Look for these on 4/27. After yesterday's pretty intense tempo run, I was glad to have an easier run on the docket today. It also gave me a chance to put on my new running shoes in a low-key setting. Sun coming up over Keyport I've been trying to vary my routes some to break up the monotony, so today I did some loops right near my house till I'd hit a mile or so, then headed down to Keyport. And I'd have a hard time explaining this, but everything just seemed to have a feeling of optimism, of the start of a good day. Maybe it was the good spring weather. Maybe it was the idea of looking out over Matawan Creek as it empties into the harbor, just as the sun was fully up. Maybe it was just a better night's rest. But things felt good. That's Clffwood Beach in the gloaming The idea was to go easy today, and the first mile did that -- 9:36. But most of the rest was at an under-9:00 clip. I certainly wasn't killing myself, so I really do think that's a workable pace for me. I finished 5.6 at a 9:07 average. Near the Keyport boat ramp. Tide was low. That brings me to a minor concern for the race. As you know, I registered in August. At that point, I think my longest run was around 7 miles. So I left the "expected finishing time" box blank, because I really had no idea. Well, that got me a corral placement with the 4:30+ crowd. My race plan involves not expending a ton of extra energy running around people early on. But I don't want to get stuck behind people running 11:00 miles. I have to hope it thins out quickly enough that I can get a move on. I will be seriously annoyed if I finish just over 4:00 because of this. Tomorrow is a rest day. Saturday will be cross day to give my foot an extra day to feel better. Sunday, I may go run with the group the marathon is organizing in Long Branch. I just am not sure I want to be in a crowd of 500 people. Total miles since starting the blog: 550.1