Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Reading Boston Race Reports and the Weather Report

I've been reading several race reports of runners who ran Boston on Monday. Very inspirational. Right now I'm 58 minutes from running a qualifying time, so I have to get my Boston fix vicariously. Everyone whose blog I've read had a triumphant race. Some set a PR, some battled injury, some battled the conditions, but everyone won. Some of the blogs had me crying and some had me laughing and I enjoyed every single one. Which brings me to my Boston plan. Awhile ago I read about a study that found that runners, no matter what age they start running, will continue to improve for about 10 years. With that in mind, I only have to improve my time by about 3 minutes a year for the next 10 years. The BQ time for 60 year old women is 4:30, so that is my 10 year goal. (How many runners have a 10 year goal?)

Now on to the weather. Last week when I was checking the weather for my 50K, they were calling for temps in the low 40s for the start, and in the 50s for the finish, with lots of rain. I liked the temperatures, but was a little dismayed at the rain in the forecast. The latest reports are calling for no rain (yay!), but high temperatures in the low 80s (boo!). Good thing I don't have any goal times in mind, because this will be a slow hot one. I'm glad I bought S-caps several weeks ago and used them while running a couple of times. I also bought a hand-held water bottle that I will be carrying with me, as well as wearing a fuel belt with sports drink in it. My plans will be flexible, and I'll be ready to start taking my walk breaks earlier than my original plan. Today I ran my taper run during the hottest part of the day, and I'll do that the next two days in an attempt to semi-acclimatize myself.

I'm not at all as nervous as I was before my first marathon. I'm guessing the biggest reason for this is that unlike the marathon, I don't have a time goal. I only want to cover 50K and have fun doing it.

9 comments:

David Ray said...

Important thing is to start slow. Then taper off. :)

Ms. V. said...

Really? 60yr old? A 4:30? LOL I might shoot for that!!

Great plan...

johnmaas said...

Good luck this weekend!
Go out there and enjoy every mile (or kilometer) of it, and make sure you can still smile while doing it.
Regarding the BQ plan - If you set your mind to it, anything is possible.
John

JojaJogger said...

Let's go Ms V, see you in Boston in 10 years!

Kelly said...

Wow... if it's going to be 80, you'd almost RATHER have rain!

And I wonder... can people improve PAST 10 years? Or is it all downhill from there?

Jess said...

58 minutes from a BQ isn't too shabby!

Jessica said...

You will do great!! Have fun~~Take some pics and can't wait to hear about it! Jess

UltraBrit said...

I'm not sure if you'll see this in time, but if you do please introduce yourself. Ours is the aid table with the monkey on it!
Kate/Ultra Brit

The Laminator said...

Thanks for all your support for Boston marathon runners. I for one hope it doesn't take 10 years for you to reach your goal. Seriously, every should run this race once in their lives. Good luck in your 50K...which is impressive in its own right!