2018 Boston Marathon Thread (Read 554 times)

In terms of weather, I have been following Dave epstein's text forecasts, I think they are alot more useful than reading numbers off of accuweather.com.

I have two problems with the pace bands.  First, the instantaneous pace feedback from a GPS watch isn't accurate enough to adjust pace +/- a few seconds per mile in real time.  Second, mile splits aren't the right way to do it.  Splits should occur wherever pace changes.  For example, if a mile is uphill half a mile and downhill half a mile, you don't run the prescribed pace for the entire mile, but slower for part of it and faster for part of it., but with the pace band only giving mile splits, you have no idea of the correct pace for each half mile.  The pace band would be more useful if (in this example) if it gave a pace for each half mile separately.

Instantaneous pace from GPS is enough to keep you in the ballpark. I try to keep it about 5 sec under planned pace. Then correct at the next mile split. Mile splits are what you get in a marathon... if you are lucky. At Boston they are accurate. As Joe says, you know when your pace band shows a slower mile coming up there are going to be hills somewhere. You don't just slow your pace down immediately.

At Boston when I use a pace band I generally hit every mile within about 5 sec of cumulative target time. There's no reason to be that anal, but it is certainly doable if you want to.

"In April in New England, if it's a cold marathon day then it's often a slight to significant headwind with the wind coming off the cooler coastal waters. If it's a warm day, then it's often a tailwind with the warm southwest wind. On a rare perfect marathon day, as was the case in 2011, the weather is cool with a tailwind," McGrane said.

So the one time I ran this race was in 2011 and I expect it to be like that or better!  The wind gust report scares me however I don't think we head west all that much right?  A lot of it is north and east correct?

Anybody getting together after the race this year, or possibly the day before?

Latest forecasts are looking like the front isn't going to blow in until right around noon and the wind is going to be pretty much straight out of the south now instead of ESE.

 

If it can hold off just a couple more hours that would be great!

Or, alternately, move through earlier.  The next few days looked great.

I think I may be the only weirdo that likes the current forecast.  Cold and rainy is my jam when it comes to marathon running.

No, I'm with you.  I think this is a good forecast.  Not A+ like the days after, but a solid B to B+.  I'll take it over what they had the past 2 years.

The forecast for Monday looks bad, but wow, it is nothing compared to Sunday at race time, which would have been 34 degrees, 20+ mph winds, and rain! That is how half the field gets hypothermia. At least Monday will be in the 50's.