Yea I'm in school; I have no immediate racing plans but might jump into a road 5k at the end of the month or in May. It'd be nice to get back into racing some lowkey 5k/10k stuff this summer.
angryjohnny wrote:
Thanks for all the kinds words. Nice little PR by about 30 seconds on a tough course under less than ideal conditions. I’ll post a full report later but most importantly...AJ SENDS RUPP HOME DEVASTATED!!!!
AJ, what an incredible run! Have you seen the winning times versus normal conditions? To run within 10 minutes of your previous best would be awesome -- to run a PR today is just unbelievable!!! Even running in a group, there is no dodging that headwind completely, and the pouring rain, the cold, the wet clothes and soaking feet? Congratulations. Absolutely stellar. You are in top form. Enjoy. So looking forward to your full report.
Smoove...do you know Sara Sellers? The overall 2nd place finisher at Boston lives and trains in Orlando?
Epimetheus wrote:
Yea I'm in school; I have no immediate racing plans but might jump into a road 5k at the end of the month or in May. It'd be nice to get back into racing some lowkey 5k/10k stuff this summer.
That's some serious mileage you're doing. It will be interesting to follow your training and racing. No T&F at your school, or no interest in collegiate competition? I didn't run in college until spring of senior year ... as a walk-on at a DIII school. The training whipped me into shape quickly, and the meets were fun. Not everyone's "cup of tea," though.
I was wondering if that was her - she's run some good times at our local half, beating some local women who are fairly talented. The article I saw on her suggested she lived in Arizona now,
So I wasn't sure that was the same woman who runs here sometimes, but they are both nurses (which is why she never trained with anyone else here in town).
She didn't run out half marathon his past December, but she was second behind a Kenyan woman he year before. 1:18:03 on a pretty nice day.
I also noticed no watch on Yuki, def was just racing it.
runrincerepeat wrote:
Got up and look at Boston radar. Holy crap hope it’s not as bad as it looks!
Diet Bacon - interesting race concept. 75k on a track sounds pretty brutal. What did you eat/drink during it ?
I brought some gels with me but those ran out after 3-4 hours, as I didn't know we would be running for so long, honestly. After that I ate some stuff they had on aid stations. Mostly bananas and gels.
One of the gels they had was tomato and basil flavored. Worst thing I've ever tasted. Almost threw up.
DB - Tomato Basil Gel? WTF that sounds terrible.
Side Note .. hopefully I am not on the IR with half this thread. Jogging around at lunch on a E run and out of no where my high hamstring-glute-prirformis started hurting really bad. I finished the run and the rest of the day is has gotten progressively worse. May need to take a day or two and just bike. the 5k looks def out on sat.
With out a doubt the worst running conditions I ever had. Kept on all my thow away clothes even the freaking pants. Rain and wind never stopped, down pours in your face. Crowd support was lowest ever. Gotta give a lot of thanks and respect to all the volunteers who stuck it out. Tried getting in groups but they kept falling apart. At one point I passed a guy running barefoot WTF. I was shooting for at least 3:25 or better crossed at 3:30.32 I some how screwed up my watch around 2:20 and seeing as I was 2nd wave 5 corral the clocks didn't do me much good.
My watch stopping might have been a good thing seeing as I pushed harder out of fear of not re-qualifying. Pizza, IPA'S and lived to run another day. Life is good.
Pre-race: The bus ride from Boston common to Hopkinton felt like the opening shot in saving private ryan where the allied forces are crossing the English Channel. They all have that blank, nervous look on their face because they know they are about to enter a world of sh!t but there’s no going back. That’s how it felt, at least to me.
Pre-race in the athletes village was a cold wet mess. The tents were jam-packed with people so me and two friends ended up squatting in the information tent until the boss man realized we were looking for shelter and not information. Fortunately by that time it was time to head to the corrals.
Got in the corral just as it opened and had a front row seat to see the ladies go off. Lots of elite ladies in racing bottoms and sports bras — props ladies. Just as the ladies gun went off a squall comes through with heavy wind and rain. It was comical. The men came out next and I got high fives from most of the elites including Yuki, Sage, Desisa, and some guy dressed like a terrorist who would soon go home devastated.
Just before the gun went I off I ditched the trash bags that kept my vaporflies dry (clutch) and all other excess clothes. I started the race in a singlet, homemade arm-warmers, gloves, and split shorts.
The race: This being marathon number 11 and especially given the crazy weather my race plan was to just run by feel and stay out of the wind as much as possible. I thought 6:07s (2:40) would be about right, but I wasn’t wedded to that number. I’ve come to realize that being a slave to your watch is a big mistake in the marathon. Once we got going I warmed up quickly and was pleasantly surprised by my splits thru halfway: 6:01, 5:59, 6:00, 6:01, 6:07, 6:02, 6:05, 6:04, 6:03, 6:06, 6:07, 5:59, 6:03. Hit the half in 1:19:48.
I ditched my singlet at mile 4 or so bc it was soaking wet and not serving any useful purpose. Somewhere around mile 7 or so I heard a guy say he was looking to go sub 2:40. He had a couple friends with him. They were great at blocking the wind. I stuck on them like glue thru mile 16: 6:02, 6:07, 5:52 (the big downhill mile into newton, ie the calm before the storm.
My breathing was a touch heavy from 13-15 and my legs were starting to feel tired but I def made the right call going with that group. Boston is a very challenging second half. I think you are better off taking what it gives during the first half with the expectation that you will give some back in the Newton hills. Plus, you get a nice breather going down the hill into Newton.
I weathered the Newton storm as well as I ever have. Miles 17-21 were: 6:11 (body blow #1) 6:16 (body blow #2) 6:05, 6:11, 6:35 (heartbreak - the head shot). Thru the hills the field is really starting to come back to me but I’m hurting too. It’s every man for himself. Pack running is pretty much done for the day.
I work hard to crest heartbreak but I’m still in one piece. No sign of any cramps. Breathing is a little heavy but okay. Time to let her rip. 6:04 for mile 22. The clock at mile 22 reads 2:15 flat, so I’ve got 25 minutes to break 2:40. That’s just under 6:00 pace. I can do this, I think. Or maybe not. Miles 23-26 are 6:10, 6:14, 6:19, 6:23. The winds gets worse as we get closer and turn towards Boston and there is less opportunity to draft. I also noticed some traction issues for the first time all day. But I’m not making excuses. The last miles of a marathon are tough. It finally caught up to me. Sub 2:40 wasn’t meant to be.
I was still in the running to break my 2 year old PR of 2:42:17 so I didn’t quit. Right on Hereford. Goosebumps. Left on Boylston. More goosebumps. Then the big digital clock that they installed at the finish line this year comes into view. I see it hit 2:41:00 from several blocks away. It’s go time. I refused to let that clock strike 2:42. The last .38 was 5:52 pace. Total time was 2:41:52. Good for 186th male, 187th overall.
My initial analysis: Incredibly happy with the run. Lots of people struggled today. Not exactly sure why I didn’t, but here are my initial thoughts:
(1) I’m a big guy that generates a lot of heat. Cold is always better.
(2) i had a reasonable race plan and did a good job executing, particularly in staying out of the wind
(3) the peroneal tendonitis forced me to take a longer taper w less mileage so I was well rested.
(4) I was in the best shape of my life according to the workouts I did about a month ago
(5) the vaporflies are legit. Love those shoes.
(6) I wasn’t weighed down by a bunch of wet clothes.
(7) I didn’t let myself get psyched out mentally
(8) I knew I had some friends here pulling for me and sending me good mojo.
As if this day couldn’t get any better, I #stoppedrupp, the people’s champ and Desi won the race, and I apparently inspired someone from the Boston globe...
Congrats!!!
Thank you for the recap. I'm so impressed you were able to PR in that weather. Just show what kind of shape you are in.
BTW did you talk any crap to Rupp while you passed him? A little "this one's mine" "1-1 now punk" or maybe a crotch chop?
Gordon Tremeshko wrote:
Naw...they're 1-1. Rupp bested him at Chicago. No doubt an impressive run today, though.
He got me at Boston last year so it’s actually 2-1. We’ll see if he’s man enough to show up again at Chicago and face the pain-train that is #stoprupp.
Congrats AJ. I was also out there and had a much better race (place wise) than I was expecting. Very surprised you PR'd (I was about 7 mins off of my PR) - you can probably subtract a good 7-10 mins off of that on a good course. I hadn't raced a marathon in almost 2 years, so coming back with sub 2:30 was a good day. I'll have a race report later. Congrats again
I didn’t realize it was him until I saw Salazar lurking close behind. Every inch of his face was covered other than his eyeballs. If I had recognized him I think a beast mode crotch grab would have been appropriate given what was about to happen.
Congrats to Angryjohnny, pretzelman and back into it, that's one epic race to be part of! I was watching the live stream at the office, amazing scenes. Nice finish line pic, AJ, what were you screaming that was so "awe-inspiring" to make it into the Boston Globe?
above_average_joe wrote:
Congrats to Angryjohnny, pretzelman and back into it, that's one epic race to be part of! I was watching the live stream at the office, amazing scenes. Nice finish line pic, AJ, what were you screaming that was so "awe-inspiring" to make it into the Boston Globe?
Written words don’t do it justice so I’ll let the man who invented it demonstrate:
https://youtu.be/wsiX0-EC-ZEAJ - Love the race report. Today, you triumph. Enjoy it. The picture in the Boston Globe says it all, even better than your excellent report. Glad I know you. Well, kind of know you. Something tells me I would have enjoyed being in that race today.
Yuki, Des, and AJ. Three epic stories in an epic race.
AJ. As much as I hate to admit it. There is basically zero chance that I beat you in a Race In January 2019.
I’m ready to come to the negotiating table and talk about possible buy out options...