Boston Marathon : Official Thread (Page 3)

UMAN - 2011-02-14 12:35 PM Bscharff,

Read your race report...outstanding.

A few questions if you don't mind:

Appoximately ...What time did you get to the Commons? 
Is there an address? 
How did the traffic look around the area?  I will be having someone drop me off.

Any input would be appreciated.

Thank you,

Uman

tcovert - 2011-02-14 9:36 AM Yikes is right.  Suffered what I'm afraid might be a serious lower leg injury last Tuesday and have had to shut down completely.  Going to test it with a swim tonight and a run tomorrow...if it flares up, may be headed to the doctor.  Pretty bummed.

kt65 - 2011-02-14 7:51 PM

Sorry about the injury, Todd!  Hope it just needs some rest and recovery.  

tcovert - 2011-02-14 12:36 PM Yikes is right.  Suffered what I'm afraid might be a serious lower leg injury last Tuesday and have had to shut down completely.  Going to test it with a swim tonight and a run tomorrow...if it flares up, may be headed to the doctor.  Pretty bummed.

bscharff - 2011-02-15 7:29 AM

x2 - hoping for a quick healing...!!!

tcovert - 2011-02-15 1:39 PM

Thanks, guys.

After 72 hours of rest, then one brief swim last night, things were looking up...but I decided to test it with the foam roller last night and, honestly, it set me back a week.  I'm in as much or more pain now than the day of the original injury.  Saw a doc in my PCP's medical group today and she felt it was just a pull, but I'm wary...I've had lots of pulled muscles and this feels and is responding differently.  I'm taking the doc's advice to carry on with rest, ice, ibuprofen, stretching, but I'll call her back for an ortho referral if I get any more setbacks like today's.

Really bummed, but at least I was already at 35+ mpw and had an 18 mile long run in the books before the injury...I know I can shut down completely and still get through the race, as long as it doesn't turn out to be something serious (like compartment syndrome, which is what I'm concerned about).

kt65 - 2011-02-15 4:54 PM

At least you are smart and shut it down immediately. Take care.

For those experienced Boston marathoners! I am curious as people say to be prepared for the downhills even more than the uphills. Any advice? Right now, I am trying to remember to shorten my stride a bit on the downs and keep the cadence up at my normal 90, it seems to ease the pounding on my quads. Any other words of wisdom? Oh, and just to put this all into one post, is the expo on Sat and Sunday? We are arriving on the red eye on Saturday morning and am hoping to hit the expo Saturday afternoon so Sunday can be a horizontal kind of day. 

halfironmike - 2011-02-15 7:43 PMIMO the key to running strong in the last 10 miles at Boston is more related to pacing than turnover.  Don't get me wrong, I do think it's important to minimize the chunks of work by generally increasing your cadence and I often find myself counting ("one-two-three, one-two-three") to check my turnover, but other than a few descents, the downhill sections at Boston aren't all that severe.

From a mechanics standpoint, I wouldn't run the race any differently than you would any other marathon.  What I would recommend is paying close attention to your race plan.  The first 16 miles at Boston are relatively "easy" and they should feel that way.  You're going to feel magic early on and it will be very tempting to run faster than you should.  Just remember it's a long day and there are tougher stretches coming.  Be afraid of the hills and you'll probably find that there's nothing to be afraid of.

It will be packed and slow at the start.  Don't waste energy bobbing and weaving through the masses.  Take it all in and shuffle along through the first few miles at a slower pace than you want to be running.  It will thin out and there will be plenty of time to tire yourself out in the second half.

As with any marathon, if you find yourself working hard between miles 10-13, most likely you're going to be miserable 10 miles later.  Focus on running your own race from the start.  You should be feeling like you're holding yourself back through (at least) the first half.  Once you get through Wellesley, you should be able to take a pretty good assessment of your system and decide whether or not to go for it.

Remember that when you get to the top of Heartbreak, you still have 5 miles to go.  You'll catch some glimpses of the Citgo sign waaaay off in the distance.  Know that the finish is still a mile farther than the sign, so you'll have an accurate (albeit discouraging) reference for the remaining distance.  The last 3 or 4 miles will be tough, but the unbelievable crowd support through the city should be enough to carry you on through to the finish.

Getting fired up!

Baowolf - 2011-02-28 8:35 AM Got my first 20 in on Sunday before church, -2F brr, my water kept freezing.  I was pretty good until the start of 19 and then started bogging out.  Hopefully I can fix this over this month with 2 more 20s planned.  We realy need to have no more snow so I can have a reliable running surface. 

How are everyone elses 20's going.

As far as qualifying again... I qualified by 30 seconds, but will move into the next age bracket so I gain 5 minutes with the new regs and the age group bump, but then have to regain 20 for a solid shot and 10 for a so/so shot.  I doubt that I can afford to go again anyway, at least for many years.  Glad I got in when I did and registered early.