolm Gladwell 10,000 hour rule. And yeah, the blinds are going to be coming faster and furiouser today.  But I am determined that today is going to be about soaking up the event itself and playing my own best game.  If I lose, that's poker.  But after Monday, I feel so much more confident that I can hang with these guys.

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And I am really quite relaxed from the two days off. Yesterday, I had lunch at Gordon Ramsay Burger at Planet Hollywood, and they accidentally brought me both fries and onion rings. First, the big Bingo win, and now free food!  I can't lose!

I watched my friends Anar, April and Mike play yesterday.  They all bagged, maybe not for what they wanted to bag, but they are all playing Day 2, which is better than the alternative.

I had a nice hanger steak at Alexxa's in the Paris Casino and a tuna poke appetizer.  I won some more money at the tables.  And I went to bed at a reasonable hour!

Okay, it's now almost 10:00 a.m.  Cards fly in an hour, so I need to get ready to go.

Next dispatch will be at the first break (approximately 3:00 CST).  Wish me luck!