Competitive Jerks Racing and Training - 2023 (Read 574 times)

Since I don't have access to Mikkey's training It's a bit of a guess.....but based purely on the amount of "smack talk" so far my prediction is:

CalBears   2:59:58- Perfectly even splits and a metronome 182 cadence.

Mikkey       2:59:59- He will dive for the finish line but Tyson will break out of the crowd and slow him down just enough.

Both athletes will claim victory and demand drug testing.  The ensuing scandal will tear apart the "Competitive Jerks" thread and chaos will ensue.  Oh yeah and RP will quietly begin training in October and set another PR

 

Fishy - I don't see any attention to our showdown honestly It still will be fun, I hope it is fun to follow for people here, but it will be fun for me for sure and I hope it will be fun for Mikkey too. I will have to definitely treat him to dinner - hope he will find time for that - as I know his trip is kind of short. We are jokingly talking about documentary about our "rivalry", but the funny thing - short video would be enough - last October I met Mikkey in London, we even didn't take a photo together . That's hilarious! But I start to really thinking about CIM now - I hope Mikkey will not injure himself and we would have a decent race together. I know the result of the outcome, but will leave it until the after the race .

 

But for now I would like to have an  open poll: please vote who you will think wins CIM - Mikkey or CalBears? Please people - don't be shy - just express your opinion - I promise nobody will take it against you  - it should be fun, so, please vote !!!

 

The ensuing scandal will tear apart the "Competitive Jerks" thread and chaos will ensue.  

I'm fairly sure that if this thread was capable of being torn apart, it would've happened by now lol.

Fishy - Let me know if you want either of those two potential pre-Philly races on the board.

 

I don't think the course has changed. I could be wrong though. 

 

+1. You got great weather, some might even say CIM weather, but your point about the courses are valid: is Boston an easier course on a similar weather day as CIM? I still say no. You never said Boston is “easier” to run in general. One of the things we point out about CIM is you will get a B+ or better weather day 90% of the time. Even if somehow it is easier to run, if you had to stake your life on a PR, you would run CIM every single time.

You had a hell of a performance at Boston and I wouldn’t be surprised if you throw down another PR at CIM.

Fishy - Races really do get in the way of good training, don't they?

 

+1. You got great weather, some might even say CIM weather, but your point about the courses are valid: is Boston an easier course on a similar weather day as CIM? I still say no. You never said Boston is “easier” to run in general. One of the things we point out about CIM is you will get a B+ or better weather day 90% of the time. Even if somehow it is easier to run, if you had to stake your life on a PR, you would run CIM every single time.

 

You had a hell of a performance at Boston and I wouldn’t be surprised if you throw down another PR at CIM.

*long winded reply slightly shortened*

Boston is a PR course.

It might depend what your PR is. 

I don't think I've ever run an "easy" marathon. Even the one I casually jogged in my town a week after Boston wasn't easy. I'd run CIM over Boston because it's close. How much money are we going to spend to get the PR we want? Fly across the country (globe) and spend 3 days in a hotel, or drive (ride a train) a few hours and spend ONE night in a hotel? Disney WORLD vs Disney LAND...which would you rather take your kids to? I'm going to guess World because you don't have to fly to California.

If I lived on the East Coast I'm sure there is an equally appealing marathon to get your fast race time in. Grandmas, Air Force, Shamrock, etc.

The hard part about Boston is the crowd(s). Seriously. It seems like Boston was the ONLY good weather marathon this year. Fishy had some bad weather and a long hill climb a few months ago. MMerkle had unseasonal 20 mph head/cross winds for his first sub-3. I think DavePNW just said this race, or maybe it was Eugene (he didn't run) was also unseasonable weather and his recent "major downhill cheater course" PR was unseasonably warm. So weather....bah. Even CIM had a few bad weather years, and I'll agree the weather on West Coast is better than the East Coast. like....always unless Mother Nature is trying to burn the West Coast down. There are 1/3 the runners on COMPARABLE streets at CIM. This alone makes the course more appealing for a PR.

The crowds of Boston just kind of suck. Not just the spectators. Running PR pace practically "nuts to butts" and touching elbows sucks. A mile or two? Fine. 7-9 miles of it? fuck that. Combine the people on the sidelines leaning in to see someone or standing ON the course and it's just not conducive to a good day. Literally, I'm in the parade they came to watch. I'll remember to bring candy to toss out to kids if I run it again. no really, y'all know I'd do it while smiling. If the Boston Athletic Association limited entry to 15,000 runners the Boston Marathon would be a more enjoyable experience, and a better race.

Boston vs CIM COURSE....Prepare for the hills at Boston and you'll be fine. Don't try to bank time, and don't lose control of your pace/speed on those steeper downhills. It's impossible to hit the tangents at Boston because of the crowd which MIGHT make a difference. The Newton hills are going to take your PR pace and slow you 2 minutes (rough number I made up just now). Typical basic marathon advice. Train for the course as much as possible. The last 6 miles of Boston's course can be very rewarding if you're able to take advantage of it. If you smoked yourself because you're worried about 4 miles of hill running you'll die every time. 220 ft drop in the final 5 miles of the course vs pancake flat CIM final miles. Get to 21 ready to run probably applies to both courses. Boston just has more appeal to fast running because of the course. Apparently at CIM you can count down the streets block by block to the finish. It has the stupid S turn at the bank before you go under the freeway then a U turn at the finish. Boston has one hill with a downhill to LONG flat finish.

Mile 21 was a 172-177 heart rate and I dropped from 6:30/mi pace (high from thinking I was through the hills) to a 7:30/mi pace.  If you're not having a good day here you're done and no amount of elevation loss will save you. Looking at my Boston long run training I was getting 6-1,200 ft of elevation gain on weekends. Plenty of long runs with 7-800 ft of elevation gain. I'm sure living at 4,500 ft gave me an advantage, and running hills because I was afraid of the Newton hills helped me be successful on race day. I do remember being worried in 2019 about the 10 mph headwind at CIM from miles 7-13. It didn't actually arrive, or perhaps I was too high on race day adrenaline to notice it.

Boston didn't hurt until I crossed the finish line. CIM has hurt from 40k at least once. I'm extremely grateful for what Boston gave me on April 17, 2023.

Check out that final mile.  I can remember seeing the painting on the ground and the thought process going through my head when I saw my total time on my watch. "OK, you can PR just don't fuck this up."

 

 

Both athletes will claim victory and demand drug testing.  The ensuing scandal will tear apart the "Competitive Jerks" thread and chaos will ensue.  Oh yeah and RP will quietly begin training in October and set another PR

I hope fentanyl isn’t on the banned list of drugs. 

It looks like the bib transfer window for CIM doesn't open until October 30, so plenty of time for folks on the transfer.

RP - I'll set a reminder in my calendar to get back to you in the beginning of November.