Two Weeks Away!

Finally, the day is almost here. The Boston Marathon is fewer than two weeks away.

Hi everyone. Rob here.

Everyone keeps asking me, "Are you ready?" It is really too late to be anything else. I feel prepared and have done the work. Let me get my plug in for the Bob Roncker's training group. http://www.runningspot.com/ I think it is a great way to prepare and make some new friends.

There are other Boston qualifiers in the group, so there will be some familiar faces at the marathon.

People also ask me, "What's the big deal about Boston?" It is like the Super Bowl for marathoners. It is the only marathon in which you have to qualify based on time and age. It is also one of the oldest marathon in the world. I think it is the only one that runs on a Monday. That's Patriot's Day, a holiday in Massachusetts. The Red Sox also play at home. The crowd support is supposed to be awesomely enormous.

My hotel room is booked. In fact, I lucked out. I was able to get into the Charles Mark Hotel. It is at the finish line in Copely Square. I hear many runners gather at the bar after the race, so it should be fun.

This will be my 12th marathon. I actually thought it unlucky number 13. However, found out it was number 12 after checking again. My 11th was a disaster; my slowest marathon to date. I don't know what happened. Blowing up at a marathon is like a plane crashing. It's not one big mistake, but a series of small mistakes that lead you way off course.

Hopefully, I will stay on course for 26.2 miles in Boston. I'm nervous, but also getting excited.

Here's a look at the course in 8 minutes. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDs1U0Haw90