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Down to 3 weeks before the big race! Had a pretty successful running week/weekend, so feeling pretty good. But real quick, a short article on Ryan Hall, who is in Boston for the next few weeks wrapping up on his training. I'm really excited to see how he and Meb do, and hope for the best for all the American runners!

Friday, enjoyed my day off, hung out and had dinner and drinks in town. Saturday morning, dragged my lazy carcass to Crystal's for the long run. Didn't want to go fast, and the last workout I wanted to do was the 3/1 run, so we settled on an easy 16 instead. Weather was cold and windy, but not awful. Started out slow, but found that what felt slow actually was kind of fast. Breezed through the trail, got to the uphill climb on Meridian and realized we were blazing through very comfortably. Decided to scrap looking at the watch and controlling pace, and just make this more of a feel run. Felt ok for the most part, and it helped that there were a ton of people out. Coming back, the weather got windier, more overcast, and everyone disappeared. Hit the downhill, and tried my best to maintain some sort of cruise control. Knew that the last few uphill miles would be a challenge, and needed to conserve some energy. Got to the last couple miles, could tell we were both struggling so tried to talk it out and coach us through it. Really struggled through the last 15 minutes - the lack of sleep and water was getting to me. Made it to the end, afterwards I told Crystal that the pep talks/coaching were as much for me as it was for her. Total mileage: 16 miles - splits were: 8:23, 7:50, 7:55, 7:49, 7:31, 7:25, 7:11, 7:06, 7:07, 7:10, 7:11, 7:10, 7:06, 7:13, 7:12, 7:11.

Sunday morning, woke up to rain, rain, and more rain. Eventually it stopped, then got dragged out by Crystal to get in some mileage. Was sunny at some points, but mainly overcast. We went out on a different part of the trail that we normally don't do, and is generally flat with some slight grades on the road. About 6 miles out, had to play frogger on a road which the speed limit is 55 mph - not your typical neighborhood roads, where Crystal will normally challenge the drivers. So had to drop a couple patented Sullentrup Surges to get past the traffic. Wind was a factor when we got further out, but wasn't too bad coming back in. Picked it up slightly on the last few miles, I think Crystal and I both just wanted the run over with. Total mileage: 13 miles - splits were: 8:48, 8:44, 8:42, 8:32, 8:33, 8:28, 8:32, 8:22, 8:38, 8:39, 8:12, 8:03, 7:38.

Was tired, but felt pretty good. Longest mileage week this segment - 54 miles, and everything seems to be coming together. Doing heavy mileage again this week, running with the Big River Running Group tonight for their Monday Group Run!