It's race time!

This will be my last post before I leave for the Melbourne and Beaches half-marathon in Melbourne, FL this coming Sunday. I can't wait.

My left knee is still not 100%, but I had a great 9 mile run along a nice chunk of Milwaukee's lakefront last weekend. The 5 mile out-and-back I mapped out had a steep, sloping hill that was a welcome surprise, since Sunday's route contains two of them as we cross over the Eau Gallie and Melbourne Causeway bridges for the 13.1 mile loop.

The course map can be found here.

During my second trip up the hill, my knee started to hurt quite a bit as I made my way back down. I think part of my strategy for Sunday will be to walk the hills depending on how steep they are to take care of the knee. I'm no longer concerned with besting my 2:01 time in the half-marathon, but instead I'll be concentrating on having a good time. I think that's a good plan.

My flight leaves at 6 a.m. on Friday morning and I expect to arrive in Florida around noon. I'll have a nice dinner Friday night, pick up my race packet, and then Saturday I plan on relaxing at the beach and hitting the expo again before retiring early. The start on Sunday is 6:45 a.m. EST.

The temperatures are expected to reach a high of 75F on Sunday, but remain in the low 60's at start time, which is ideal. I'll be packing a sleeveless technical top, shorts, and a long sleeve that I can dump later to keep warm as I wait.

Be sure to watch my Twitter for all the juicy updates, of course, and I'm sure you'll see an update or two on here as well.

Oh... and I've registered for the Bank of American Chicago marathon again this year. I'm in for a little revenge on last year's effort. More on that later.

Wish me luck!