Not-so-serious response - Stop being a tease and just race the damn thing!

Serious response - do you have another race looming that's soon after Boston?

I felt sluggish for about 3 weeks after Jackson, and not back to "normal" for at least 4.  I could have slogged through a 5K, but HM or greater would have been out of the question.  So, sincerely, if you have something in the next month that is important to you, moderately easy is probably the way to go.

 

I once ran a 28:15 5M 6 days after running 3:06:44 at Boston. My marathon PR was 2:54:56 at the time. That might have been a 5M PR for me at the time also.

Was your Boston run all out or did you intentionally hold back?

I have limited experience in not racing / jogging marathons. For my dress rehearsal in '05 * I ran 8:33 pace vs 8:00 average in the Fall for my qualifier. I took 6 days off, ran 26 miles the next week and 40 the following. By the middle of the 2nd week I was doing quality workouts. My mid-90's Boston races were all less than race efforts [8:13 pace vs 7:21 qualifier pace] . I took my usual 6 days off and ramped up in a similar fashion as the '05 marathon.

I agree with Sly that volume does make a difference. In my last marathon [where I averaged 80mpw] I experimented and instead of taking the following week off I ran 50 miles, jumping back into training pretty quickly with no ill effects.  I ran a minute slower than my grand master PB the year before but I was compromised due to bronchitis. I was running 1000-1700 miles more per year than I was for my mid-90 marathons.

* Since this was my 1st marathon in 5 years I took my time easing back into training and while the race effort felt very comfortable at the time I'm sure it took more out of me than I realized. Playing it safe coming off my torn tendon.

I don't get running Boston at something less than your best effort but that's me. Maybe it's a bias from being here.

That's a common debate among qualifiers. I chose to treat Boston as my "victory lap" for three reasons. 1>. I never dreamed I would qualify or run Boston [as a qualifier]. So it was more of a celebration than a competition. 2>. My winter training was less than ideal. It wasn't until after my last Boston ['07] did I maintain a proper volume year round. 3>. Due to my lack of volume [<2000mpy] and the level of recovery I required I wasn't able to get into peak shape for my Spring races. I really needed the winter to "recharge" my batteries.

 

That's a common debate among qualifiers. I chose to treat Boston as my "victory lap" for three reasons. 1>. I never dreamed I would qualify or run Boston [as a qualifier]. So it was more of a celebration than a competition. 2>. My winter training was less than ideal. It was until after my last Boston ['07] did I maintain a proper volume year round. 3>. Due to my lack of volume [<2000mpy] and the level of recovery I required I wasn't able to get into peak shape for my Spring races. I really needed the winter to "recharge" my batteries.

This is really it for me. I have a hard time (mostly mentally) training through winter.  So I did the best I could and it was a struggle to do the training that I did do.  I still could run it at my "best effort" despite my less than best training cycle (and I am still not 100% decided) but I was thinking it would be better for me not to waste such a hard effort that requires significant downtime/recovery when I haven't done the training to race my best in the first place. 

 

From my stand point winter training in the Midwest, the weather at Boston (which tends to be hot as f**k ) and six months removed from a fall marathon or four months removed from a full season of racing would give me pause. The weather being the number one factor.

 

But yes, each person has to do what is best for them, based on what is important to them.

I agree on doing what you want but just an opinion. I know it's my bias. We had our worst winter ever in terms of snow fall. I just saw our whole lawn last week for the first time January. A lot of my friends trained after driving to the course as the conditions were better there.

You have gotten great advice already but, although volume is important, it also depends on how your body recovers.  You know better than anybody how much it took for you to recover from your all out marathon efforts.  I can be doing quality workouts on weeks 2 or 3 post marathon but as you know, my legs never run as fast as they can due to the lungs, so YMMV.

 

Would you yell at people walking up Heartbreak Hill if you were a volunteer? lol

LOL...

I would normally agree with RSX regarding giving one's best effort no matter what, but I won't be doing it this time. My training was also subpar this winter. I have not tapered, I do not plan on doing any recovery so that I can continue base building for my next marathon cycle, which starts in June. For all those reasons, I won't be racing Boston this year. I'm simply treating it like an extra long LR this week, something about 30-40 seconds slower than what I think I'm capable of at the moment (which is not PR pace for sure). I'm thinking about a pace equal to marathons #9 and #13, to give you a better idea.  I still plan on enjoying the glory of Boston and I will make more of a conscious effort to thank all the wonderful volunteers and spectators along the way (people like RSX!).

Jenny, if you decide to take it easy, there is always 2016... And for you, the year after that. And the year after that, and also after that. And after....