I have to say, I’m starting to get real exctied about this weekend’s NYC Half Marathon. The weather looks like it will be pretty good, the field this year is spectacular and I’m really looking forward to running the 13.1 mile NYC course and seeing how well I trained.

NYC Half – The Weather
http://tr.im/NYCHalfWeather

So it definitely looks like its going to be hot, reaching up to 88 degrees during the day. But the race starts at 7am, so I’m crossing my fingers that we start off at the low of 70 degrees and it stays that way mostly until the finish. It’s a good incentive to finish fast. And anyway, I can live with hot, as long as the hummidity is low, there’s no wind and no rain (so far 0% precipitation and no mention of wind in the forecast).

NYC Half – The Field
http://tr.im/NYCHalfPaula
http://tr.im/NYCHalfRyan
http://tr.im/NYCHalfTheField
http://tr.im/NYCHalfDropouts

The Women
So there’s plenty of big news about the field. Obviously, Paula’s late entrance into the race is significant, especially if you’re a female who thought she had a chance at winning. It’s pretty wild that she’s doing this only 7 days before the Championships marathon in Berlin. I don’t know how her coach let her decide on that. Paula’s greatest competitor is probably last year’s winner Catherine Ndereba.

And of course Deena Kastor is a contender, although her name as an American distance runner doesn’t seem to hold as much weight lately with Kara Goucher stealing the spotlight (who will be unfortunately absent from this race). In other Women’s news, Lornah Kiplagat, representing the Netherlands backed out at the last minute from a nagging injury.

The Men
And of course there’s the great white hope, Ryan Hall, America’s current ‘greatest distance runner’ who already owns the U.S. record for the half-marathon at 59:43. With Patrick Makau Musyoki (and his 2nd best-ever 58:52 half marathon) backing out last-minute with tendonitis, Hall has an even better chance at taking the race. But not withought a serious fight with local favorite Abdi Abdirahaman and last year’s winner Tadese Tola, who completed the course in 1:00:58.

NYC Half – The Course
http://tr.im/NYCHalfElevation
http://tr.im/NYCHalfMap

And here are my thoughts on the course. First, it sucks that this race starts in Central Park. Anyone who’s done more than 2 or 3 NY Roadrunner’s races would probably appreciate a change of pace. But I’m sure for practical reasons, this is the way it needs to be. The last 7 miles are sure to be awesome at least and that’s what counts.

Elevation-wise, 0-2.5 miles is rolling, but mostly downhill. There are a few short hills in the park between miles 2.5-6mi but then starting at the 10k mark, the entire race is downhill for a few miles and then perfectly flat starting at mile 9. So my race strategy is to play it conservative for the first half, and then run progressively harder, shooting to break a 7 min pace for the final few miles.

Good luck to everyone who’s running on Sunday!

J