Navigating Boston Terrain!

After passing the screaming Wellesley co-eds, you will encounter a steep plunge into Wellsley Center.

Congratulations! You have persevered and trained through 18 weeks of tough winter training. Despite the trials we encountered on the journey, we will soon be boarding planes or hopping into our cars headed for our final destinations. For those headed to Boston, the city portrays great history and exudes energy like none experienced anywhere else. The entire city embraces the Boston Marathon with excitement and vigor as part of the Patriots Day celebration. Children, excused from school for the holiday, are everywhere lining the course. Amidst all the enthusiasm and hype surrounding marathon weekend, you will also encounter a rather illogical street layout, marathon activities spread out all over Boston proper and beyond, and a course that has gained legendary notoriety and fame. The tips in this article and its links should help you navigate both!

The Boston Marathon course is a legend within its own right. Heartbreak Hill’s reputation extends far beyond the ranks of the running community. Despite its fame, the final of the Newton Hills isn’t the only unique attribute to the Boston course. Rather than author a mile by mile replay, however, I have attached a link to one of the best articles I have ever read describing the course and the appropriate strategy for each section. It comes from the April 2005 issue of Runners World and offers a mile by mile breakdown. This was my guide when I ran and set my PR at the 2005 Boston Marathon. Print it out, read it, study it and commit it to memory. It will help you as you leave the starting line corrals in Hopkinton and embark on your journey ending with the finish line on Boylston Street.Boston Marathon Course TipsBoston Marathon Course Map Breakdown

Once again we are passing on this great link which can be used to generate your own special pacing bracelet based on goal time, as well as several pacing strategy options ranging from effort-based pacing to even splits. Check out the Pacing Bracelet

The most important advice for navigating the city is to leave the car at home or park it in the hotel and let it stay parked! Unlike New York and Chicago, the streets of Boston proper don’t boast a perfect grid layout. Traffic marathon weekend is horrendous. Two years ago, as we drove to our hotel near the Hynes Convention Center, it took us an hour to drive around a single city block. On the flip side, the Boston subway system, the T, is relatively easy to navigate and convenient to most marathon weekend activities.

For those staying at the Omni Parker House and other hotels near Government Plaza and the Boston Common areas, the Boylston and Government Plaza Stations are also conveniently located and part of the Green Line. To get to the Freedom Run starting at Copley Park, hop on and get off at the Copley Station, also on the Green Line (note this stop is closed race day) You can get to the pasta party via the Green line Government Center station. Race Day bus boarding is most conveniently accessed via the Boylston stop, and the finish line area can be accessed via Arlington.

The only guaranteed way to get to the start in Hopkinton race morning is by using the B.A.A buses from Boston to Hopkinton race morning. Boarding times are assigned by bib numbers which last year began at 6:00 am and ended at 7:30 am. The bib number assignments are recommended, but not enforced. Parking in Hopkinton is extremely limited. We had one runner a couple of years ago try to wait the longest possible time to board, and ended up missing the shuttle altogether. Somehow she managed to obtain a police escort to the start in Hopkinton!

Once in Hopkinton, the buses will drop you off at the entrance of Athletes Village, which is worth a visit even if you are heading to the Kalamazoo Hopkinton House. Athletes Village has plenty of free food and some interesting vendors. From Athletes Village, it is a little under a mile walk to the starting corrals. The Tracey home is about halfway there on Hayden Rowe. From there, it is a short walk to the starting corrals.Plan ahead, know where you need to go and how to get there, then have FUN!

It's Taper Time!

Start of the 2007 Boston Marathon

In three short weeks our Boston bound marathoners will toe the starting line of the 112th Boston Marathon. What you do during the 3 weeks known as your taper are critical to your marathon experience. Why taper?

• Training provides the long term improvements necessary to successfully complete a marathon.
  
• Training leaves athletes a bit tired most of the time.
  
• The 3-week cycles provide some reduction in fatigue, but it is not enough to completely eliminate it and allow your body full physiological recovery.
  
• The goal of tapering is to balance continued training and resting to allow for the best possible marathon experience.
  
• The International Journal of Sports Medicine examined over 50 scientific studies on tapering and concluded that there is no doubt tapering works.
  
• Studies have found improvements in performance of up to 16% with most studies showing 3 – 5% improvement. At a 5% improvement, that means a 3:30 marathon can become a 3:19 marathon through proper tapering.
  
• A single workout, on the other hand will give you less than a 1% improvement in performance!

How Long Should You Taper?

• Studies show for the marathon one should taper for a minimum of 2-weeks with 3 weeks being optimal. Too short a taper will leave one tired on race day while too long will lead to a loss in fitness.
  
• It is wise to err on the side of tapering too little rather than too much.
  
• NEVER try to make up for lost time due to injury, etc during the taper weeks. By this time any gains in fitness that will impact marathon performance have already been realized and attempting to make up for lost miles or workouts will just leave you fatigued at the starting line.

How Should You Reduce Training to Improve Marathon Performance?

• Evidence indicates that the key to effective tapering is to substantially reduce mileage while maintaining intensity.
  
• Reducing mileage reduces the accumulated fatigue.
  
• High intensity effort maintains fitness level.
  
• Exactly how much to reduce training mileage depends on your current training mileage, age and health. Older runners tend to need a longer taper than younger runners.
  Studies have shown as a general rule of thumb:
  
• 3rd Week Premarathon: Taper 20 – 25%
  2nd Week Premarathon: Taper 40%
  Marathon Week (6 days before): Taper 60%.
  
• Three weeks before is the most important time for a successful taper. Marathoners often do too much this week because the marathon still seems a long way off.
  
• It is much better physiologically and psychologically to allow your body to start to rebound this week, or you will find yourself feeling flat the last two weeks.
  
• Often marathoners also decrease training efforts. This can result in a small loss in fitness as well as a lack of psychological reinforcement.
  
• It is more effective to intersperse harder efforts within the recovery trend.
  
• For example, the Comet schedule has 3 x 1-mile intervals the 2nd week pre-marathon.
  Marathon week itself is all easy recovery, with the exception of Tuesday or Wednesday where it is recommended you do a 6 – 7 mile run with 2 miles at marathon pace.
  This is a dress rehearsal, even wear the same shoes and clothes you will wear for the marathon!
  
• By this time, if you have tapered properly starting with the 3rd week, you should feel light on your feet, like you can fly…this will provide a great psychological boost!

Carbo-loading and Hydration During the Taper

• It is vitally important that your muscles and liver be stocked with glycogen at the starting line.
• Marathoners used to deplete glycogen stores for 3 days (sometimes even completing a long run up to 20-miles the week before), then carbo-load the 3 days prior to the marathon.


• This is no longer recommended since carbohydrate depletion can suppress the immune system (this is why many marathoners get a cold the week after a marathon – glycogen stores have been depleted) and the long run will leave you sore and tired.


• What works just as well is to eat a normal diet until the last 3 days and taper your training program.


• Then the last 3 days, eat a high carbohydrate diet and do a short, slow run these days.
  Your body will store glycogen to almost the same level as if you did the whole depletion and loading program.


• Also, make sure you are well-hydrated in the days leading up to the marathon so that you don’t arrive at the starting line suffering from accumulated effects of dehydration.
  
  Source:
  Pfitzinger, P., and S. Douglas. 2001. Advanced Marathoning. Champaign, IL:Human Kinetics.
  

Tips and Links to Predicting Marathon Pace!

Yasso 800's are one of several methods that can be used to predict marathon time.

As the spring marathon season approaches, it is important for you to nail down your best marathon pace. Improper pacing is the number one mistake that marathoners make so having a really good idea of what is a reasonable pace can make your marathon experience much more successful (and enjoyable!). Proper pacing can be especially difficult when navigating the early downhills of the Boston Marathon. During the winter training months, tune up races are also few and far between, and training runs are usually slowed due to slick road conditions making marathon time prediction even more challenging. For those running the Boston Marathon, make your own Boston Pacing Bracelet here. You can chose from a variety of pacing strategies including even effort, fairly even effort, even pace, fairly even pace as well as customized.

Below are some ways to predict Your Best Marathon Pace recommended by exercise physiologist Greg McMillan in a Running Times E-Newsletter.

Runners and coaches have found several ways to estimate your best marathon pace. Here are a few good ones:

1) Race a half-marathon. Take your half-marathon time and double it then add five minutes. This has long been a quick rule of thumb for predicting marathon time. Doubling your half-marathon time and adding seven minutes is a bit more realistic for most marathoners. Of course, you can always use one of the many race time calculators and charts available online and in many running books to also gauge the marathon time predicted by your half-marathon performance.

2) Perform eight to ten 800 meter repeats. Run each repeat in the minutes and seconds of your goal hours and minutes of your upcoming marathon. Take equal recovery jog between each. For example, if you want to run three hours and thirty minutes for your marathon then run eight to ten 800 meter (2 laps of the track) repeats in 3 minutes and 30 seconds taking 3 minutes and 30 seconds jog between each. If you can perform this workout without having to strain to hit the time then this would predict that your marathon pace is reasonable. Special thanks to Bart Yasso for this “Yasso 800” workout.

3) Perform two to four marathon pace runs where you warm up then run for four to 10 miles at your goal marathon pace. If you can build up to an eight to 10 mile marathon pace run and not have to work exceedingly hard to maintain the pace, then your goal marathon pace is reasonable.

4) Run marathon pace at the end of a few long runs. If you can run the last four to eight miles of a long run at your goal marathon pace then your goal pace is reasonable. Do this on two to four long runs in the last couple of months before your marathon to get another gauge of whether your marathon pace is reasonable.All of these methods are good but most coaches and runners find that there is no one single best predictor. Rather, it is a good idea to use several of the predictors listed above to better determine your best marathon pace.

If you have a “best effort” recent race time of any distance, you can also use the McMillan Running Calculator to predict your marathon time as well as a wealth of information on your appropriate training pace. Greg McMillan is an exercise physiologist and certified USA Track and Field coach. He helps runners via his website http://www.mcmillanrunning.com/.

Thanks to Ralph Meyer for passing along the Pacing Bracelet link, Chris Crowell for the Running Times E-Newsletter, and Dan Sarkipato for the McMillan Running Calculator link.

Seek and Train with Tune Up Races!

The Meteor 10k or Martian Half Marathon provides a great tune up for a spring marathon

This past Saturday a few of us made a trip to Pontiac to tackle an 11 mile training run on the trails, only to find ourselves “snow plowing” without skis through as much as a foot of white powder. It didn’t take long to figure out that this would be a very slow strength run. It was so slow, in fact, that we decided to turn around 4 miles into the run and cut it down to an 8 miler for fear of not making it on time to the day’s second running adventure scheduled at noon.

One of the most common remarks heard from runners this winter has been the difficulty of getting in quality runs due to the continuous onslaught of snow, ice and cold temperatures. Those who can tolerate treadmill or indoor track miles have sought refuge indoors and have been able to churn out faster paced runs. For many, there is nothing like the great outdoors, and lots of long slow miles building strength and endurance chugging through snow covered roads, sidewalks and trails. It also leaves you wondering if you’ll have any leg speed come spring racing season, especially if you haven’t been hitting the track or treadmill for those lactate threshold, tempo and VO2 max runs.

A tune-up race is a great way to measure your current level of conditioning. During the winter and early spring months racing opportunities are limited in Michigan, but many find racing reprieve during warm weather vacations. Closer to home, the opportunities begin later this month. March 29 is the annual Kal-Haven Trail Relay , which provides a unique opportunity to get the legs moving provided mother nature cooperates and withholds a spring snow storm. April 5 & 6 are the Martian Invasion of Races which offer a fun and fast 10k and Half Marathon in addition to the marathon.

Occasional “tune-up races” are a recommended part of any training program. They serve as benchmarks of your fitness and prepare you mentally for racing. Tune-up races are all-out races; they are not races you use merely as tempo runs or pace runs. One word of caution: when doing tune-up races while “training through them,” it is important to remember that your times will be slower due to the fatigue of training even when racing all out. It is not unusual for a 10k time raced under training fatigue to be 1 – 1 ½ minutes slower than one raced when you are tapered and rested. This can provide a false indication of true fitness level. Also, don’t run tune-up races any closer than 3 weeks prior to a marathon at which you are trying to optimize performance, PR, qualify for Boston, etc, etc.

Before running a tune up race, try the mini-taper. This is where you cut back slightly on the “hard” workouts a few days before the race. Your time will be a closer indication to your true fitness level. Just how many days rest and/or easy run days do you need? It depends on what and when your last “hard” workout was. VO2 max workouts are the most taxing workouts of all. After running these 5k race pace intervals, you should allow at least 5 days recovery to allow the fatigue to lift before racing. A 5k race can also be used to replace a scheduled VO2 Max Workout. Long runs and tempo or lactate threshold runs require 4 days of recovery in order to race without the fatigue of the workout. Keep in mind, this is the amount of time it takes for the fatigue to lift, not the amount of time it takes to reap benefit from a particular workout…..this can take as much as two weeks!

Tune up races are generally shorter than the distance you are ultimately training for. The idea is to get you used to the stresses of racing and measure fitness level without prematurely running the full distance. For the Half Marathon, an 8k – 10k is an ideal distance for a tune-up race, and for the Marathon 5 miles – 25K. Any longer than that, and the recovery required will negate the benefits of the tune-up race!

Extra-Terrestrial Enquiror!

Poznanski flies through New Orleans!

The marathon results are starting to roll in! We are passing along this along from Bob Smola....

Had dinner on Bourbon St. with Bob Poznanski the night before. That was great! I don't think I would've headed down there by myself anyway. "Blazin" Bob Poznanski ran a helluva race (3:26:07). KAR/BCRR and Team Garmin were well represented. My race went OK. Not knowing what to expect, I decided to start off by putting the speed dial on 9:00/miles and see what happens. Pretty much ran that pace the whole way. Finished in 3:55:20. Weather conditions were normal for down there. 50's at the start and 60's at the finish, so it wasn't too bad. It was nice to finally run in shorts and a singlet this year. Very flat course (Chicago Type). My knee was very sore afterwards, so were my legs, back, feet, etc. Gee, Imagine That!!! You think we just ran 26.2 or somethin'? In other marathon news, Todd "the animal" Raab ran the Birmingham, AL marathon February 10! "Man was it hilly." reported Todd. This coupled with the poor training on these roads net'd a 4:07 time - which makes me angry of course as I always strive to be under 4 hours." "You simply can't get in the long runs at race pace that you need to." Todd is shooting for the National Marathon in Washington DC at the end of this month.

In other news, Beyond runners paid a visit to Hell Michigan March 1 for the annual Dances With Dirt Registration Run. Beyond Borgess Run Camp defectors Tim and Kayla Kling won the lottery and their rookie Herd of Gazelles team will be participating in the 100k Relay on September 6. Mark Sigfrids will be bailing on the 50k Ultra and has joined forces with Marty Buffenbarger, Steve Downard and several others after their newbie team made the cut. Sherrie Mann combined a shopping trip with her visit to Hell to enter her veteran We Can’t Get No Stinkin’ Signal Out Here team. Peggy Zeeb and Bonnie Sexton made a trip out to Pontiac with marathon evader Dave Walch to tackle an 11 mile turned 8 mile trail run, and then registered their seasoned Come Hell, Hills or High Water, We Can’t Say No team, and run another 4 miles on snow covered trails. All this transpired just a day after a multi-couple “leap year” marriage ceremony took place at the same locale!