posted Apr-16-2007 09:12 AM               

Wear a rain-proof suit with hat, gloves, training shoes (instead of flats), and maybe even a fuel belt! Then jog the race. The idea is to do everything possible to discourage any thought of putting in a race effort.
Why waste conditioning that has taken months to build up? It can come in very handy for some other races that will be held on better days, and a later marathon.

Joe; I've heard that they have some great running over there, especially in masters division. Missing those races must have you chomping at the bit. I expect you will do very well in that 5k.

Thanks, Spareribs. Mabye the miles are helping.

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posted Apr-17-2007 11:22 AM            

I ran an hour yesterday.

At an 8 minute pace.

There was a slight hill on the course.

I climbed the hill and came down the other side.

I had breakfast after the run.

Now everyone congratulate me and we can get stuff going again.

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posted Apr-17-2007 11:29 AM               

I ran 51 minutes at 8:30 pace on the grass yesterday, and will likely do something similar again today.

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posted Apr-17-2007 11:35 AM            

Sun Raider, one of the reasons why so many of us have an interest in what is going on at the Boston Marathon is that we have friends and relatives who are running it, people we care about, and that makes it interesting.

Another interesting facet of the race is that it is a race that is renowned the world over, and is televised everywhere, which gives us all an opportunity to see the top runners in the world compete. I don't get those programs often, but I like to see them both to learn and to inspire me. I thought the male and female winners' final mile was a beautiful thing to see, how they maintained form, knew what their lead was, and ran steadily to the finish. I always pick up an idea or an inspiration when I see the elites, even if it is something mundane such as how they handle an aid station. Spareribs

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posted Apr-17-2007 11:40 AM            

I ran for 45 minutes today.

At an 9:30 minute pace.

There was a slight hill on the course.

I climbed the hill and came down the other side.

I ran the hill twice.

Now everyone congratulate me and we can get stuff going again.

Bill

PS: Congratulations Sun Raider!

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posted Apr-17-2007 12:12 PM            

Congratulations to everyone who ran today. It was also great to watch the race rerun last night and think of all the B&Bs out there on the streets of Boston and Kosovo. Bob, report?

3 x 1 mile today on the track. 1) 8:45 2) 9:14 3) 9:44

I'm going to go out again later and just enjoy a run that isn't on the schedule.

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posted Apr-17-2007 04:41 PM            

For Fred, if he's looking in while he's off. . .

http://threeroadstolondon.com/starting%20line.html

Hope you're up and at 'em soon.

<soft click of the door shutting behind Egret>

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posted Apr-17-2007 06:07 PM               

Missed the Boston Marathon coverage completely...

And I wouldn't fault anyone who decided against running 26.2 in those conditions yesterday, the wind and rain was unbelievable!

Maybe you should have run it Raider, it'd give you something to talk about too...

Monday... off

Tuesday... 4 miles easy. Legs felt surprisingly good after the 16 I ran Sunday, progress is good!

Edited to add: Jim, I just read your race report. Congratulations are in order, WTG!

[This message has been edited by Rich in NH (edited Apr-17-2007).]

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posted Apr-17-2007 07:48 PM            

Thanks

Ribs

Just trying to get things going.
I had friends running it too.

Raider

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posted Apr-17-2007 08:06 PM            

Dark Horse

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I'm a dark horse, running on a dark race course

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posted Apr-17-2007 10:05 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by Dark Horse:
I'm with Sun Raider: too much is made of marathons. I'd rather run a good 5K than a good marathon. To me, a marathon is a long training run, that's all. I'd like to run a couple of marathons a year to build strength and toughness for shorter races.

Dark Horse

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Until late last year, I was of that view, and hated the idea of people focusing on marathons and not paying attention to the shorter stuff.

But then I trained hard for Reach-the-Beach and rolled it into a marathon. You risk having horrible weather (as with Boston and Paris this past week). It's tons of work but it gives you a focus for months and months. And if it goes well, you carry it with you forever.

So I can go either way.

Today's workout. A club-mate is running the 1200 leg on a DMR at Penn so I decided we'd do a time trial to give him a chance to do a run-through. He did a 1200 but I went for a 1600. Got a 5:01 (73, 77, 76, 75), and felt relaxed throughout. So I guess I have a little speed in the legs after all.

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posted Apr-18-2007 01:09 AM            

Each runner carries whatever race or races meant the most to them, with them as long as they live. It ain't always the marathon.

Raider

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posted Apr-18-2007 05:49 AM            

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posted Apr-18-2007 06:36 AM            

Admittedly I have little experience compared to this group. But it seems to me that every race distance has it's challenges.

Run correctly, 5K's are hard and hurt. Thankfully with the short distance, you recover from the hurt quickly. Marathons are a different kind of hurt when run hard and the risk of longer term hurting and injury are greater.

7 miles in an hour this morning with 8 striders to get some turnover going. Beautiful day. 57 degrees, no wind, no clouds, humidity lower than normal. Nice.

Bill

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posted Apr-18-2007 07:17 AM               

OK here is a brief synopsis of my Boston Marathon I will complete a race report as soon as I have time which will probably be in a few days due to storm damage etc.

When I left my house at 4:30 Monday morning the storm was really roaring. I picked up a co-workers wife at about 5:00 in York and we headed south to Boston. Along the way we came across some really strong winds and rain blowing sideways, heck I had a hard time keeping the car on the road at that point. We both looked at each other and said something to the effect of "if it's like this in Boston, I don't think we'll be doing this"!

When we arrived at the BAA it was still raining but much lighter and that is the way it continued pretty much right up until race time. It did let up for a bit an hour before the race and started raining pretty hard a half hour or so before the start time. As I lined up I met up with a few people and actually got to stand under an umbrella to stay dry, we all thought that this was going to suck with the rain and all, but miraculously about a minute or so before the start it stopped raining and I only say rain once more the entire race and that was only for a couple of minutes somewhere around mile 9 or 10.

On to the race, the gun sounded pretty much on time and it took me about 6 minutes to cross the start. I was able to get into a pretty good groove and was only 5 seconds over pace for the first minute (I was using Nike's Pace Guide for Boston) at 7:28. I can honestly say that the weather really wasn't as much of a factor as I expected and I barely noticed any wind for the first 8 plus miles. I was absolutely feeling great and just running very strong during the next eight plus miles, (7:20, 7:15, 7:14, 7:31, 7:24, 7:24, 7:41, 7:32) and after nine miles I was about 1:16 ahead of pace which really wasn't bad pretty much right on track. Well somewhere along here is well things went terribly wrong for me, as I was running and chatting with another runner I noticed a guy stop dead in front of me (to tie a shoe) and I veered off to the left stepping onto a sidewalk. My left foot made it no problem, my right foot landed on a high curb and rolled to the right $hit that hurt! I hobbled along for a bit and kept it going knowing that if I stopped that might very well be it for me.

I tried to keep the pace up for the next couple of miles but after posting (7:43, 7:55, 7:55, 7:58) I knew that I was in trouble and was at risk for greater injury if I continued to try to maintain this pace. I could already feel that I was overcompensating with my left side so at that point I thought of my very good running friend Joel, and Jim, Ribs and Fred and all the valuable advice you have given out and decided that I was going to pull it in and simply use this as a long run. I must admit to being quite disappointed when I passed the half clock and saw that I was right at 1:40 and change which was right where I wanted to be.

So now it was another race altogether for me one of maintaining my focus and making sure that I didn't hurt myself more than what I already had. (8:16, 8:41, 8:22, 9:01, 9:20, 9:20, 10:05). It was really becoming a mental struggle every time I saw a tent or a place that looked like it might be comfortable to stop at I had to fight off the urge knowing that if I did I would probably DNF and I just didn't feel that I had to go that far. As I was coming up on mile 20 I looked for PRO and his team with my Gatorade and banana, what a life saver they were, one runner even running along side peeling my banana and chatting with me for a while...that meant so much to me THANK YOU!

Miles 21 - 26 were the toughest I have ever run in a marathon to say the least, (10:45, 9:59, 10:04, 11:11, 11:04, 11:24) with the wind becoming very strong those last few miles and when I turned onto Boylston and could see the finish oh my god it was absolutely as if I had entered a wind tunnel.

My finishing chip time 3:50:25, so although it is my seventh slowest marathon it will be one of my most memorable because of what I had to overcome mentally.

Physically I am fine today, my legs definitely don't have that "you just ran a marathon" feel to them, and my foot isn't too bad. No swelling, no bruising just a bit tender, so I know did the right thing, which is something that I probably wouldn't have done a short time ago.

As far as some of the comments about marathoning, I think that is what is so wonderful about running. It is such an individual event even when running with a team there is an individuality that can't be denied. To this day my most memorable race is the my first sub 20 5K last year when I won my age group, but I still love marathons and the conditioning I have gotten as a result of my training.

Sorry so long...and this isn't even supposed to be my race report.

Thanks for being so supportive and for being straight to the point when necessary, that is why I have visited this forum and will continue to do so.

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"Keep on Running"
Bob

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posted Apr-18-2007 07:49 AM               

It was good to finally find out what happened. I figured that you just decided to bundle up and run the whole thing easy, or something went wrong physically. Hopefully you didn't do any damage to your foot, and by the sound of it you did not.

As always you have a great attitude and I expect that we'll see you right back in the groove in no time. All that hard work and dedication has not been for naught.

Jim

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posted Apr-18-2007 08:03 AM               

Barb

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posted Apr-18-2007 08:06 AM            

DH, there is a saying in thoroughbred horse racing: "There's courses for horses and horses for courses." I have no speed, so I am probably a better long distance guy, but this year I'm just focusing on the shorter stuff. I may run long again next year.

Joe, that's a heck of a 1600.

Off to do track work. Fred, get well! Spareribs

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posted Apr-18-2007 08:37 AM               

60 miles for me last week. Most in a 1.5 years. Getting better every week. 5.75 easy this a.m.

good runs all,
ksrunr

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posted Apr-18-2007 09:05 AM               

quote:

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Originally posted by Sun Raider:
JP

Each runner carries whatever race or races meant the most to them, with them as long as they live. It ain't always the marathon.

Raider

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Raider, Point taken. What I said didn't come out quite as I wanted it to. I've long carried many a shorter race.

Joe

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posted Apr-18-2007 09:10 AM               

Thanks for the report. I, too, wondered what happened after seeing your time.

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posted Apr-18-2007 09:30 AM            

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posted Apr-18-2007 10:28 AM               

"And if it goes well, you carry it with you forever..."

True that is doesn't necessarily have to be a marathon, but a couple them are among my most treasured memories. My logs with the details of all the races I've ever run are to me what photo albums are to some--this is not to say that that there aren't some photos that carry that same status as well.

And yes, that was a pretty fast mile. I looked at the results of last year's Fleet Feet Mile, which is part of the USATF Grand Prix here. Two guys ran 5:00 and a fraction to head the 50-54 division. With competition I'm sure you could find an extra couple seconds. This year it's going to be called the "Dan Bowdin Mile" and will be held on June 3 in Stockton.

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posted Apr-18-2007 10:58 AM            

You did a great job.

However, I wonder if you would have been better off calling it a day as soon as you realized you were injured badly enough to seriously affect your pace.

I do hope you are OK and the foot recovers quickly.

Dark Horse

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posted Apr-18-2007 11:16 AM            

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