Dear Oscar, How do you feel about the new qualifying times to gain entry in the Boston Marathon? -- An Obsessed Runner

Dear Obsessed, I'm pretty neutral about the new standard. What affects me more immediately is that my humans qualified under the old standards. However, one of them (I won't mention names, but his name rhymes with "dark") has been pretty lackadaisical about his training. I mean, one has to run in order to get marathon ready. You can ski, play hockey, and climb at the gym all you want; it still won't help you run 26.2 miles. Besides, with the exception of the skiing (and then only when he goes backcountry skiing), I don't really get to participate in these acticvities. So it was nice to see him lacing up the running shoes today. We did 8 miles, and I felt pretty loose. Just between you and me, the loop seemed a little rough on my human. Oscar