The Mercedes Marathon is on February 12, 2006. It seems to be a popular race and gets quite a bit of media buzz. This will be my first year participating rather than spectating. In past years, there have been some pleasant race days and some bitterly cold race days. I pray for anything over freezing. I have heard that the post-race event is a lot of fun.

The Half Training Plan is a helpful guide for training. I've been managing to get in two to three runs per week plus some rides on my bicycle trainer. I'm not exactly following the training plan on the race website, nor I am following the track club's 10K to Half training plan. I think that schedule initially intimidated me not to sign up for the race, but coach Danny convinced me otherwise. The real question is not "Can I finish?" but "How fast can I finish?" That's where methodical training pays off. Since I have not been methodical about my training, my goal to finish in under two hours is realistic.

Anyhow, if you're in the Birmingham area and are not running the race, I encourage you to spectate. I enjoyed cheering the runners on. It's especially fun to watch the front pack of runners zoom by.