Road Racing and Training Thread - Week Ending 4/14/19 (Boston Edition)

Thanks all for the kind words! Both for me and for others. This is truly an incredible community here.

I may be a bit absent from these threads for the next week or two. Fell ill as always after the race, and will be taking a much needed vacation next week! Might run a bit, might not, we'll see~

7.13 at 7:07 overall...7:52, 7:33, 7:18, 7:09, 7:09, 6:41, 6:16, :50...legs were sore and heavy, but felt decent enough in the last 2.

The OR is back, baby!

Feel better, JQ...

Boston Race Report

TL;DR: It went about as well as I could have hoped.

Mile splits:

5:48, 5:32, 5:38, 5:37, 5:45,

5:40, 5:44, 5:51, 5:44, 5:55,

5:46, 5:43, 5:45, 5:40, 5:54,

5:42, 5:54, 6:00, 5:40, 5:52,

6:03, 5:33, 5:33, 5:35, 5:39,

5:36, 1:13

Plan: Don’t go faster than 5:45, hit the half in 1:16, keep steady through Newton, hope for the best.

Goals: Top 100 and under 2:32, but those were very rough.

Mile 0: I was not nervous leading up to the race, which is rare. Just before getting in the corrals I was eating some gummies when my temporary crown plus onlay came out. Whoops! Got it back on place but not exactly bonded.

Mile 1-4: Started toward the middle-back of corral 1, and it was very crowded as expected. I couldn’t resist reverting to indoor track mode, fought for position, and got more competitive than I should have.

Mile 5-15: In this long stretch I settled in and began regretting the fast start. My quads had me concerned about sustaining a good pace and I started to think how much I could slow and still hit 2:32 or 2:33. I was both passing and being passed, but mostly hung around a group from Princeton and a guy from GBTC. I hit the halfway mark in 1:15:06, and tried not to use too much energy going into Newton Lower Falls.

Mile 16-21: This is the stretch I’d always heard about. I let gravity do some work in mile 16, but knew not to go crazy. Once the hills started, I focused on a short, choppy stride, and on keeping my effort level constant. Still, I passed more than I got passed on hills 1-3. Around 19 I spotted a DC-area guy ahead of me who I hadn’t beat since my last really good race in 2009, and passed him on Heartbreak.

Mile 21-26.2: Cresting Heartbreak I got a boost knowing that it was downhill from there, that I still felt fine metabolically, and just let it rip. My quads were getting pretty trashed and I felt a cramp coming in my right calf, but the central governor never kicked in. Just gobbled up fading runners the rest of the way. Only got passed once after Heartbreak, and that was on Boylston, by another DC area guy (who beat me by 3’ in a half last month). I had recently passed him, but my quads didn’t respond when he came back.

Finish: 2:30:21, good enough for 99th male, 108 overall.

I didn’t lose to anyone who was behind me at 20k. My second half (1:15:15) was the 63rd best in the men’s division. After 30k I was 39th fastest, and 34th after 35k. Out of the top 300 males, the average was a 4.8% positive split, while I had a 0.2% positive.

I don’t know whether I could have run faster on a cool, calm day on a flat course. There was a lot that could’ve gone wrong, and did for most people, but I was lucky enough to have set a conservative goal without realizing it, and I think the high mileage this cycle made my legs more resilient to the eccentric loading from the downhills. (That said, my quads are still trashed.)

Something else I did a little different from the past was to eat more. In addition to the gummies, I had a Gatorade thing they handed out prior to the start. I ran with a SiS gel which I took at 4, ate a Gu at 8, and had 3 Clif shots from the course. (I kept 2 Gu packs in reserve.)

I took water at about 3/4 of the stops and Gatorade here and there. (I did get a brief, minor side stitch.) Throughout the race I poured water on myself and soaked my hat.

The weather felt fine and I never felt overheated. The wind wasn’t much of an issue when I was out there. I’d believe the stations that said 5 mph from the SSW.

The Nike Streaks felt great, but I really need to loosen the laces as much as possible. I also got a black toe nail from the downhills, but don’t blame the shoes.

Sub 6:00 wrote:

5:48, 5:32, 5:38, 5:37, 5:45,

5:40, 5:44, 5:51, 5:44, 5:55,

5:46, 5:43, 5:45, 5:40, 5:54,

5:42, 5:54, 6:00, 5:40, 5:52,

6:03, 5:33, 5:33, 5:35, 5:39,

5:36, 1:13

Plan conceived and executed beautifully. Man, it doesn't get much better than that. Congrats again!

Allen1959 wrote:

Sub 6:00 wrote:

5:48, 5:32, 5:38, 5:37, 5:45,

5:40, 5:44, 5:51, 5:44, 5:55,

5:46, 5:43, 5:45, 5:40, 5:54,

5:42, 5:54, 6:00, 5:40, 5:52,

6:03, 5:33, 5:33, 5:35, 5:39,

5:36, 1:13

Plan conceived and executed beautifully. Man, it doesn't get much better than that. Congrats again!

I would have to agree. What a great race, Sub 6:00.

outsiderunner wrote:

7.13 at 7:07 overall...7:52, 7:33, 7:18, 7:09, 7:09, 6:41, 6:16, :50...legs were sore and heavy, but felt decent enough in the last 2.

The OR is back, baby!

Nice to see! Meanwhile, I tried running on the roads this morning. Knee discomfort, but not too painful. 5 miles. 11:06, 10:34, 10:43, 10:15, 9:48. I do believe I've lost some conditioning since last October. :(

Allen1959 wrote:

outsiderunner wrote:

7.13 at 7:07 overall...7:52, 7:33, 7:18, 7:09, 7:09, 6:41, 6:16, :50...legs were sore and heavy, but felt decent enough in the last 2.

The OR is back, baby!

Nice to see! Meanwhile, I tried running on the roads this morning. Knee discomfort, but not too painful. 5 miles. 11:06, 10:34, 10:43, 10:15, 9:48. I do believe I've lost some conditioning since last October. :(

This is goid news, my friend. Keep at it.

My boss also suggested Pittsburgh, but all of my searching has tunrned up not a single vacancy. The wheels are turning, though...I continue to ponder. I have a comped entry into our local 10k. It is a big race (where I ran 36:27 last year). To me, a marathon would be better...

Hey OR, check the Doubletree by Hilton downtown there... they usually have some rooms. No frills, but what do you need frills for. If you're looking for near the start though, it's gonna be a bit pricey. Have you thought about Airbnb... it's what all those blasted millennials are using nowadays right? Hotels probably gonna be around $300/night I'd bet.

100% badassery.

Yeah...maybe 200%...

GT - Solid week of work although I'd consider just running ~30 seconds hard on the road instead of trying to combine speed-work and the last 1k repeat on your Tuesday workout.

TDR - Good week of work all things considered. Hopefully the ankle issue is gone for good.

HHH - Nice 5k off a quick turn-around.

JB - Still dropping ridiculous workouts. Can't wait to see what you run in Indy.

Smoove - If 3k would've been a good race in both our primes, is an xc 10k the equivalent to that now? Hope to see you on the course in December.

Pewow - You could run the open 5000 at the Wisco Mile if you really want to get a 5k in this year. Although I suspect the feature event would suit you better.

Puddles - Heck of a 5k, especially with the preceding volume. Gotta think you could scare sub-15 in the right race.

LancRunner - Solid week especially given the travel. I've always heard good things about Charlotte.

Coach Jeff - Kudos for going for it, just a bummer it ended up more like a Red Sox game this year (What is wrong with them btw? I'm getting nervous) than a glorious finish.

JQ - The last few miles of Boston will take it out of the best of runners. That's still a solid performance.

Bruin - Bummer the race didn't go the way you wanted it to but should be good prep for something unexpected at a true goal race.

Sub 6:00 - Fantastic performance in Boston - Congrats! I thought you might end up fairly close to an old teammate and fellow DC area runner but you ended up putting a good 5 minutes on him.

Improving - Great work holding on for sub-3. That's a solid race at Boston and you should be proud of it.

statfanatic wrote:

Smoove - If 3k would've been a good race in both our primes, is an xc 10k the equivalent to that now? Hope to see you on the course in December.

I am a proud man, but not so proud as to kid myself into thinking that there is any distance at which we would be evenly matched. But it would sure be fun to race together (along with Coyote and some others).

Just wanted to thank everyone for their race reports and thoughts. Has gone a long way to helping me come to terms with my race.

tldr: 3:20 goal, knew by mile 16 I didn't have it that day, walked 5 times in the last 4 miles, 3:29.

Wave 2 Corral 5. I was preparing for cold weather and it turned out to be hotter than expected. I was dumping water over my head by the 3rd mile and I live in SoCal so winter training in the heat is not a problem. Just very humid. At the halfway point realized that due to all the people I had run the course so inefficiently there was a .2 mile difference between my Garmin and the course. Instead of having almost two minutes in hand I was about 7 seconds under 1:40. By mile 16 and knowing the hills were coming I knew that I didn't have the energy. Coming into Cleveland Circle after the last of the hills my heart rate spiked and I had to walk to get it down. Felt pathetic run walking in.

I think there is a lot to be said for the difficulty of big city marathons. Having done NYC 4 times and Boston twice, the only time I have had a good race was Boston when I lived in Boston. The travel logistics really wear on you.

Thanks again for everyone's thoughts.

Inspiring stuff from all of you at the Big Dance this week. My legs hurt looking at those gnarly splits from Sub 6.

outsiderunner wrote:

The OR is back, baby!

Glad to hear the positivity, man! Couple little marathons in northern Ohio next weekend if you're looking.

Thanks, Guy. Which marathons? Northern Ohio does interest me some.

outsiderunner wrote:

Thanks, Guy. Which marathons? Northern Ohio does interest me some.

Glass City Marathon in Toledo. I have not run it, have heard good things. Winners possibly in the 2:15 range?

Pro Football Hall of Fame Marathon in Canton. I have been and run a few times, doing the half this year. Very nice and proffessional and big event-ish for 600 fInishers in the full. I think registration closes today or tomorrow.

I have just learned that Bill Rodgers will be in town for Canton if that interests you.

Winners at both more like 2:20-2:25.