"That's a character building run." Those are the words my Boston marathon training partner Michael used to sum up today's 76 degree, full-sun, 13-mile run. They're much more positive and uplifting than my summary statement upon finishing which was, roughly, "F*@%." 

Two weeks to Boston. Am I ready? I approach any race with three goals - baby goal, do-able goal, and "the stars and planets must align but there's still a shot" goal. My goals for Boston are thus:

• PLANETS ALIGNED: Beat my time in Chicago, so anything under a 3:44:02
• DO-ABLE GOAL: Come in under 4 hours
• BABY GOAL: Just finish