Those who risk, win: 13 weeks out

Apparently there's only 13 more weeks until the marathon. It seems so short when you write it in weeks. So, I've been following a marathon training plan, but I started a little earlier than necessary. I just noticed that I had a 20 miler scheduled for the end of November. However, I think it's probably better if I push that back into December. Otherwise I'll be tapering long before I need too. Speaking of tapering, I really have no idea what the appropriate amount of taper time is. I'm giving myself 2 - 3 weeks, so that should be fine, I think. This weekend I ran 5 miles and did some speed work. I have a little bit of a chest cold, so the run was a bit of a struggle, but I made it through the 5 miles in 43 minutes. I just keep thinking that if I can run at this pace when I'm sick, through hills, and in the hotter weather, imagine how fast I'll be able to go in January on a flat course. I also feel like I shouldn't think like that, because you never know what the course/weather will actually be like in January. Plus, I shouldn't be trying to be fast, just faster than I was last time around.
Besides the running, in just 2 more days I'm going to hit the big 3-0. Mostly I'm ok with it, I guess. I mean, I'd rather be 30 than dead, so there's that. We went out in Boston on Friday to celebrate, which was a wonderful evening. Ryan and I ate at Top of the Hub, but neither of us were overly impressed with the food. Now we need to find a new restaurant to try out! Then on Saturday night we went to Border Cafe with friends. I do love the Border food, but the service was not the best. First, they don't take reservations, which is a struggle when you have a group of 14. So, to be nice, we called ahead and were told it was no problem. Plus, Ryan and I got there early to ensure that there would be no problems. An hour and a half later though, we were still waiting for a table. On top of that, the manager was not the friendliest. Instead of admitting that they made a mistake, he kept arguing with us about how long we'd been waiting, and why. My favorite part of the whole thing was that when we said we had called earlier to give the heads up, he told us that he knew, because he took the call. Unfortunately for him, the person we actually talked to, was a female. So, needless to say, I was not happy about that part. I wouldn't have stayed there if everyone wasn't already starving. Plus, it was getting late, so we decided to just stay put. But I do think I'll stay away from there for a while now. Good food does not outweigh bad service.
Aside from that, everything's going well. I did notice that my boxing wraps are giving me a blister on my hands. I'm not sure how to fix that problem. Could be that the wraps are too tight, or not tight enough, or anything in between. Short of buying the MMA hand gloves to replace the wraps though, I think I'm stuck. It's not usually a problem, but today I noticed that it caused a little blister on my right hand, which is new. Generally if I get one, it's on my left hand near my rings.

And now some birthday weekend pictures.