Instead of writing a long boring post with a bunch of random stuff in it like usual I'm breaking this one down a bit.

Last year I remember hanging around my house one February weekend morning and suddenly hearing and seeing a steady stream of people running down the center of Ridge Rd. I had no idea what was going on but just figured it was running group... with a LOT of people, and spread out at some highly variable paces but still a running group.

Turns out it was the 47th Annual Washington's Birthday Marathon which start in Greenbelt and does a few loops around the Beltsville Ag Center and heads back into Greenbelt for the finish. I found that out when I headed out for my own run a bit later and accidentally "won" the marathon in a time of about 2:20 or something... They weren't too pleased when I threw my hands up in a "what is going on here" motion coming upon the finish... Sorry guys, that's my normal running route!

Anyway, I'm hoping they hold the race again this year because now I really want to run it. For one, it's in my backyard, and I train on the very roads it follows. My long run yesterday as a matter of fact I saw this morning was essentially a loop of the marathon coarse. In reading some reviews of the race a lot of people mention how tough the course is with the rollers around the Ag center and the "killer" hill at mile 25 which is where i do most of my hill work so I've got a definite home field advantage on that one.

Because of the fitness level I'm at right now I was recently considering grabbing up a transfer for the Marine Corp Marathon and running that though when I mentioned it to Aimee the additional training time didn't sit too well plus I don't need to pay out another $100+ to jump into another race. So, instead I'll have this to keep myself motivated, give myself plenty of recovery time after the 1/2 IM and most importantly spend some serious time on running specific speed work and endurance so I can really give it my all come February.

Here's to George Washington! Well, and a race start I can run to in under 5 minutes from my doorstep! :)