Boston planning for an injured old guy who hasn't run in 3 months

I've been using Saltstick Fastchews. I went 21.25 today after racing yesterday and no cramping despite temps in the upper 60s when I was finishing up.

I've wondered about the fitness thing. I went out too hard in my last marathon for the first mile, but then settled in and felt pretty good and went through the half in 1:14:0x. Aside from the first mile, that was about on goal pace. I'd put in the requisite work - had peaked at 100 miles, etc. Still, I always wonder if the 5:20ish first mile came back to bite me later or if I had simply overestimated my fitness. I honestly don't think that because I felt capable of holding pace in every way except my calves.

The cramping this training cycle has been occurring on warm days too. But of course, by necessity, I jacked my workload up pretty quickly and the cumulative fatigue could've played a role too.

So I can see both side of he fitness/electrolyte argument. I really don't know, but I will tell you that the salt tabs have definitely made my recovery better today. Maybe it's the placebo effect, but I will take it either way.

Good morning Smoove, first wave, first corral start for you? ??

At 45 I did the same thing. I was done at 8 miles.

Yes sir. High 140s bib.

What the hell happened that you only made it 8 miles?

Smoove wrote:

Yes sir. High 140s bib.

Very good, at some point during the race when you start hurting you will think for one moment about the hobby jogger in wave 2 who is chasing you down. And at some point during the race I will tell myself to keep pushing if I want to catch him.

Did 22mls Sunday, Monday off ,11 yesterday and 11 today. Feeling pretty good this year, the key now is to stay healthy to race day. What state are you from ? If you don't mind.

I am a Florida resident, although in my heart I will always be from Brooklyn.

There will already be plenty of fear of failure leading up to raced day! Of course, once the gun goes off, all of that goes away. The real question will be, at what point does it start to come back? Hopefully with only a couple of downhill miles left (although history suggests it will be at around 21 miles). Until then though, I will just focus on what I can control and try to let the vagaries and capriciousness of the marathon alone for now.

I am thoroughly enjoying reading these posts and I'll almost be sorry when Boston is over. I can't wait to hear how it all turns out.

Just wanted to chime in here to say that you are a huge asset to this community not to mention one of the fastest older dudes in the country. Congrats on winning Chicago masters and I'm looking forward to seeing how you do at Boston. Whoo!

Thanks all for the support (although now I will feel even worse if I have a bad day).

No bad days allowed. I was just down your way for the Gasspirilla half. Hopefully Tampa will be my permanent home in about 9 more years. Because no matter how hard I try to convince myself its not that bad, running in the cold,dark,wind,slush, snow sucks as I get older. I have always preferred racing in the heat.

I hear you. I spent 5 years in upstate New York in the cold and the snow.

The summers here are brutal though, so you should try getting in a long run on a summer morning in Tampa.

But on the balance, the running is pretty easy here. Plus, very few hills. The running communities tend to be bigger, deeper and more competitive up north though (particularly once you get outside of Gainesville or Tallahassee).

Good luck nice way fighting back from injury!

Enjoy Boston might see you there. Bib #128 haven't bought a plane ticket yet bu thinking about it.

When I paged through the masters entries last week and saw your name, I was wondering if I would see you there since I was thinking you and I would be in the same range based on our common NYC experience. Then I went back to Strava and noticed that you had not been posting any workouts. You recovered from your last marathon and ready to race?

Nevereasy13 wrote:

Good luck nice way fighting back from injury!

Enjoy Boston might see you there. Bib #128 haven't bought a plane ticket yet bu thinking about it.

Good thread. Especially for a 46 year old trying to come back from an injury cycle that has limited my training for the last 2 years. Nice to see a faster masters runner talk training and competitive running.

Best of luck. It is way to easy to go out fast at Boston so watch those first 7 or 8 miles.

joho wrote:

Best of luck. It is way to easy to go out fast at Boston so watch those first 7 or 8 miles.

Sound advice, that lots of people keep giving me. That advice has helped me settle on a race plan.

I have taken a fairly aggressive time goal - the same time as I ran Chicago (a race in which I suffered bad calf cramping at the end and had to stop 5 times to stretch). I figure conventional wisdom is that there is about a 90 second difference between the two courses (which I think may be a bit conservative). I felt like if I had the perfect day in Chicago, I would have run 2:00 - 2:30 faster (as that is what the other people I was running with ran), so in theory this gives me a little leeway in case this course is more than :90 seconds slower.

From there, I am going with the conventional wisdom that the second half of Boston will be :90 to 2:00 slower than the first half. Basically, the end result will be that I will try to go through the first half with even splits, about :25 slower overall than my admittedly-slightly-too-fast first half at Chicago. I will give some time back from the start of the Newton hills through Heartbreak Hill and then see what my body has left for the downhill procession into Boston. Hopefully, if I am as fit as I hope, and if I can avoid cramping by not going out too hard like I did in Chicago (and by taking salt tablets during the race), I can finish strong come a little closer to an even split than conventional wisdom suggests.

I feel like that is a good balance of being aggressive, but not reckless.

Yes you look fit and ready.

Jealous and I hope you get fresh and stay healthy.

I would consider going out pretty close to pace or a hair quick. It's such a casual first 13 I can't imagine waiting to run fast later. The hills will blast by if your fit and light. The final 10k is going to have more to do with your quads than fitness. My quads said "uncle" last year and I noodled in. Still pr'd but lost the sub 2:30 goal.

If I went back fit again I might gamble and go for it. I'm not saying go out way to fast but don't fight the momentum.

Good luck I'm still searching for plane tickets and fitness. It's going to be last minute call :)

Well, you eventually got the sub 2:30 and a masters title at a pretty serious marathon to boot, so not too bad in the grand scheme of things.

I will look for you in the corrals - it would be good to put a face with a name.

Thanks Boston last year was a great learning experience and want to go back and crack 2:30...

on that course it's doable but might need perfect weather and a kamakazi approach.

The course is fast until it isn't... so go with the flow... almost everyone I was with last year faded really hard at 13-14-16 miles I did at 20-21. ... but even at (CIM) which is faster... the same thing happened ...at about 13-14... I went out faster at cim' 1:13 ...so when I hit 21 and slowed to 6 minute pace I easily cruised under 2:30.....at Boston if fit I think the strategy for me would work best for me.

Sub-6 pace downhill at mile 21 would be hard on my quads regardless of the pace the first half.

Good luck...I'll let you know if I buy a plane ticket.