I've got a thing for Philly.

It's the biggest city near where I grew up and it's home to all my favorite sports teams.

But I've also got a thing for the Philly running scene. I've run the Philly Distance Run twice and over the weekend, I signed up to run the Philadelphia Marathon.

26.2 miles in the city of brotherly love.

You might remember in the spring when I waffled back and forth on whether or not I wanted to take on the full marathon again. By August, I was pretty sure I did, and it ended up on my list of things to do in my 24th year.

So, I'm doing it. The race is nine weeks away, which gives me plenty of time to safely increase my mileage from where I stand today.

The theme of my training for this race is "mellow marathon training." I spent all summer super focused on time for the Philly RnR half. I'm throwing all that out the window for this race.

The Philly Marathon is all about going the distance. It's about enjoying the long runs. Taking my time, enjoying the fall weather and backing off my need for speed.

I've sketched out a rough training planning, similar to the one I followed for the Philly RnR half this weekend, with long runs creeping up to 20 miles.

I'll be ready on race day.

It's been four years since I've run 26.2 and I'm looking forward to taking another stab at it. I think I'm more fit and a better runner now than I was four years ago and I'm ready for this challenge again.

So, game on.