For Boston

Good to know you're mortal.    


Separately, I got an email from Houston on the registration process for the January 18, 2015 race.  If you're still on their mailing list, let me know and I won't post future things related to 2015.  If you have the same email address as in 2012 for the Oly Trials, I can forward it to you.

Something new for 2015 is an age-graded time qualification for some age groups.  BUT YOU'RE NOT OLD ENOUGH!!!!  55+ for women and 65+ for men.

However, you could qualify for:


Time Qualification
For the 2015 Chevron Houston Marathon or Aramco Houston Half Marathon, we will again be implementing a time qualification standard to allow participants the opportunity to avoid the lottery and register for the marathon or half marathon early.

Time Qualifiers: Finish times may date back to January 1, 2013. Qualifying races must be USATF or AIMS-IAAF certfied and provide online race results. Runners may register for either the marathon or half marathon with a qualifying marathon, half marathon, or 10K time. Please note, these entries are limited and available on a first-come, first-serve basis. (See below for times.)   

MarMathon	Half Marathon	10K
Marathon 4:00:00	Half Marathon 1:52:55	10K 0:51:08

Early Registration
May 6 - May 29, 2014
Run for a Reason Guaranteed Charity Entries
June 4 until Sell Out
Lottery Registration
June 4 - June 19, 2014
Lottery Selection
June 20 - June 22, 2014
Lottery Announcement
June 23, 2014

Hahaha, Doug.  I did not receive the update from Houston and I do still have the same address, so forward away.  I have both a marathon and half marathon time, so I'm guessing I'm kind of guaranteed if I commit.  

Here are Sunday's splits:

Mile 1 - 8:05  (good start, but too much weaving around the kids)
Mile 2 - 7:39
Mile 3 - 7:38
Mile 4 - 7:39
Mile 5 - 7:40
Mile 6 - 7:42
Mile 7 - 7:39
Mile 8 - 7:46
Mile 9 - 7:49
Mile 10 - 7:54
Mile 11 - 7:56
Mile 12 - 8:25
Mile 13.1 - 8:05


Finish: 1:45:57


I actually waited to get this report up as they really screwed up the timing and didn't have results until late on Tuesday and they are still not completely correct.

If you're thinking of running Hartford in the fall it's fairly fast but does have 600' of climb throughout with a decent size hill in the beginning and a sneaky hill over a bridge at the end. I did think the course is kind of boring though. Michael has run it multiple times and enjoys it more than I did. I had overtrained for it so that might be influencing my opinion.

For throwback Thursday, here is a picture of me finishing the Tufts 10K for Women in 1988 in a time of 38:45.  The woman behind me in the red, white and blue was one of my biggest rivals of the time.  I got her at this race and placed in the top 50.

Nice photo! And an even nicer time for a 10K. Impressive!

Very ill fitting shorts, however.

Michele \"1L" Keane wrote:Very ill fitting shorts, however.

Maybe, but hey... it was the 1980s. All is forgiven. Or forgotten.

18 miles this morning calorie depleted, 9:30 pace with the last 6 faster than the first.  I realized after the run that I ran all my runs outside this week! The first one was in Arizona, but the last four have been here in Cleveland, as we are having a mini warm spell with early rain (Thursday night) and most of our snow is gone.  This made for another few days of crazy ice break causing some flooding and the closing of the road (in low areas) in the park.  Good for runners and cyclists as we had the road to ourselves the last couple of days which was good since a bit if the melted snow turned to a slick layer of ice in shaded spots.  

Running calorie depleted (no food or fuel since dinner last night) for my 18 miler was definitely an experiment. I've gone 2 hrs before but this was close to 3 and I was fine. No bonking and I actually felt good at the end.  First 6 miles was run the easiest due to the icy spots, but I picked it up in the last 6 which was positive. Only "fuel" was supplied by water and Nuun until I was done. I then had a recovery drink and oatmeal and a hard boiled egg about 30 min after we were finished.  Not sure what my plan will be next week but since I running a very hilly half marathon at MP, I'm guessing I'll be practicing my fueling for that run.

February 2014 should turn out to be about  30 miles less than February 2012, but 40 miles more than February 2013. This is good IMHO. I've also been running at a quicker pace than last year.  55 days.

As an aside, I'm watching the 50K XC race on TV and the announcer called it a 30-mile marathon.  Just how long is that marathon, anyway?

Sounds like your Boston training is going good too.

I'm also experimenting with no fuel until much later in my long runs. I did 20 yesterday with no carbs before & none until 16 miles during the run.

Funny how the spectators are sitting on cars on the course. Ahh, the good 'ol days! keep up the good work, Michele!

Here is another photo from December, 1988.  5K Indoor PR (at the time) from the Hahvahd Indoor Track.  It was the fastest in the area back then, but has been surpassed by the ones at the Reggie Lewis Center and now BU.  We changed uniforms in that time frame.  I actually beat all those college girls in the picture and had been out of school for 5 yrs. 

Those are very cool pictures, Michele.

I ran on that Harvard track a couple of times in college.

Will someone please tell Mother Nature that the joke is over.  I'm scheduled for an MP run over a hilly half marathon course on Sunday in Youngstown, OH, but they are predicting "Shovel-able" amounts of snow starting on Saturday night.  Shovel-able usually means over 4" - and they are talking 6-8". Youngstown is a 1.5 hr drive on clean roads and it is almost 2 hrs to the park where the race is held.  Looks like Mother Nature may win out yet again this winter.  March comes in like a lion - right?

Michele \"1L" Keane wrote:18 miles this morning calorie depleted, 9:30 pace with the last 6 faster than the first.  I realized after the run that I ran all my runs outside this week! The first one was in Arizona, but the last four have been here in Cleveland, as we are having a mini warm spell with early rain (Thursday night) and most of our snow is gone.  This made for another few days of crazy ice break causing some flooding and the closing of the road (in low areas) in the park.  Good for runners and cyclists as we had the road to ourselves the last couple of days which was good since a bit if the melted snow turned to a slick layer of ice in shaded spots.  

Running calorie depleted (no food or fuel since dinner last night) for my 18 miler was definitely an experiment. I've gone 2 hrs before but this was close to 3 and I was fine. No bonking and I actually felt good at the end.  First 6 miles was run the easiest due to the icy spots, but I picked it up in the last 6 which was positive. Only "fuel" was supplied by water and Nuun until I was done. I then had a recovery drink and oatmeal and a hard boiled egg about 30 min after we were finished.  Not sure what my plan will be next week but since I running a very hilly half marathon at MP, I'm guessing I'll be practicing my fueling for that run.

February 2014 should turn out to be about  30 miles less than February 2012, but 40 miles more than February 2013. This is good IMHO. I've also been running at a quicker pace than last year.  55 days.

As an aside, I'm watching the 50K XC race on TV and the announcer called it a 30-mile marathon.  Just how long is that marathon, anyway?

Dave P wrote:Sounds like your Boston training is going good too.

I'm also experimenting with no fuel until much later in my long runs. I did 20 yesterday with no carbs before & none until 16 miles during the run.

But y'all do realize that anything ingested during a run is not fuel for your muscles, just your brain, right?  It just clears the fog or brings clarity, however you want to explain it.

Exactly, Doug.

I guess I don't understand the point of the experiment.  You're only denying yourself whatever the caloric value of your usual morning pre-run meal, which for carb based runners isn't that much anyway (<500 calories), plus the caloric value of the GU's, which only seems to lessen your mental clarity.

Even my pre-run/pre-race meal is under 500 calories, but might have 2 grams of carbs (milk for scrambled eggs). 

So, I guess I'm the one that needs some clarity.

The idea is that there aren't sugar calories readily available for conversion to ATP for energy and that forces the body to use fat for energy earlier in the run.  Using fat for energy earlier in the run forces the body to become more efficient at converting it to usable energy, which can pay dividends in the last 10K of the marathon.  Not that any of that is entirely accurate, but that's the theory.

mul21 wrote:The idea is that there aren't sugar calories readily available for conversion to ATP for energy and that forces the body to use fat for energy earlier in the run.  Using fat for energy earlier in the run forces the body to become more efficient at converting it to usable energy, which can pay dividends in the last 10K of the marathon.  Not that any of that is entirely accurate, but that's the theory.

Yeah, I don't believe it's entirely accurate because the body is not going to suddenly switch from burning carbs to burning fat because it takes an extra step to convert the fatty acids to glycogen.  That conversion process takes weeks to execute.  I went through that, last summer.  It took 8 weeks for my body to adapt enough so I could run 20 miles on fatty acids.

I don't know, but I would think the body may become more efficient at burning sugar calories, since it knows what she's trying to do.  Just like practice makes the heart more efficient at beating (lower bpm at the same pace), why can't the body become more efficient at burning sugar?  The alternative is doing the extra step to burn fatty acids, which it's not going to do as long as it can find sugar.

During a marathon, the body MIGHT be going into starvation mode and holding on to the fat at the expense of burning muscle fibers for sugar.  I have no studies to back that up, it's just a thought.  But it's a fact that under normal person conditions, the body DOES burn muscle before it'll burn fat because it's easy to burn. 

Fat is the last resource the body will use to burn.  Happens to old people all the time.  They don't eat enough protein to keep the body from metabolizing the muscle cells.  Then, the muscles disappear and old folks are bed-ridden or wheelchaired because there's not enough muscle to support the bones and skin.

Good conversation!

Not much to add to the depletion vs. non-depletion run discussion (though I know there are several books on the subject), but to Michele's main point: This stupid winter that will just. not. end.

It's the same here. Even here, where it's usually relatively mild, we have possible snow or "wintry mix" forecast for this weekend. Really, planet? It's going to be March soon. Get with the program!

Mark B wrote:Not much to add to the depletion vs. non-depletion run discussion (though I know there are several books on the subject), but to Michele's main point: This stupid winter that will just. not. end.

It's the same here. Even here, where it's usually relatively mild, we have possible snow or "wintry mix" forecast for this weekend. Really, planet? It's going to be March soon. Get with the program!

Yep, I have to say that even as a northerner living in St. Louis, where it really hasn't even been all that bad, I'm tired of it and the 6 inches in forecast for Saturday night can just bite me.

Yesterday, our low was 34.  This morning, 41.  Tomorrow, 63 with a forecast high of 77.  Monday, highs in the 50s.  I hope this roller coaster has insurance.

Love the old photos Michele!  If I can I'll find one of me at the state track meet in 1976.  I placed 3rd in the shot put...no I was not a runner!!!!!!

Looks like training is going well...can't wait to follow you and everyone else at Boston.

Snow runs build leg strength. Good week Michele.