Come Back to Boston

ounce wrote:How many states do you have, now?

Only 23 - but with the addition of CO, IN, AZ, and maybe SD - I'll be up to 27. I still need all of New England except MA and RI, primarily because my family is there and it is hard to be stealth, the Pac NW, and all the Great Plains ones. The only southern state I have left is Mississippi and Arkansas if you consider it to be southern.

I just remembered I have a friend who highly recommends Sioux Falls, SD. But then he's a guy so he's never done Leading ladies so I don't know how they compare. 23 is 10 more than I have.

Michele, have you ever run the Gansett Marathon in RI? It occured to me that by hitting BQ-5 I actually qualified for this race. The time holds for two years so I can run it in 2015.

Alex Kubacki wrote:Michele, have you ever run the Gansett Marathon in RI? It occured to me that by hitting BQ-5 I actually qualified for this race. The time holds for two years so I can run it in 2015.

No, Gansett is only a few years old, and when I ran my RI marathon it was what was then called Ocean State and encompassed three loops in Newport, and it was November, 1984. I know some who ran both Boston and Gansett one year, but she is a freak of nature and runs a 50K or more a month.

Lots of good choices in Oregon and Washington, of course. Not sure about Idaho, but the Missoula Marathon in Montana is pretty well-regarded.

Mark B wrote:Lots of good choices in Oregon and Washington, of course. Not sure about Idaho, but the Missoula Marathon in Montana is pretty well-regarded.

Agreed, and a lot of my Spring will depend on what is decided by the BAA with regards to 2014.

Decent week even with the two day break to fly to Boston and drive back. I did not get to "finish" the race like I wanted since it was raining so very hard, so I will have to save that for when I take my daughter back in the Fall. Not sure how I suddenly got so old that I have a child that is now a sophomore in college - yikes, where did the years go? At lest I'm feeling like myself again running - suddenly, I turned a corner and now a 9 min pace feels like 10 min did a month ago. I guess it is good that it is right in time for Cleveland next Sunday, but I still am worried that pacing a 4 hr marathon will be a stretch. Of course, I tried to run my 10 miler at 9 min pace yesterday and ended up averaging 8:40, so it will be a challenge to make sure to keep pace! The weather has been wacky as well with highs only near 50 for the next couple of days and then back to the high 70s on Wednesday. Currently, the predicted weather for Sunday's race is a low of 55F at the start and then rising from there. They have backed off on the 60% chance of rain which is good, but you never know. I just hope the wind stays under control as the last 3 miles are along the lakefront.

I did have one really great tempo run this week where the last tempo mile was 7:35! Not sure where that came from, but it happened.

Recap of the week:

Monday - Easy 4.5 miles; core and weights
Tuesday - 7 mile tempo run
Wednesday - 5 easy miles; core and weights
Thursday - Fly to Boston, pack, and get ready to leave
Friday - 10 hr drive back to Cleveland
Saturday - 10 miles at 8:49 ave pace
Sunday - 6 miles easy

WTD: 32.5 miles YTD: 692 miles

After Cleveland and then Steamboat Springs, which, yikes is only 14 days later - I'll start a new blog. I did get invited to pace the 4:10 group at Leading Ladies in SD in August, so that will be another state off the list. So CO and SD this summer, IN and AZ in the fall.

So, how do you make sure you're on the right pace? With the inaccuracies of a Garmin coupled with runners pretty much never running a course like it's measured, how do you tweak the pace?

I might could glean some info on running my own race.

An "accidental" 7:35 mile?

An "unexplained" speed increase of 1 min/mi?

Pfft. I think you've got a long ways go go before old, no matter what year your kid's in school.

BTW, I'm always impressed by those who volunteer to serve as pace team leaders. It's got to be challenging on so many levels. Not only do good pacers have to hit the pace precisely, they also have to serve as the cheerleader/coach/psychologist for those runners under their wing. Well, the good ones do, anyway. And I'm betting you're one of the good ones. Have a great race!

Thanks, Guys. I do think I'm a pretty good pacer - it is tough, but I've done a lot of "coaching" of adult runners and I pull off that experience. The best thing is to stay calm, and I find that once I fall into pace and settle, I can pretty much stay there. The first mile can be tough and I usually try to go slower than pace and let my group know that is the plan. It helps to settle in and get the jitters out. I have pace 4 hrs at Chicago when we ran a 10 min first mile and we still hit at 3:59 and we made it up over the 26 miles, not during the 2nd mile. I also find that I check the Garmin a lot in the first couple of miles and once I hit the zone, I hit the zone. One other trick that I use is to enlist the group - several of the runners will use their watches too, and I like to discuss strategy with them before we start and ask for help with the mile - so anyone can call out that we are FAST, and it is appreciated.

When I paced Fargo in 2007, my Garmin died under an overpass and I had two "helpers" keep us on track while I coached until mile 24 when I made them go. I had one runner with me at mile 26, and she qualified for Boston when I made her go ahead of me entering the Fargo dome.

ounce wrote:So, how do you make sure you're on the right pace? With the inaccuracies of a Garmin coupled with runners pretty much never running a course like it's measured, how do you tweak the pace?

I might could glean some info on running my own race.

In addition to what Michele said, I think a big part of the equation is that the pacers are running basically easy/long run pace for them. It's much easier to adjust off of that than it is to try to adjust off of a more challenging pace. I've paced 5 or 6 different marathons and halves and that's always the key, making sure you're running a pace that an easy enough effort for you. And like Michele said, once you've knocked out a couple miles at goal pace, you definitely get locked into a rhythm and you don't have to think about it much.

Do you have a watch with splits you can just push a button when you hit mile markers? That's what I do and I just lock in the pace. After a few miles it's really not bad. I've never owned a Garmin but my Timex watch has 30 splits so I'll at least hit the button at mile markers. If it's really variant I'll ask myself why. Sometimes I'm losing my focus or it was a hill or a potty stop but in general it's kind of an internal thing that you can help with a watch. I would just tell the group you're going a little slower the first few miles and not to worry about it.

So this morning it was 45F when I did my track work and quite windy. I hit the four 800 repeats right on target pace and they felt good. Of course, it is now predicted to be as high as 65F at 7 am on Sunday morning. I know things can still change, and honestly, I finally feel fit enough that 9:08 miles might not be the stretch that I thought it was going to be (it still might be a hidden struggle), but the weather could surely throw us all a curve ball. It will be what it will be, and all I can do is my best!

Michele "1L" Keane wrote:So this morning it was 45F when I did my track work and quite windy. I hit the four 800 repeats right on target pace and they felt good. Of course, it is now predicted to be as high as 65F at 7 am on Sunday morning. I know things can still change, and honestly, I finally feel fit enough that 9:08 miles might not be the stretch that I thought it was going to be (it still might be a hidden struggle), but the weather could surely throw us all a curve ball. It will be what it will be, and all I can do is my best!

Your last sentence is a nice principle to live by. Glad to hear you nailed the 800's and 45 degrees is just so nice. Think 56 instead of 65!

Have a great race this weekend Michele. Hopefully everything comes together and you nail the time.

Nice job on the track workout. I hope the weather cooperates and you get all your little ducklings over the finish line at their target time.

I feel like the BAA news just lifted a dead weight off my chest. I was already getting worked up over Sunday's race with the warm weather forecast, the fact that I ran only 4 miles mid morning and 9 min miles felt like 6 min miles in the 70F weather (taper, I hope), and now, Now I can focus on my pacer job and not on a time. Even if the BAA makes me start at 2 PM, I think I'm going to run Boston next year. My goal race will go back to being Indy on November 2nd as I'm guessing that if I submit the faster time, I will be placed in the appropriate corral. Funny, that I didn't think I wanted to run Boston, but my daughter saw the email first, and she turned around and told me what it said and then asked if I was running next year, please. It is healing for both of us, so I went and once again booked that expensive hotel room at the Lenox (who by the way did not charge me for the entire weekend this year). Reading the email I was completely emotionally overwhelmed, and I am usually not that person. Weird feeling in a lot of ways. I hope the winter cooperates or I'll be hitting up Schuey for some treadmill workouts. The good news is that I can use iFit on my dreadmill and run those Boston hills anytime I feel the need. It sure would be awesome to get myself back into 2012 shape and run what I believe I am capable of running (again) on the course.

Well, for now, Cleveland here I come - and that beer better be cold at the 9 mile mark (where our local group has a "party spot").

Good Luck this weekend and have a great time!

Nice, nothing like running a race without pressure!

Good to hear you're feeling a bit more relaxed about the race this weekend. Nice to know you don't have to worry about Boston and can enjoy the run.

I think the work you pacers do is fantastic and a great service to the rest of us. Thanks and have fun.

Hope you had a great race. I am finding my desire to get into the NYC Marathon every year is getting in the way of doing all 50 states (which is a new idea for me).

Not what I wanted this morning, but that is what 70F and 85% humidity at the start and 85F and 70% humidity at the finish will do to you. We had them at pace until mile 21, when we decided to split the group with me slowing down to take my group in under 4:15 and the other pacer taking anyone who could in at 4 (he started at half way). I managed to get my end of the group in at 4:13, and most of us were more than happy with that. Second year in a row that Cleveland was hot, and after running and pushing it in too many warm weather races, I knew better than to overdue it in the heat. Remember that when I ran on Tuesday morning of this week it was 45F! And last weekend the high temps were only in the 60s, and we wore long sleeve shirts and vests with shorts on our long run. Maybe I should have dropped at 13, but I feel ok since I slowed and I am happy with that. Heat sucks when you are not used to it.

Mich,

Sorry you did not get the weather you preferred, but you played it very smart IMO. Those temps even when acclimated are difficult for a marathon. Coming from cooler weather day's to 70-85 degrees is no easy task for any Hero. You did yourself and those you were pacing justice and it sounds like you will recover mighty fine.

Just found out that the 3:55 pacer dropped at 23 and was in the med tent. I hear he is ok though. That is where I did not want to be - thanks be to God.

Ooof. That sounds awful, especially so early in the year. Spring races can be especially difficult, what with all the cold-weather training going *pfft!* when the temperature and humidity rise and sun comes out. Warm and sunny is manageable after a summer of acclimatization. Before? Fuggitaboutit.

Glad you got your group to 21 miles before falling back. Scary about the 3:55 pacer. You did the smart thing.