Brutal Weather for Boston

If its hot I would hope for a nice stiff headwind the whole way to cool down. You're not going to PR anyway. Or maybe its perfect for a PR since wanjiru proved heat doesn't really matter and all the boston WR supporters last year says wind don't matter either.

codger wrote:

Ray, I kind of agree with you. Everyone nowadays expects a PB and a PB day with these modern marathon "experiences". "It's not a race; it's an adventure".

You Boston marathoners should be RELISHING the 80 degree day - show us what kind of RACER you are, show us you can make the conditions work FOR YOU as you reel in people the last 5 miles.

Last time I checked the conditions are the same for everybody.

Most experienced marathoners don't "expect a PB" because they know that the marathon is a crap shoot and anything can happen, no matter how hard you train. You clearly haven't run a marathon in 80 degree heat, or you wouldn't say something so ignorant.

Is Kevin Hanson an idiot to? On twitter hansonsrun says that he is excited about the potential of above average temperatures. I am sure that is because he views it as a race.

Peace Out wrote:

codger wrote:

Ray, I kind of agree with you. Everyone nowadays expects a PB and a PB day with these modern marathon "experiences". "It's not a race; it's an adventure".

You Boston marathoners should be RELISHING the 80 degree day - show us what kind of RACER you are, show us you can make the conditions work FOR YOU as you reel in people the last 5 miles.

Last time I checked the conditions are the same for everybody.

Most experienced marathoners don't "expect a PB" because they know that the marathon is a crap shoot and anything can happen, no matter how hard you train. You clearly haven't run a marathon in 80 degree heat, or you wouldn't say something so ignorant.

The conditions are the same for everybody. It is he who handles the conditions best who comes out on top. A racer would see these conditions as an actual benefit. Notice I said racer...not runner.

And if the marathon is such a crap shoot, why don't you focus on shorter, non crap shoot distances??????

codger wrote:

ray wrote:

Has nothing to do with badass son, it has to do with common sense. If I want to prove to myself that I can run 26.2 miles I'd go out and do it, I wouldn't pay $150.00 and then piss and moan about the weather. Far too many people "running" marathons that have no business being out there. That's the point.

Right, because everyone on letsrun is a 4hr charity runner.

Ray, I kind of agree with you. Everyone nowadays expects a PB and a PB day with these modern marathon "experiences". "It's not a race; it's an adventure".

You Boston marathoners should be RELISHING the 80 degree day - show us what kind of RACER you are, show us you can make the conditions work FOR YOU as you reel in people the last 5 miles.

Last time I checked the conditions are the same for everybody.

The fact that neither of you are actually running Boston shows how meaningless your points of view are. Try training for a marathon during a New England winter and then racing one in 80 degree heat. When you're not the least bit acclimated to the heat, it's not about mental toughness.

For the "this is a race not a time trial" folks:

I am not going to win and this isn't high school cross anymore. My time does matter since I run two marathons a year and I care about my PR. I don't race against the same people at every marathon I run and my Boston Marathon "place" really doesn't matter as much as my time.

This is the same argument when people don't care if a course is accurate and say just run for place.

tycobb wrote:

For the "this is a race not a time trial" folks:

I am not going to win and this isn't high school cross anymore. My time does matter since I run two marathons a year and I care about my PR. I don't race against the same people at every marathon I run and my Boston Marathon "place" really doesn't matter as much as my time.

This is the same argument when people don't care if a course is accurate and say just run for place.

Boston is a poor choice if you're only concern is time. There are much faster courses elsewhere.

Sir Mix-a-Lot wrote:

tycobb wrote:

For the "this is a race not a time trial" folks:

I am not going to win and this isn't high school cross anymore. My time does matter since I run two marathons a year and I care about my PR. I don't race against the same people at every marathon I run and my Boston Marathon "place" really doesn't matter as much as my time.

This is the same argument when people don't care if a course is accurate and say just run for place.

Boston is a poor choice if you're only concern is time. There are much faster courses elsewhere.

There might be but as for as competition goes from top to bottom Boston is going to help with that PR. Instead of trying to go it solo in a smaller marathon somewhere else.

Janet Reno is hot wrote:

Is Kevin Hanson an idiot to? On twitter hansonsrun says that he is excited about the potential of above average temperatures. I am sure that is because he views it as a race.

OMG!! Since Kevin Hanson said something we should all follow. I've seen a few of his extremely off base comments before. Doesn't mean much, but I would sure love to see him out there.

Peace Out wrote:

codger wrote:

Ray, I kind of agree with you. Everyone nowadays expects a PB and a PB day with these modern marathon "experiences". "It's not a race; it's an adventure".

You Boston marathoners should be RELISHING the 80 degree day - show us what kind of RACER you are, show us you can make the conditions work FOR YOU as you reel in people the last 5 miles.

Last time I checked the conditions are the same for everybody.

Most experienced marathoners don't "expect a PB" because they know that the marathon is a crap shoot and anything can happen, no matter how hard you train. You clearly haven't run a marathon in 80 degree heat, or you wouldn't say something so ignorant.

To call the vast majority of the 27000 in Boston on Monday "experienced marathoners" is truly ignorant.

To those going for the win or trying to be first American or first master, etc the conditions are the same for everybody. If you are in that category you have prepared for all possibilities. In 2000 didn't the women's olympic marathoner come out of Juneau to win a race in similar conditions? If you want a PR skip the race, go to a faster course on a better day.

Weather Underground fan wrote:

wunderground.com usually is more accurate than the other forecasts, but obviously it is too far ahead for any of them to be reasonably accurate yet. For the record, wunderground.com presently predicts:

"Partly cloudy. High of 52F. Winds from the NNW at 10 to 25 mph. Breezy."

That was last year's forecast. :)

Soft Landing wrote:

If you're tougher than the rest, they'll wilt in the heat while you improve your finishing position. Let them worry about the heat. Draw on your experience and tenacity to run the smartest race you can given the conditions.

Understood. But tenacity is perfectly useless if you haven't had the opportunity to train in warm temps since last September, while others have.

KIP LITTON is gonna have to battle da HEATTTTT

JackOfAss wrote:

Anyone that dismisses the effects of hot weather on a marathon either hasnt run a marathon or hasnt been so lucky as to run one in the 80's. The weather plays a HUGE part in your performance in the marathon.

It's not some 5k, 70+ degrees and sunny isn't really what you want.

Yes, the weather is a factor, and so is the course, the size of the field, the spectators, and the aid stations. It's a fuc\king marathon. So you suck it up and you run anyway.

Hopkinton wrote:

[quote]Soft Landing wrote:

If you're tougher than the rest, they'll wilt in the heat while you improve your finishing position. Let them worry about the heat. Draw on your experience and tenacity to run the smartest race you can given the conditions.

Understood. But tenacity is perfectly useless if you haven't had the opportunity to train in warm temps since last September, while others have.[quote]

That is a risk with all spring marathons. You train through the cold of winter then hope it doesn't heat up come race day, which is why I prefer fall marathons. If it's hot you're acclimated, and if it's cool you're set for a fast day.

One of the recent Boston's I ran in (can't remember if it was 08 or 10) was misty and cold in Hopkinton all morning until about 15 minutes before the race went off. Then the mist cleared, out came the sun, and it felt like it went from 50 to 70 in a matter of minutes. I throttled back my race plans and went out conservatively. Probably a little too conservatively, but it felt great over the last 5 miles feeling like I was running through a group of joggers. That was as memorable as a fast time would have been.

Soft Landing wrote:

You train through the cold of winter then hope it doesn't heat up come race day, which is why I prefer fall marathons.

I concur. So when bright sunshine burned off the April cloud cover on Patriot's Day I'm betting you were NOT "RELISHING" (Codger's word) the turn of events, correct? Instead, you gave your best under difficult conditions.

You guys have it all wrong.

The marathon is not your local 10k or 5k where if you have a bad race or bad weather you turn around and do it again in a few weeks. This is 6 months or more of preparation down the toilet just due to the weather- something totally out of your control. Its one thing to have a bad race because you ran stupid, or cramped, but to get taken down by the weather just sucks.

Also there's this factor. Boston is expensive, for me it was a big deal to travel up there, take off work, pay the hotel, air fare, etc.. and then get my race day shot to hell by something as simple as hot weather. It's the equivalent of planning a beach vacation and it pours rains every day.

I don't even think codger was "relish" that.

I get it, it's not fun to race a marathon in the heat, but you CAN still do heat training and get some benefit from it. The body adjusts very quickly to this type of thing. Wear a couple extra layers on your runs this week and you'll be better off.

Most of you folks wouldn't do well in mountainous ultras, that's for sure.