Hi Becky!

Just finished dinner with Becky and her mom. It is hard to stop laughing when she is over!

Seemed warm at 28 degrees and a swift breeze. It makes me sad that I can think of that as a nice day. We haven't seen above freezing in a month. Wish it could be 28 and clear roads. The layer of snow was slick this morning.

I made 14 miles yesterday. That's the longest I've run since the Ironman in 2005. I was snowing big puffy flakes most of the time, but I was still able to average just under 9 minute miles, negative splitting by a few seconds. It means I am getting stronger. I get annoyed that I can't try to increase the speed, but I will try to get strong enough to run 9 minute miles for the first 20 of the marathon. Then the last 6.2 can be what they will, and I should still be able to finish in 4 1/2 hours. It'll be my slowest by far, but I'll be satisfied with it--especially since my goal is to just have fun.

Wish everyone could watch Canadian Olympic coverage. They've just won their first gold medal and the young kid is now a national hero. Canadian coverage is so much more fun than American. Better stories, more varied sports, plus they're so serious and so patriotic. The only downfall so far--they actually showed the entire luge accident. It was horrifying to watch!