Change Boston Marathon goal marathon pace?

Otq dreamer wrote:

You only live once blast it... PR or at least try... your to fit to waste it.

+1. With good weather Boston is a fast course. I'll hijack this quote from the sub-2:30 thread:

"Overall, on a calm and nice day, and with a nice steady effort, the Boston course can allow you to run a little more than a minute faster than a perfectly flat course will allow. The key is to do some training over undulating terrain, including some prolonged gradual downhill running so your legs are used to doing that and will not let you down over the Boston course."

-Jack Daniels

Thanks for the vote of confidence.. I think I will tentatively go for 2:45 and see how I feel after Heartbreak Hill. It is my first Boston and I don’t want to go out too fast and bonk on the Newton Hills and/or Heartbreak Hill. If I feel strong I can pick it up after Heartbreak and maybe go a little under 2:45.

I am definitely going for a PR.. my old GMP was 6:29 which is sub-2:50 (current PR is 2:52). Just wondered whether I should be a bit more aggressive with my goal and go for sub-2:45. Sounds like the general consensus from this thread is my training supports going for 2:45 if there is good weather.

Thanks for the quote.. I have doing a lot more runs up and down gradual hills to prepare for Boston compared to my training for Chicago.

Thank you for the reply. I am definitely going to set my time goals based on weather.. I only plan to go for sub-2:45 if there is good weather (40-50’s, no significant headwind, no rain/snow of course).. I will adjust to sub-2:50 or even slower if the weather is bad. Weather is the one thing you can’t control with marathon races but it can have a huge impact on your race performance as you said.

First 5 Miles wrote:

Otq dreamer wrote:

You only live once blast it... PR or at least try... your to fit to waste it.

+1. With good weather Boston is a fast course. I'll hijack this quote from the sub-2:30 thread:

"Overall, on a calm and nice day, and with a nice steady effort, the Boston course can allow you to run a little more than a minute faster than a perfectly flat course will allow. The key is to do some training over undulating terrain, including some prolonged gradual downhill running so your legs are used to doing that and will not let you down over the Boston course."

-Jack Daniels

Sorry Jack I dispute that and wonder what the basis for it might be. Maybe this is true for elites but for 2:30-3:30 runners there is no way that Boston is faster than a flat course like Chicago if the weather is the same. No way. I have run it a dozen times and run it pretty well, but couldn’t come within 3 minutes of my Chicago PR. Woe to those who listen to this Daniels pearl before their first Boston.

At the age of 42, I ran a 20 miler at 6:08 3 weeks from Chicago. I did 2:37:55 at Chicago. You are training more miles than I and your 2 mile intervals were substantially faster than mine. Therefore, I was more rested than you when i did that 20 miler.

Point being is that you are in at least sub 2:38 shape on Chicago. I would think you are in more like sub 2:37 shape . Not sure how that converts to Boston, but sub 2:45 seems like it should be your B goal. A goal under 2:40- weather dependent of course.

800 dude wrote:

Depends on how he chooses to start, because if he's too conservative, he just won't have enough road left to make up the time. Based on his workouts, supported by high mileage and decent long runs, he should have a low decay rate in his speed as he moves up in distance. I say 2:41 assuming average weather. I doubt there's a 2:49 marathoner in the country who could do the kind of training this guy has been doing.

I'm aiming for 2:49, and there's no way I could run what he described. He's not training like a 2:49 runner.

While I agree with what you're getting at about approaching your first Boston with a bit of caution, I also agree with Jack for the most part. I know several runners who have set PRs at Boston; these are also runners who excel on rolling hills and do not like the monotony of a flat course. Really it all depends on how you respond to the hills, and in Boston more than anywhere else - the weather plays a huge role.

Thanks for the vote of confidence.. Unfortunately I have come down with a cold (productive cough, chest congestion, sputum, but no fevers or muscle aches) the last week. I continued with my planned workouts last week but my cold hasn’t gotten better so I am just doing short runs at recovery pace(1:30-2:00 over race pace) for now. Also sleeping 9 hours a night and drinking a lot of water and taking cough remedies. My focus is to get over this cold before Boston. Would getting this cold (and losing a few taper workouts and some of the mileage) affect my Boston goal marathon time that I should aim for? Any advice on how to modify the taper also would be appreciated. Thanks for your comments and input.

Thank you all for your input. As you know, it was terrible weather conditions today (I live and train in Southern California) so I only managed to run a 2:54 today. I lost a minute because my shoelaces came undone and my fingers were frozen so I had trouble retying the shoelaces. Also had to go to the medical tent after the race for shivering due to hypothermia. I ran up to Heartbreak Hill fine (was on pace for

Sub-2:50 until shoelaces fiasco). Oh well, back to training for NYC Marathon and hoping for better weather.

I had cramping and hypothermia effects on the downhill from Heartbreak Hill to Boston.

Bruin1996 wrote:

I had cramping and hypothermia effects on the downhill from Heartbreak Hill to Boston.

Plus you fell for the old trick..

"Hey !! Look !. Your shoelaces are undone.

Learn to do them up correctly. After zipping up your pants, tying your shoes is about the first thing a boy learns.

I posted earlier in this thread and thank you for reporting back after a tough race.

Your training indicated way under 2:50 or even 2:45, but given the conditions you should feel very proud of your 2:54.

I can relate as I thought I was in 2:52-2:53 shape or most likely 2:55 on a normal boston day and ended up running 2:59 today with a notable (2.5 min) positive split.

But that 2:59 today was 10x harder than my 2:56 PR. Not even a close comparison. Well done Bruin1996 and please report back when you crush 2:45 next!

No shame at all. I dropped out much earlier than you did when I could no longer perceive my foot strikes. You have a much, much faster race in your future, and I hope you bump this thread to let us know when it happens.

Great run considering the crazy circumstances. Any desire to take a week or 2 and give it another shot at a low key race?

Some people can get up again and go after it ASAP, others are best just shutting down for the fall.

But still, you deserve a fast race.

I brought a throwaway shoe and replaced the shoe in a hurry in the freezing cold which is probably why I failed to tie the shoe well. I should have known better and triple tied my shoe.

Thanks for the words of encouragement. The weather definitely affected my time but I am confident if I stick with the training I will go sub-2:50 and maybe sub-2:45 at another marathon maybe NYC. I was about 9 minutes off the time I was aiming for.. it was tough for a lot of my Strava friends some who DNF’d or were 10-20 minutes slower than their BQ. Just glad to be done with this race.