Preparing for Boston (the Alabama way)

The training run on Saturday, April 11, nine days before the Boston Marathon, was at the Talladega 21000. Stated more plainly, my long run last Saturday was a half marathon held in, on, around and near the Talladega Superspeedway.

One of the training realities for me is long runs become a bit boring, so I'm rather intentional about seeking something--anything--that might provide me with the chance to run in a new or different place. The Talladega 21000 (a half marathon is 21000 meters) was the right fit for a bit of variety in my training effort.

The picture to the left is in the "tri-oval" at Talladega Superspeedway, with the finish line (for both the half marathon and NASCAR races) in sight. The size of the track and the distance of the picture provide a nice perspective on running alone to train for a marathon. I ran a 1 hour, 53 minute half marathon, which is about average for me. I was not trying to set any records, just trying to finish a training run.

On the same day, Cathy and Moriah finished a 2 mile fun run, which was one lap around the inside of the track. We all finished and, thanks to Hannah who served as family photographer for the morning, we have a group picture to remember the day we ran on "NASCAR's fastest track."

I leave for Boston on Saturday, April 18, actually arriving in Boston late that afternoon. My plan is to make a visit to Fenway on Saturday night, then pick up my runner's packet on Sunday morning. On Sunday, I'll be joined by Gene Wilkes, who is a friend from our days in Texas. Gene (or Dr. Wilkes, officially) is pastor of Legacy Church in Plano, Texas, and he has completed nine Boston Marathons, along with any number of ultra-marathons. Gene's blog is http://drgdub2.blogspot.com/, which is updated much more frequently than Watch Greg Run, and is much deeper than my running reports.

I plan on updating the blog throughout the weekend and, if the iPhone works, may try to update the blog during Monday's run.