After working so hard to get into the Boston Marathon I've decided to sit this one, my very first acceptance, out. So Wave 1 Corral 6 will have one DNS due 100% to the BAA not offering any roll over or refund after requiring my credit card information just to apply for the lottery. $220 mistake made on my behalf.

Oh Man sorry to hear it, that sucks!  These big races really have us by the short hairs. they know that the demand is so high.

Sorry to hear this RP!!!

After working so hard to get into the Boston Marathon I've decided to sit this one, my very first acceptance, out. ... due 100% to the BAA not offering any roll over or refund after requiring my credit card information just to apply for the lottery. $220 mistake made on my behalf.

 RP - you've been dreaming of Boston for years and now this?   You're mental!!!

(ETA: personally, I was happy to qualify for Boston, and never felt the urge to actually run it.... maybe we're on the same page?)

Hmm....If the race was next Monday and you both were (hypothetically) rested and ready to go, I give Cal the edge based on both of your recent races and his knowledge/familiarity with the course.

 

But the real showdown is next year and that was your question. Here are some pros/cons for each of you and my conclusion.

 

Cal:

+ knows the course well, has run it many times

- Excluding downhill 2:50, has not run as fast as Mikkey has in recent years (since 2019)

 

Mikkey:

+ ran 2:50 3 years ago (London)

- newby to the course

 

Prediction: Mikkey edges out Cal.

 

*Assumption is that both will train seriously for it (no cocaine or booze for Mikkey) and reach the starting line injury free.

Interesting.... I appreciate your opinion and liked it - seriously - it takes some guts to make a prediction. Just for fun, I decided to compare Mikkey's and mine best marathon times starting from 2011 (don't forget that Mikkey was already sub 3 marathoner by the time I started to run in 2011 - we are exactly the same age, Mikkey younger than me by 8 months).

Before I've done the table above, I actually thought I was faster than Mikkey by more than it turned out to be. So, yeah, it's going to be close. My feeling tells me that if we both are serious about training, that would mean my weeklies are by 15-20 miles longer than Mikkey's. If I am training at the same mileage as Mikkey, then he will probably has an edge - I think, he is a little bit more talented as a runner than me. But my feeling is that I can handle higher mileage better than him. But that gets back to the motivation part.

 

Interesting.... I appreciate your opinion and liked it - seriously - it takes some guts to make a prediction. Just for fun, I decided to compare Mikkey's and mine best marathon times starting from 2011 (don't forget that Mikkey was already sub 3 marathoner by the time I started to run in 2011 - we are exactly the same age, Mikkey younger than me by 8 months).

 

Year	Mikkey	CalBears (non-CIM / CIM)
2011	2:55	3:23 / none
2012	2:58	3:12 / 3:06
2013	2:51	2:53 / 2:53
2014	2:55	2:50 / 2:51
2015	2:54	2:59 / 2:48
2016	2:51	2:51 / none
2017	2:58	none / 2:59
2018	3:06	none / 3:02
2019	2:50	none / 2:59
2021	3:10	3:00 / 3:02 (2:50 at Revel race)
2022	3:06	3:04 / none

 

Before I've done the table above, I actually thought I was faster than Mikkey by more than it turned out to be. So, yeah, it's going to be close. My feeling tells me that if we both are serious about training, that would mean my weeklies are by 15-20 miles longer than Mikkey's. If I am training at the same mileage as Mikkey, then he will probably has an edge - I think, he is a little bit more talented as a runner than me. But my feeling is that I can handle higher mileage better than him. But that gets back to the motivation part.

Thanks for making the table, this is really interesting data! I didn't realize Mikkey was so consistently quick for so long, though I knew he had a long streak of sub 3 at London. Also you have been quicker the past 2 years, I should have taken that into account, though Mikkey was kind of injured during that time. I think it is a pretty close call. So much depends on motivation and staying injury free. For both of those, you probably have the edge; Mikkey has had some injury issues lately but seems like you mostly avoid injuries. And your dedication once you start is pretty strong. I do agree with you, that Mikkey is probably naturally more talented; just from the fact he can quickly be in shape after several months of doing nothing. Such a lucky asshole.  So, putting it all together, I give Mikkey a slight edge, but the big assumption is he really trains seriously and doesn't get injured. If either of those conditions is even slightly not met, you will beat him.

Swinging by to wish the Boston runners great races!   Stay conservative until you crest Heartbreak, and then run everyone down in the final miles.

(this is much easier said than done).

My week:

60 miles running, 3 hours pool-running, and ~1500 meters swimming.

M: 90 minutes pool-running and upper body weights/core.
T: 12 miles, including a track workout of 6x800 in 3:24, 3:17, 3:14, 3:12, 3:14, 3:13. Recoveries were 1 lap jogged in between 2:2x and 2:4x.. Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 yards recovery swimming.
W: Streaming yoga and 11 miles easy (9:41) plus drills and strides.
Th: 90 minutes pool-running and streaming yoga.
F: 1 miles, including a four mile tempo on the roads in 27:46 (7:05/7:01/6:55/6:45). Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 meters recovery swimming.
Sa: 11 miles very easy (9:33) and upper body weights/core.
Su: 14 miles progressive, split as the first 5 miles averaging 9:49, next 4 averaging 8:17, and next 5 averaging 7:24 (and then a cooldown to make it 15 total). Followed with leg strength work and 500 meters recovery swimming.

Steady but slow improvement.  I was entered in the BAA 5K, but decided to skip - too much going on, and I felt that three 5Ks in four weeks was a bit much.

RP - I thought you said earlier this year you weren't running Boston so I was confused by all the Boston talk lately.

Mr Matt - we always accept SAHBs back into this group. Keep sticking your head in!

Mikkey vs. Cal - same as JT, I didn't realize what a streak Mikkey had! That's some great running. Really hard to tell who would win. I hope you both make it to the race, it will be great to watch.

DW - has anyone actually run Boston and felt good at the top of Heartbreak, unless they really sandbagged it?

Coach - how are you feeling?

I had a pretty good comeback week from my runner's knee. It's a very bizarre injury at this point. I put in a 21 mile long run on Sunday and it only bothered me for the first half a mile. However, I still can't leave my knee bent more for more than 10 minutes, otherwise it will be in a lot of pain. I also still can't go down stairs.

This injury has been a great test case of what we always talk about in these forums: when do you shut it down, and when can you start it back up? I stuck with the rules I always espouse to others: if the pain is 2/10 or less, you can run through it. Coming back was a bit harder though, because it definitely was achy on that first run back. However, I read an interesting article on Outside that talked about runner's knee being an injury that has no obvious structural damage and that you should actually run through the pain, as long as it doesn't alter your gait or cause significant pain. It also goes to something Darkwave sent out last year about the psychology of pain and how you need to run through things. Of course - this doesn't apply to some injuries, eg stress fractures, torn muscles/ligaments, etc. Running through my stress reaction last year would not have led to anything good.

Anyway, that was a long winded way of saying that if I just followed the rules doctors would have said (yes, those damn doctors), I probably would have had to shut this down for weeks if not months given how much it hurts around the house. This pain is not going away any time soon, but clearly if I got through a 70+ mile week and a 20+ mile long run AND actually feel better as the week went on, it's something I can run through.

The week did start off with a bad MP run, but that's just because my legs were so incredibly sore from 3 easy days of running after 6 days off. Just had 0 pop in them. Funny how that works. I also decided I need to slow down my easy runs just a bit for now. It's such a good self-control measure: if you bomb a workout, slow down your easy runs for the next few days because clearly you are not recovering in time.

Weekly for period: From: 04/11/2022 To 04/17/2022

Total distance: 72.87mi