Road Racing and Training Thread - Week Ending 4/17/2022

Both of them had fitness that indicated being in wave 1 corral 1. One had just missed the corral 1 cutoff by a like a couple spots but had a faster HMP PR than I did. The other had been training with a buddy of mine that ran 66 and 2:30 at Boston last year. Definitely think all three are capable of running under 2:30 but as I learned the last October, somethings it just doesn't fall your way.

Some comments:

HHW: Great looking week! That Thursday workout is nuts.

Notarobot: Looking forward to the 800 cycle. Haven't hit those kind of paces in a long time myself.

Sub-6: Modified 7 x 10 is in effect.

OR: Nice progressions. Assuming everything is still feeling good post-marathon?

K Dot: Great news about your Mom! What sort of workouts are you planning to incorporate?

Slow Miles, Slower Bests: Congrats on the 1500 heat win!

Allen: Pancakes right before a run sounds like a good recipe for feeling lethargic.

Darkwave: Impressive, well-rounded week (as always)

CarlyRae: Two very impressive workouts! The 3 x 2 mile makes me think you would be able to pop off a decent half marathon. Did you end up racing yesterday?

Thoughstleader: Good news with the negative test at least. Do you have any options to hop in a marathon in the next couple weeks?

RunnerSam: 70 miles with that kind of swimming will get you fit. Assume you are planning to layer in biking as well?

Still Improving: Sounds like it was a great experience at Boston!

AverageforFun: Great result at Boston! Have to admit I was a little worries for you after struggling with the hills in NYC, but sounds like you got your revenge on Monday. Would be interested in a more detailed recap if you feel up to it later.

dr crusher: Sounds like you are getting your mojo back at least! Winter training is tough, no shame in struggling with it.

Beers: HUGE result! Sounds like a perfectly executed race and that you exorcised your demons from Boston's past. Congrats!

* **Name:** Boston Marathon
* **Date:** April 18, 2022
* **Distance:** 26.2 miles
* **Location:** Boston, MA
* **Website:** https://www.baa.org/
* **Strava:** https://www.strava.com/activities/7003078172
Time: 2:45:27
Goals
| Goal | Description | Completed? |
|------|-------------|------------|
| A | Have fun | *Yes* |
| B | Sub 2:45 | *No* |
| C | PR | *Yes* |
Splits
| Mile | Time |
|------|------|
| 1 | 6:25
| 2 | 6:23
| 3 | 6:23
| 4 | 6:26
| 5 | 6:21
| 6 | 6:19
| 7 | 6:19
| 8 | 6:16
| 9 | 6:18
| 10 | 6:17
| 11 | 6:17
| 12 | 6:16
| 13 | 6:18
| 14 | 6:17
| 15 | 6:17
| 16 | 6:10
| 17 | 6:19
| 18 | 6:17
| 19 | 6:16
| 20 | 6:15
| 21 | 6:29
| 22 | 6:06
| 23 | 6:09
| 24 | 6:11
| 25 | 6:04
| 26 | 6:09
| 27 | 5:29
Training
Training for this race was almost entirely based on a goal of top 100 / sub 1:17 for the NYRR Half Marathon, which took place about a month before Boston. The whole build was consistently high mileage, never really peaking unless I was on Christmas break from teaching where we reached mileage into the 110s or so. Otherwise, I routinely hit 80-100+ (low) miles a week consisting of two workouts. One workout on Wednesday and another workout on Saturday, Wednesday and Thursday were both double days where I’d do a shorter yet faster speed session (10k or faster paced work) in the morning around 5:00 am before going to teach. Wednesday workouts would average about 12-13+ miles and I’d double for another 6-7 miles at some local club or beer runs, supplementing with some minor strength work with resistance bands and a kettlebell. I’d double as well on Thursdays with similar mileage but all easy. Saturday was the first of two weekend long runs that would have longer tempo work around half marathon to marathon pace. Sunday would be another long run but all easy pace and a bit shorter than Saturday, sometimes I’d be allowed to double if the Sunday runs were shorter; a club run with some locals in the morning and then a double after lesson planning and some beer/brewery bingo in the evening. I’d made sure to eat constantly during this kind of mileage and was able through calorie counting maintain a weight of 130-135 where I feel strongest and least fragile during a marathon build. From previous races and training, I’ve found I usually get a bit smaller for the shorter distances, but got too small and fragile for my ultra, so I’ve found a good middle ground where I perform best.
Pre-race
Pre-race was a nightmare of personal circumstances and travel logistics. I’d gotten a call and 24 hours notice to travel an entire two days early from Ohio to the north for an interview and new job position. With this in mind and newly added stress, I wasn’t sleeping the best and could only control my emotions so much.
Staying at the airport hotel in Boston airport, I woke up at 4:30 am like I’d practiced before and rolled out of bed to make my coffee of choice for every long run and race morning, pouring over black coffee with two packets of instant espresso. Making sure I’d cleaned myself out properly after my caffeine fix, I began to shove two bagels in the pockets of my father’s beat up jacket he’d let me borrow as a throw away and took my race kit (partially on, I'd put the shoes on at gear check) to the subway. Listening to a Spotify race playlist for our club, I’d be asking about 3 random participants to help me pay for a subway ticket as I didn’t factor in that I'd need a way to pay for the metro to actually arrive at the race.
My coach and I had talked a bit the night before and discussed race strategies and goals while I was having dinner. He thought I could go sub 2:45 and potentially 2:44/2:43 if I ran it right; but there were only two ways to run Boston: 1. Positive Split or 2. Negative Split. I ran the latter following our plan of taking the first 6 miles in 6:25-6:20 and from miles 6-15 slowly working our way down to 6:20-6:15 pace. “Work your way through those hills with strength 16-20 same 6:15-6:20 knowing a couple of miles will be slower than 6:20 cuz a few of the newton hills are tough.” Lastly, close 21-26 in 6:10-6:00.My last two other assignments were to high five kids, and blow kisses at the scream tunnel. “Don’t be one of those too serious all business runners”.
Similar to my teammate, I threw out on social media my goals and wanted to try and find a group at the start. My first Boston and being alone, I wanted to get some sort of confidence with people I knew, but that ended up not happening.
Making my way to gear check, dropping off my bag and loading the busses, I’d been shaking and zoning out the entire time to conversations between all participants wearing a red bib. Little did I know that the buses took us all to the wrong location, and we first arrived somewhere else besides Athletes Village. But, this being my first Boston, I didn’t know any better.
A pop tart and cliff bar later when our coral was called to line up, I got to the starting line.
Race
Miles 1-6
The beginning of the race was the most congested and uncomfortably comfortable I’d ever felt. I heard the first three miles were the most downhill miles of the entire race, but I had no clue what it felt like to drop 300+ miles. I wanted to speed up but held back and stuck to the plan, starting the furthest up I could within my wave and letting people pass me just as I was told. Ticking down each mile like clock work, I’d end up chatting with other runners and eventually another teammate who was close to me fitness wise. We’d catch up on life and a few other simple things in between our gameplans and excitement for Boston, sticking to the plan of a gel every 30 minutes. In between miles 4-5 I took an uncaffeinated Maurton and took water every 15 minutes along the course.
Miles 6-15
Executing the plan exactly as told, I saw my Garmin push mile/split 6; a tad bit earlier than the timing mat set along the course and extended my stride ever so slightly. Letting those ahead of me know I’d be making my way through, passing on your left, or sometimes just simply cutting across them. It was euphoric staying within my pace range and was entirely conversational, my breathing not erratic, and the heat/atmosphere keeping me excited the entire way. This was different from any other marathon I’ve run. I can’t recall much of the miles, I was in the moment with the people. Talking with a cardiologist of 10+ years about my little brother studying for the MCAT to high 5-ing children that all had their hands stretched across the barriers. My favorite parts of these were smacking a giant cut out of Will Smith’s face or kissing 3 different girls in the Wesley scream tunnel; to my surprise when running through this college town that tunnel is not actually a tunnel. . .
Miles 15-20
This is where I had heard the hurt locker was, but I felt little pain compared to the misery I experienced crossing the bridges of New York. Was I more prepared? Were these hills more gradual? Was it the previous two other gels I’d consumed (one uncaffeinated and one caffeinated), I’ll never know. My legs are genetic anomalies, they’re 125%+ as dense as a normal person’s bones, so I could handle the down hills perfectly fine but the up hills are where I struggle. I knew I could use the rolling Newton hills to propel myself up and ride the down stronger than others. Doing this, I was able to maintain my pace except for getting 15 seconds off of goal pace for Heartbreak Hill.
Miles 20-Finish
I ran, I ran with strength and ran according to what I was told. I knew I was going to PR but didn’t know if I’d be able to come across my goal of sub 2:45. Right then left, I saw the finish line and ran. I pointed to my father in the crowd and crossed the line. I knew I was above 2:45 but I also knew I executed, I felt strong, and I knew I did not law it all on the line this race.
Post-race
I immediately got my gear from the buses and changed shoes, picking the peeled skin that had rubbed the wrong way from my racing shoes and called my father to try and find him. His phone was dead, but he was already there with a smile on his face. The same man who had given me an IOU to run the Boston Marathon when I was coming out of recovery for an eating disorder had just witnessed his son who he thought wouldn’t live past college run a time that qualified me to be 880 overall out of 25,000+ runners. We had plans to go to Tracksmith and drink, to celebrate and come back to our hotel, but because of work situations he had to immediately make the drive back to Ohio and teach 3 hours after he’d arrived home. Emotionally drained but physically feeling fine, I went back to the hotel to send him off. I showered and napped and woke up to get back to the city for a lobster roll. I meant to go out with friends, but emotionally. . . I wasn’t there. I cried, this race was my race from my deathbed and father’s IOU on an Xmas eve to now and I wanted to be alone to relish in that. I walked to a random Irish pub like him and I would have done and had a Sam Adams, calling him for a few hours while he drove.
I slept like a baby that night with my medal on.

jmar227 : yes looking at May 21 Marthas Vineyard marathon, I know HHW has told me about VT on the 28th which looks good too, but the stars are aligning at this point for MV as far as logistics

AverageForFun: super inspiring, great job and happy to hear about your personal journey culminating in such a great accomplishment

Thank you! The family is extremely relieved.

Wow, really cool to read peoples' stories from Boston this last weekend. Makes me super excited to race again. Congrats to everyone!

I'm just throwing in some pretty low intensity T workouts: 3 x mile w/ 60 sec rest, 6 x 1k with 60 sec rest. It's also a slight jump in mileage, so we'll see how the body feels at the end of this week.

jmar - I'm trying to finalize a racing schedule for the summer. Currently, based on my first triathlon, I am going to start cycling in June. But there is a sprint tri in May which could change that.

hhw - Somewhere in that 2:34-2:36 sounds right, you've put in some solid training
notarobot - excited for your 800 training, sooner or later I'll be doing some mile specific work for track races over the summer
K Dot - good news about your mom
Slower Miles, Slower Bests - Nice job with the 1500 PR and solid 800 result
jmar - nice week, gotta love the 4x2mi workout, one of my favorite. Easy week and then race time
Still Improving - nice job at Boston, thanks for popping in with the write up
AverageForFun - Strong finish those last 5 miles, that is from those high mileage weeks. Great write up
DrCrusher - Sounds like quite a mixed bag. Good job for putting yourself out there. I also did not have the season I was imagining but I just bailed on all my planned races. Hopefully you can reset and get some good (and re-inspired) training in over the summer.
beersandmiles - Great job with the negative split. Rough running with 3 guys and having to bail early to wizz. Great write up, gave me a shot of adrenaline just reading it.

AverageforFun- Incredible result and a great write up! So glad that you were able to experience that with your Dad.

RunnerSam- Thanks for the kind words, and yes rest and then race is the name of the game at this point. I am in shape for a decent PR if I can execute a good race. Hoping to dip under 1:18 but we will see.

AFF - Your story is inspiring and touching. Bless you and your dad. And what a way to finish a marathon…just as I would want to finish it…OR style, but done beautifully by AFF. You deserve a big hug. Peace be with you.

jmar - Yes, my body is fine post-marathon…but an interesting little story to tell. I was give a pair of super shoes, and I had been wearing them for all of my post-marathon runs. The shoes were feeling good and, as you know, I had been running well. I noticed, though, about a week ago that my right knee was staring to act up, and I started meditating upon what could have caused this. A few days ago, I realized that the only thing I had changed was the shoes. Even though I was quick to blame my knee pain on the hills, I had realized that I had been running flatter routes since the marathon. So, bingo, it was the shoes. Since changing back to my Hoka Rincons, the knee pain is just about completely gone…it just disappeared. Both “whew” and “wow” on that. We often think that shoes are simply a minor factor. I just learned, once again, that they are not minor. The right shoe can make a huge difference, either positive or negative.

Great race beers, it sounds like you have a bit of marketing things going on too!

Good to see so many great races in this thread!

Slow Miles, Slower Bests - That is a huge 1500 PR! Your username is becoming more and more inaccurate.

SI - Thanks for dropping by to report on your Boston. Nice job running a solid race off limited fitness!

drcrusher - I'm glad you got your mojo back at Cherry Blossom and had a good experience at Boston!

beerandmiles - Congrats on the top 100 finish! You still looked strong in the finish line video on instagram.

AFF - Fantastic race execution! Even better that you got to have a great experience with your father.

Average wrote:
My legs are genetic anomalies, they’re 125%+ as dense as a normal person’s bones, so I could handle the down hills perfectly fine but the up hills are where I struggle. I knew I could use the rolling Newton hills to propel myself up and ride the down stronger than others. Doing this, I was able to maintain my pace except for getting 15 seconds off of goal pace for Heartbreak Hill.

Very cool fact. It goes to show you a lot of LRCs work extremely hard but have natural gifts 99.5% of the world don't have. I respect you for at least being aware you are luckier than most and for working to maximize what you have.

Also, wow. This is an inspiring story and is a great counterbalance to the negativity on this board. It shows running can save your life. Glad you made it thru:

The same man who had given me an IOU to run the Boston Marathon when I was coming out of recovery for an eating disorder had just witnessed his son who he thought wouldn’t live past college run a time that qualified me to be 880 overall out of 25,000+ runners. We had plans to go to Tracksmith and drink, to celebrate and come back to our hotel, but because of work situations he had to immediately make the drive back to Ohio and teach 3 hours after he’d arrived home. Emotionally drained but physically feeling fine, I went back to the hotel to send him off. I showered and napped and woke up to get back to the city for a lobster roll. I meant to go out with friends, but emotionally. . . I wasn’t there. I cried, this race was my race from my deathbed and father’s IOU on an Xmas eve to now

Outsiderunner,Thoughtslayer,Runnersam,Jmar227,weirdscientist,notarobot

Thank you all. My dad is my world.

That meet was cancelled for weather. I wasn't too sad about that to be honest since I did a pretty hard workout last Sunday and I wouldn't have been very fresh. Next race for me is a road 10K on 4/30. Then I'll take another crack at a track 5K on 5/6.