Getting My Legs Ready To Execute The Plan

I have today and Monday off work since my best friend, Ann, is visiting for the weekend. I wanted to go for a quick run this morning and she was more than game. We ended up heading outside around 8:45, which I realized later is about the same time I'll be running on Sunday, so it was a good realization of how hot it'll be!

We were thinking something in the 3-mile range for today. Just enough to get my legs out there and moving, but not enough to tire them out. Plus, I had a feeling we'd be doing a lot of walking around later on doing some shopping/touristy stuff!

We walked to the Park, headed north up the east side, cut across the Great Lawn Loop and then back down the west side. Whew. It was hot. I made us take a couple of walking breaks. I felt okay about that today. My legs were a little testy and I didn't want to make them mad at me! It was nice to get out and have a quick run with Ann while we could catch up on some gossip. I don't normally love running with other people, but she's a pretty good one to have around. Plus, she never complains that we're going slower than her normal (fast) pace!

We ended up going exactly three miles, so success on that front! Just a nice little fun run! Today starts the getting organized for the triathlon day, so here's the rough outline of my plan:

• Friday: Attend mandatory pre-race meeting, pick up packet and race number, look around the Expo. And, possibly most importantly, get mani/pedis with Ann and Laura!
• Saturday: Drop off my bike. Mandatory to do this on Saturday. No bike drop off on Sunday.
  
• Sunday: Race Day! Transition opens at 4:30. I think I'll get there around 5:00. My swim wave is at 6:20. That should be plenty of time to set-up and walk the mile + to swim start.
  
• SWIM: I'm still not sure what wetsuit to wear. The water temperature is really warm. I'd like to keep more of the Hudson off me, but I think I might wear sleeveless so I don't overheat. My plan for the swim is to find a rhythm, but get out of the Hudson as quickly as possible!
  
• BIKE: Be careful getting up to the course from transition and from there, just have fun. I'm never going to be a fast biker, or at least not for this particular race, so I might as well just enjoy it. I've heard that there is a lot of broken glass really far to the right, so I'm going to be conscious of the road conditions and the technical turns on the course. Oh, and try to not break my arm before the race even starts.
  
• RUN: I really want to run this race. I know that the crowd support is amazing (from my own experience last year) and I want to really have fun and enjoy that. My plan is to get into the Park, up to the East side of Harlem Hill and just keep running from there. I will not penalize myself for walking through aid stations. With the heat, I know I'll need the hydration and it's more important. But, I don't want to take other walking breaks. When I turn the corner on the 72nd Street transverse, I want to have something left in the tank so that I can hopefully pass a couple of people since I know where the finish is (this is my backyard after all!).
  

All in all, I'm just hoping to have a great race. I know that because I was out for such a long time with my broken arm, this might not be my best triathlon ever ability-wise, but I think it will still be a blast! I'm so excited to do this race. I'm really glad that I didn't defer. I'm trying desperately to not have a time goal for this race. In truth, I'd be disappointed if it took me more than 4 hours. I'd love to make it under 3:30:00, but I'm not going to be upset one bit if I'm not. Now it's just time to rest up, hydrate, and execute the plan!

Running
Time: 30:27
Distance: 3.00 miles
Pace: 10:02/mile