Getting Closer All the Time

I received my NYRR bib number today -- in the 19000's in wave 1 start. That puts me in the Green corral (the slowest) about 2/3 of the way back. That is kind of bad. Good news is that I am in wave 1, which starts first, so there won't be a plethora of slower runners from the previous waves with which to contend as I go. That is bad because I start 2/3 of the way back in a wave of say 12,000 runners. That is still an awful lot of people to deal with.

I will probably run a PR, assuming my training holds up. So, I can't really complain with my starting position. It is what it is, and you cannot change it. I will register with a pace group and hopefully that will put me in the right starting position and can run with them. They should have that all planned out, but I really don't remember how the pace groups assemble or how they start given the corrals and waves.

Beginning to game plan as to what shoes, shorts, socks and shirt I will wear on the big day. Particularly shoes. For me, I try to find the "goldilocks" shoes, shoes that are not too old or too new, but just right. For me, the sweet spot on shoes are ones that have approximately 100 miles on them. Still new, but I feel comfortable in them. Unfortunately, in my rotation, it hasn't fallen in line to have the right shoes in the right place. Right now, my favorites are a pair of Asics Gel Kayanos, but they have about 200 miles on them, a little past their prime. I have been running less in them because...The pair I thought I was going to use was a pair of Brooks Trance 9's that I bought about three weeks ago. Unfortunately those haven't fit exactly right. They now have about 60 miles on them, but just aren't there yet. And my impression is not a rave one. I also have a pair of Gel Nimbus 11 that I love the way they feel and which I use on the treadmill. I am going to run long in them this weekend to see if they work for road work and long distances. Maybe, the Gel Nimbus will be the winner. If not, they can save miles on my Gel Kayanos.

In workout news, I ran for first time since my long run over the weekend, and went 8.5 miles at 7:30 pace. The FIRST program had this as one of the long runs for the week, but I missed the weekly speedworkout. This weekend (Saturday) is 20 miles at marathon pace + 15 seconds. I am going to try to run my 7 mile loop 3 times at an under 8:000 pace. That will be a push, but a good, last, hard long run.