for an ad-free Fetcheveryone experience!

Boston Marathon 2017

6 watchers

Prev
1
2
3
4
5
Next
Last

becca7 Feb 2017 4:38pm, 27 Feb 2017 7,131 posts	Quote Pin becca7 I think the main issues with downhill are having good quad strength, so one-legged squats and the like, and also having good form in landing, so that the legs don't get jarred.
steve_c Feb 2017 10:07pm, 27 Feb 2017 39 posts	Quote Pin steve_c That's part of it, but you also need to get used to eccentric contraction, so downhill running is good practice.
HappyG(rrr) Feb 2017 9:20am, 28 Feb 2017 26,421 posts	Quote Pin HappyG(rrr) Have any of you got a link to the profile of the race? (Or just make your running of it a public route Becca, so we can view?) I know everyone says it's hilly, compared to a pancake flat like London or Berlin, but is it actually a hilly race. Thanks, G
becca7 Feb 2017 9:58am, 28 Feb 2017 7,134 posts	Quote Pin becca7 Here you go, HappyG. I didn't think it that hilly, in the scheme of things. http://www.fetcheveryone.com/route-1774687
Atonal Miserabilist (AFKA TRO) Feb 2017 10:38am, 28 Feb 2017 14,457 posts	Quote Pin Atonal Miserabilist (AFKA TRO) It's actually quite a significant net downhill, and it's not really 'hilly'. Thus it is actually potentially quite fast; but very few people actually run it fast and well. Two issues are damaging your quads in the downhill early miles, and then the timing of the 3 Nowton Hills, right when the energy reserves are low. I was really careful on the day to go easy in those first 5 miles, felt quite proud of my restraint but I'd still overcooked it - found that out later on..... Think there is a lot as noted above you can do to strengthen your resilience so maybe I had not been as thorough as I should have been (I underestimated the damage that could be done) so even my pace restraint was not enough on its own. I will be better prepared next time. So I felt beautifully on track, had a nice middle section still going well - got to the hills and still felt strong, went up them nicely but found I was starting to struggle on the downs. You crest the final hill and it's mostly flat or down for the final 5 miles or so: I got there and through 'great, up the pace, bring it home for a PB'. I can nearly always run negative splits in marathons. But as soon as tried, I knew my quads were destroyed. That was a VERY painful last 5 miles. Energy levels were fine; but legs were gone. I ran 3:13, but was in shape for something around 3:05 - 3:07. I ran London a year later, in very similar shape in 3:04 with the perfectly executed negative split that I failed to do at Boston. It's a great puzzle this race, and tough to get right; which is why I am determined to go back and lay down a good race. Having run many marathons I usually recover in 3-4 days after some mild/moderate doms, but this race I was destroyed, hobbling about in pain for days, same as after my first ever marathon - which shows what had happened to the quads. So about the long post but really trying to get across what you will face on the day...
HappyG(rrr) Feb 2017 10:53am, 28 Feb 2017 26,423 posts	Quote Pin HappyG(rrr) Aha, how ignorant am I? Didn't know it was a point to point. Loch Ness is similar, net downhill, but the undulation that there is, is pretty brutal! Thanks TRO and becca. G
becca7 Feb 2017 11:09am, 28 Feb 2017 7,135 posts	Quote Pin becca7 Yes, point to point, so school buses to the start and the atmosphere changes a lot as you get towards the city, in particular at Wellesley College.
HappyG(rrr) Feb 2017 11:13am, 28 Feb 2017 26,424 posts	Quote Pin HappyG(rrr) Awesome - my present to myself for 2019. Hopefully. (Need to check qualifier times, but pretty sure I'll still be able to do it!) G
steve_c Feb 2017 11:33am, 28 Feb 2017 40 posts	Quote Pin steve_c FYI here is a ~~strava~~ record of the last time I ran in 2015 (3rd time) https://www.strava.com/activities/291053513. At about 29 km you see the fire station corner that signals the Newton hills. You can see the effect on my pace, since I was following heart rate rather than pace.
Atonal Miserabilist (AFKA TRO) Feb 2017 11:57am, 28 Feb 2017 14,458 posts	Quote Pin Atonal Miserabilist (AFKA TRO) Very different feel to the other big city marathons I've done. Everyone there is a serious runner who has earned their qualification spot; there's no one dressed as a Rhino or Mr Blobby. Also they seed you exactly to your qualifier time, so you are in a corral within your wave with about 1000 runners all who qualified within a couple of minutes of your time. There's none of that weaving etc when you set off due to vastly different pace of runners, and the whole thing has a very proper serious race feel. Name of the game is to get a finish place 'ahead' of your seeding (race number). Wellesley College is bonkers :-). In fact the 'serious' race feel drops for a few minutes as folk run across to kiss/hug a random college girl...:-)