We're really into the home stretch now, faithful readers. In less than a month, this thing will all be over and done with. I will have hopefully conquered the marathon, got a medallion and bought up as much 26.2 memorabilia as possible, and will be ready to start the real vacation part of the trip.

We ran a total of 33 miles this week, but after some brief flirtation with spring last week, it was back to chilly starts in the morning. And a brand new element for our long run.

Rain.

Believe it or not, it's the first time in this entire plan that rain was unavoidable. In that context, I really can't complain, but the first 5 miles or so were pretty miserable. We were wet and cold out of the gate, but the rain did taper off towards the back half of the run. And now, we mentally can handle a wet day, in case the marathon gods are in a bad mood on the last Sunday in April.

Next week is the big one. Our peak training week of 40 miles, with 20 of those coming on Saturday. Stay tuned for the report.

B