No showering. No sleeping. No sitting.

For dancers, preparing for the 48 hours at the Interfraternity Council/Panhellenic Dance Marathon can take months.

Kevin Bernstein (senior-premedicine), who will be dancing for Zeta Psi fraternity, 25 E. Foster Ave., said that in the past few months, he has stopped his intake of caffeine and started drinking a large amount of water.

"This was very hard, because I love coffee, diet soda and other caffeine sources," he said.

"I also lightened my alcohol consumption the past two months and completely stopped for this past week up to Thon," he said.

Bernstein said he is "notorious" for operating on low amounts of sleep. He will be on his feet for more than 48 hours because he is scheduled to work on Friday morning before Thon starts.

"As a future doctor, I'm going to have to work extremely long shifts, especially during my residency program," he said.

"The idea of sleep deprivation with the intention of helping people is right up my alley," he added.

Chris Viscount (senior-marketing), a first-time dancer for the Blue and White Society, said he has started stretching daily and running on the treadmill.

"I want to save as much of my energy for Thon as possible," he said. "I am getting nervous about this weekend. ... It is so much stress on your body, and there is so much lack of sleep."

Rebecca Morgan (senior-microbiology) said that as a first-year dancer, she does not know if she is mentally or emotionally ready for Thon.

"... But everyday I remind myself how much the fund-raising efforts are helping people," she said. "I am so lucky to have support from all my friends, [the Golden Key International Honour Society] Thon chair, and my family, who will all be visiting me over the weekend."

Morgan said she became nervous last week when she got sick, but after a lot of rest and orange juice, she recovered quickly.

Rules and Regulations Chair Evan Jacobs said that if a dancer does get sick prior to Thon, they are not required to dance.

"The dancers can notify us before the weekend if they feel they can't participate in Thon," he said.

"Even though we'd love to see everyone dancing, we are most concerned with the dancers' safety," Jacobs added.

Jacobs said one dancer has contacted him this week to drop out of Thon because of an illness.

"When a dancer drops out, the group may choose to find another dancer," he said.

"If we have enough time, we can usually change the dancer's registration information," he added.

Bernstein said that if he gets sick he will continue to dance because the children they are raising money for suffer every day.

"Let my feet hurt, let my ankles swell and my mind become delirious, because once I see the smile on these kids' faces throughout the weekend, any pain I may have will all disappear," he said.