it's finally here...

Today I leave to San Jose and I fly out to NYC in the morning! I can't believe after 18 weeks of training the race is finally about to arrive. Here are some brief thoughts...

1. The weather should be great. The high is 56 degrees and the low is 52, partly cloudy. No rain in the forecast. I did buy some old snow pants at Goodwill to wear prior to the race starting and just shed them right before the start buy I don't even know if I will need them.

2. I am still worried about my right foot. I tried to go for an 8 mile run last Sunday buy shut it down at 7 because it was starting to ache. Besides a planned 2 mile run either on Friday or Saturday I won't run at all this week. Just trying to give my foot as much time to heal as possible.

3. I started at 170 pounds hoping to get down to 160 by raceday. The first 2 months there was no weight loss, but right now I hover around 161-2 which I am really happy with.

4. I found a great website called mymarathonpace.com which has pace charts for all major marathons. Based on the elevation charts from the course the guy who owns the website has created an xcel spreadsheet where you can input your own information and plan out your pace mile by mile based on how much effort you want to put forth during the race. You can also account for how fast/slow you want to be going at the beginning and the end of the race. I am setting it for a slow start and a medium fade at the end. I am pacing myself for a 3:55 marathon which I feel is right about where I should be. For instance my first mile is all up over the Verrazano Bridge and is meant to be slow so it is roughly a 10 minute pace. The next mile which is going back down the bridge is much faster around 8:50ish. The overall pace for my marathon per mile I want to keep is an 8:58 mile. I printed it out and made my own pace band to wear around my wrist.

5. A tough part about being in NYC prior to running a race is my eating habits. I usually never shy away from eating a lot, especially when it's good food. I've told myself no fatty meals and no pigging out no matter how good something is. I don't want to feel lethargic prior to my race and I don't want to have to take an unplanned dump during it. I have made reservations for a nice steakhouse for after my race. The meals are pricey, but what isn't pricey in NYC? It will be something nice to look forward to.

That's about it! Make sure to look back sometime next week as I post a race report. Thanks for reading and thanks for your support in this endeavor!