Philly Marathon next November.  I’m in.

I know, it’s quite a way aways, but I’m in Big Picture mode right now, filling out my schedule for the year, so it seems as good a time as any to commit.

Originally, I was all “I want my next marathon to be a destination race, sounds like such fun to travel to a race.”  I was also thinking about how much I loved the size of Steamtown and would prefer a similar sized small field.  But then I remembered that I’m lazy at heart, don’t like the pressure of finding the “perfect” race, and am not very motivated to travel, which made my decision pretty easy.

The Philly Marathon has so many plusses for me:  it’s my home running ground, it starts a couple blocks from my front door, my friends can come out and cheer me on and the course is pretty close to perfect as far as a few hilly bits but mostly flat.  Besides, Boston 2010 definitely applies as a destination race so I’ll be getting my travel in then.

What’s seriously fun though, is not having a clue what goal pace I’ll end up chasing.  I have my Half cycle ahead and when that’s over there’ll be about 3 months before marathon training begins, so a lot can and will happen between now and then.  It adds an element of titillation to the deal.

As for today’s run, a sweet 9-miler, avg pace 8:27.  I’ve said this before, but when I’m running well, I feel as though I’m dancing, grand jeté-ing myself back home.  That’s how it was today.  I felt light and beautiful.

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