I just got this update from Willowie Jen! She just ran her first Boston Marathon. 2 kids, and a high maintance husband ( kidding buddy ) and she tapped out a 3:35. We are all inspired in different ways from different things. This for me is one of them. In cycling I do it on a shoe string time budget and I am not the most talented guy, but I do work as hard as I can. This update goes to point out that goals can be met if we want them bad enough. It also goes to prove that the adversity of the situation is what makes it worth while. I said this in a previous update; she is not someone with a really athletic background, but obviously has some talent, but really, did the hard work that needs to come to meet goals. Rawlie on the other hand, well he is upset that he did not go under 3 hours. I feel for you my friend. Next time! That is the good thing about Rawlie, you know he has his calander out with a date checked off to go out and run a 2:55, it is the engineer in him.
Here is the update:
We just got back from Boston late last week and we had a great time. I wanted to share my experience with you. The “Coles” notes are that it was cold, rainy and I didn’t win (ha,ha). But it was awesome and if you would like to know more then read on……….
The lead up to the race was daunting. Nerves and a terrible weather forecast of cold, rainy and windy conditions. A storm was brewing on the East Coast and they were forecasting that it would hit on Marathon Monday. It was predicted that Eastern winds (in the face of the race participants) would gust up to 50 miles per hour and heavy rain was to fall all day.
I continued to be hopeful that it would not be as bad as they said. My plan was to dress as best as I could and keep my running goal intact. I was not going to let the weather conditions defeat me before the race had even started.
“When a lion is chasing an antelope, he doesn’t look back. He has to eat.”
Robert Cheruiyot, 2007, 2006 & 2003 Boston Marathon winner
Monday, April 16, 2007
Race Day……
We were up and out the door by 7:00 am. Pouring rain and gusting winds greeted us when we stepped out of our rented Brownstone. We had to walk about 12 blocks to get to Boston Common Park to catch the buses that take you to the Hopkinton Town start line. We were soaked within 5 minutes. It was horrible.
When we arrived at the park, the line-ups to load the buses were longer than the line-ups at Disneyland but not as much fun. We waited. And the rain kept coming down. In an attempt to stay dry, we put on our outrageously fashionable black garbage bags. And we waited. After an hour, we finally loaded on to the last caravan of buses. I was stressed and anxious to get to the start line.
The bus ride to Hopkinton was warm but long. The length of the ride made you realize that the start line was far AND that you had to run back into town. After 50 minutes, we finally got to the Athletes’ Village at Hopkinton School. It was still cold and pissing rain. The atmosphere was frenzied as the first wave of runners (10:00 am start) were frantically shedding clothes and making their way to the start line.
Like everyone else, I looked for some sort of refuge from the rain. I set up underneath a Genie haudralic lift machine; I sat down, tried to stay warm, shivered and waited. Unfortunately, I sat a little too long. When I realized that it was 10:20 am, I had missed the PA announcement for my seeding corral. I dropped off my bag and joined the masses that were congregating towards the start line. I did not realize that you had to walk at least ½ km from the school to the start line. I was worried I wasn’t going to make it to my corral (corral 16) before the start of the race.
The way to the start line was total carnage. Thousands of people filled every space and walked slowly up the street. Clothing was strewn about everywhere – garbage bags, wind breakers, old sweatshirts, mitts, toques, old running shoes (some of us were smart enough to think of bringing a dry pair of runners to change into just prior to the start of the race) and plastic bags – just randomly discarded. It looked like a garbage dump or a war zone. I trudged along with everyone else – with plastic garbage bags around my upper body and legs and plastic bags covering my runners. Until, I heard that the race was to start in 4 minutes and I was no where near the 16th Corral. At that point, I stripped off all my plastic and ducked in between the metal gates separating the road and the sidewalk. And, I started to run until I got to the my corral. Within seconds of arriving at Corral 16, the race gun went off and the announcer declared the start of the second wave of the race at 10:30 am. And just as the race began, the rain ceased. It still took about 15 minutes before I crossed the official start line and then I was off.
The first mile was insane. Runners everywhere. Barely any room to move other than slightly forward. Imagine rush hour traffic on the 401 but substitute people for cars. Multi-coloured runners flowed through the town and could be seen for miles ahead. It felt like the road was a conveyor belt of people. The mass of runners created barriers to passing. I tried my best to pass but it seemed pointless. The first mile went by so fast but it was slow. I checked my watch and I had done a 8:34 mile when I needed a 7:57 (given the downward slope). I quickly started to doubt my chances of achieving my goal of 3 hours and 35 minutes.
With the positive change in the weather conditions, I quickly became overheated. I then started my wardrobe adjustments - while still continuing to run. So, I undid 2 of the pins of my number bib so that I could unzip my jacket. I then placed my jacket around my waist. Then off came my fleece-lined running hoody and tied it around my waist. I then undid my jacket from my waist and got the bib number off of it. With the bib number clenched in my teeth, I re-tied the jacket around my waist. Then, I re-pinned my number to my short-sleeved running shirt – All of this while still running. I really could have used some Velcro clothing! Somehow I recorded a 2nd mile pace of 8:21. But this was still slower than the 8:06 that I needed and I was now almost a minute behind my goal.
In mile 3, I managed to gain some time back. And, finally by mile 4 there was a bit more room on the road. While there were still hundreds of runners, it was more manageable and a little easier to get around the people ahead of me. I started to settle into my pace and put down consecutive miles that were faster than my required pace. All the while, I weaved in and out of runners – passing what seemed like thousands of people.
A race inside of the race were the Aid Stations. To prevent collisions, water and Gatorade were available immediately after each mile marker and on both sides of the road. But it didn’t matter; the Aid Stations were total chaos and required a whole other set of survival skills. I should have chosen a side and hit the same side at each mile but I wasn’t that swift. I zig-zagged all day.
Miles 5 – 7 were all about making up time and I picked away at my time deficit. At around mile 7, the wind started to gust and it began to rain. On came my beloved hoody again. But this time, I didn’t have the patience to mess around with my number bib.
I lost a bit of time at mile 8 where I had to jump into the bushes and take care of my bladder. Some runners have no shame – I am one of them. Back on the road, I wheeled my time back in and I continued to pass people. I was feeling pretty good. At mile 12, I hit Wellesley College where the "scream tunnel" of raving female college students could be heard for blocks. From a distance it sounded like the thunder of Niagara Falls. Signs like "kiss a girl/boy" may have tempted a few runners to slow down, but for the most part everybody smiled, high fived and kept moving on. Because of the weather, the notorious Boston crowds were probably half the size of other years. But, the girls at Wellesley lived up to their reputation. They were awesome. Just after Wellesley, at mile 13, I had gained back all of my lost time. I was back on track and feeling amazing. After the ½ way point, my mile splits became insanely consistent - 8:03, 8:06, 8:05, - and I passed a tonne of people. But the steepest of hills was yet to come.
Mile 20...the dreaded Heartbreak Hill. It’s one of those hills that creeps up slowly and never allows you to see the top until you've been working at it for over a mile. I had heard lots about it and I was scared of it. So, when I hit the hill, I put my head down and tried not to look ahead. Two feet in front was all I needed to focus on. Half way up the hill, a young male runner passed me holding a good clip. So, I tagged on to him and let him help me up the hill. I imagined that there was a rope connecting us at the waist and pretended that he was pulling me up the hill. In my head I thanked him. I worked hard at Heartbreak Hill (and all the Newton hills) but they were less crippling than I had expected. I did however, lose more time on the hills than I should have- putting my time goal in jeopardy. But, I was still pacing to achieve a PR (personal record). And that felt good.
The last six miles cruised by like a dream. My visual memory is a blur but I can clearly remember hearing the crowds cheering as I approached downtown Boston towards the Finish Line. By Mile 24, I was anxious to be done but I still plugged away holding my mile splits. When I rounded the last corner I felt amazement and pain. The spectacular Finish Line stood proud but it was still ½ km away. I tried to surge down the straightaway but I mostly held steady and listened to the crowds. I happily crossed the finish line at 3:36:16. A PR and a 2008 Boston Qualifying time! One minute slower than my goal but I was still thrilled.
Boston was an amazing experience and I am glad that I had the opportunity to participate. A big thank you to my Coach - “Coach Ryan” for spoon-feeding me my work-outs and for his endless patience and support. Also, a big thanks to the Super Nanny: Grandma June and her support crew for looking after the little bears so that Mamma & Pappa Bear could run Boston!
Cheers,
Jen
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Monday, April 23, 2007
Epic blogging
Okay, I have not updated this thing forever. Sorry about that. A lot has happened since my last update. Went to Palm Springs with the Schlebierds. good times had by most. I only say by most, because the girls complained about how it was the guys vacation given that we got up at 6:00 am most days and went riding. Trust me that they got in a lot of vacation time as well. Got in a fair amount of riding while there. Did about 850k in 8 days of riding. For me it will never get much better than that. Did not do anything too epic, but did manage to hit most of the group rides down there. I like how they have the rides organized down there. It is a good set up, and everyone is welcome to come and puke their guts out while the locals ride you into the ground. It was over 80 every single day. Not sure I would want to be from there, but I sure like visiting there!
Done a couple of races recently! I went out and did the first BC cup of the season. It is called Harris Roubaix. It is run on the same day as the infamous Paris Roubaix in France/Belgium. about 1/3 of the race is run on gravel roads. I almost did not do the race, because I talked to this guy ( who is strong ) and said the thing is a disaster. He did not like the way that you entered the gravel sections, becasue the riders have to squeeze thourgh the posts to get onto the dyke. 60 guys into that small of an area is tight. So either be on the front or be patient and be prepared to accelerate. It was fast the first 2 laps. Guys were getting flicked on the gravel road like crazy. There are 2 8 inch areas to ride on and in between there is loose gravel. There are 2 sections were you hit some deep gravel, but if you have good handeling skills non of this should be an issue. Race went pretty much to plan. I rode mid pack not trying to burn too many matches and be attentive on the gravel sections. We were drilling the gravel at 45 km most times which, even though dead flat is still hard. i had to fill in some good gaps because guys would just give up teh ghost or lose concentration and hit the ditch. Pretty funny actually. So with 2 to go and half the pack gone we are just cruising on the pavement and there is a huge wreck. It was near the front and probably the result of everyone knowing that this thing was coming down to a "kick" to the finish. Well bikes are in the air and I am drinking my bottle. The wave just keeps moving further right as guys go down and I hit the grass/ditch. I managed to ride out but was in a big gear and was basically track standing. BTW I had my bottle in my teeth the whole time. Well ths split the group and, the group that go through laid the smack down. I hooked up with 3 other guys and we tapped it out to get back on. Well, we never really got back on. We chased for a lap, and a bit and as they eased knowing the sprint was coming we just tagged on the back and then it went for the sprint and that was all she wrote. I was screwed. I worked harder chasing for one lap than I did racing for 7 laps. Still I was pretty happy with it all. I managed to get in a good workout and avoid falling. I was exhausted the next day. The race was only 2 hours 15 min and it felt like 4 hours.
This past weekend I did a Masters series race. It is an Australian pursuit. So what happens is the race is handicapped. They send the 70+ guys out first and then 3 minutes later they send the 60+, then 5 minutes later the 40+, then 2 minutes later the 30+ guys go. The idea is to win the whole thing, not just your age. That means the 30 year guys have to bridge the gap to the 40 year olds etc. Well the 40 and 50 year olds had big packs relative to the 30 year olds and their deck was pretty stacked. The 30 year olds had half the numbers and half the horsepower. The 50 year olds looked good too. So from the start the speeds are over 45 km/hr and to me were not ging to sustainable with the number of guys that we had. Only half the guys were pulling through. It was not going to last and we were not catching the 40 or 50 year old guys. they were too big going too fast. The split was growing over the first 2 laps. Well, once we have determined that the race is not going to be fought for the overall it turned to the age groups. They break the 30-35 out for wins and point and the 35-39 out. Same applies for all the other groups. The 30 yr old dudes start attacking one another.. I want no part of this, so I just sit tight. Well it is carnage. I have to deceide do I want to fight it out with these guys and be assured of a win, by virtue of staying with them or race with the guys that are in my age group? Given that I rode for 3 plus hours the day before i opted for latter given that I was riding well, but not out of my socks. I would have had to dug deep to stay with the under 35 cat 1 guys and I may have been in their way. Actually one of the 30 year olds made my mind for me when he let a gap go and I( or anyone else )never filled it in. after he pulled out of the race that was it, 8 35-39 year old guys. I start to pull pretty hard as at first I thought we should make contact back with the group in front of us. Guys are coming around but it is really disorganized. We lose guys and it ends up being 3 of us for 4 laps. As we are rolling it I try to encourage one of the guys to roll through properly. He GIVES it to me. He tells me that he and his buddy are not going to do this becasue it is too hard. He says that if i want to ride like that then go ride ahead by yourself. Ride like that? You mean the way you should ride? Asshole! i tell them that it is easier than taking 4 minute pulls, that if you come through short and snappy things roll better and you don't burn as many matches. So, basically I am racing against two guys who are riding together against me. I would take pulls and then they would attack me. JIT's, I was getting pissed off. We needed to keep it smooth, becasue given the size of some of the other groups and the handicap we could get lapped. I am pretty much driving this thing, but eventually i just sit on. For about a lap. These 2 guys try again and again to drop me. Nothing though. The problem is that they wanted to shake me, but not bad enough to want to sacrafice for the other. so the tactic becomes simple, do nothing. So, everytime they attacked I would not respond. I let the other guy chase down his buddy. I was prepared to give the attacker a lot of rope being fairily confident I could bring him back. They kept trying, and I kept on taking my free ride back up to the attacker. I noticed that on one corner I had a gap so I drilled it. Still 3 to go and I was gone. I had about 20 seconds right away, and expanded it to about 35 seconds pretty quick. They were trying to bridge but they were not getting me back. 3 to go was a long way given how hilly and how much wind there was, but I was confident I would find someone to ride with. We come to another corner and there is a back up of cars. the sign person is waiving them to go through but they are at a standstill causing a back up of cars. I could not get through the intersection and take the corner. I lost my gap. Basically, they started hitting me all the time. Still nothing though. I am guessing the one guy is an average cat4 and the other a strong 4 or weak cat 3. they had 0 tactical sense. So part way through two to go, I drill a conrner and one of the guys comes with me. That is it. The other guys is gone. Now this guy wants to tap it out. His buddy who yelled at me is chasing, but it is over. I attack over some small hills and increase the gap. I am doing most of the work and not shaking my companion. We trade pulls for while and at one point he tells me he really wants to beat his buddy! Maybe they were attacking each other all race? we agreed to work up the big climb and then sort it out with 1 km to go. I could have popped him on the climb, he was struggling a bit, but I made a deal. We hit 200 m to go and he winds it up, but I am on his wheel and then I saw him shift up, that was it, I came around and "showed him a clean set of wheels" ( been saving that saying for about 15 years)for the V! Everyone was yelling for me to raise my arms, but I just did a very very small lift of my arms from the bars. Until that moment I had no idea whether I had won or not. That guys buddy came in a few minutes later. I rode about 5.5 hours for the weekend but they were not easy miles. Saturday I did a hard rolling ride not sure I was even going to ride, let alone race on sunday. So all in all I did pretty well. I did not conquer a huge strong group, but it is nice to "open up the account" once every ten years.
I saw this girl with a huge rack walking over the Burrard St bridge. I just about lost it into the railing. Remindes me of the Seinfeld were the chick is not wearing a bra and the get Jackie Childs involved.
Done a couple of races recently! I went out and did the first BC cup of the season. It is called Harris Roubaix. It is run on the same day as the infamous Paris Roubaix in France/Belgium. about 1/3 of the race is run on gravel roads. I almost did not do the race, because I talked to this guy ( who is strong ) and said the thing is a disaster. He did not like the way that you entered the gravel sections, becasue the riders have to squeeze thourgh the posts to get onto the dyke. 60 guys into that small of an area is tight. So either be on the front or be patient and be prepared to accelerate. It was fast the first 2 laps. Guys were getting flicked on the gravel road like crazy. There are 2 8 inch areas to ride on and in between there is loose gravel. There are 2 sections were you hit some deep gravel, but if you have good handeling skills non of this should be an issue. Race went pretty much to plan. I rode mid pack not trying to burn too many matches and be attentive on the gravel sections. We were drilling the gravel at 45 km most times which, even though dead flat is still hard. i had to fill in some good gaps because guys would just give up teh ghost or lose concentration and hit the ditch. Pretty funny actually. So with 2 to go and half the pack gone we are just cruising on the pavement and there is a huge wreck. It was near the front and probably the result of everyone knowing that this thing was coming down to a "kick" to the finish. Well bikes are in the air and I am drinking my bottle. The wave just keeps moving further right as guys go down and I hit the grass/ditch. I managed to ride out but was in a big gear and was basically track standing. BTW I had my bottle in my teeth the whole time. Well ths split the group and, the group that go through laid the smack down. I hooked up with 3 other guys and we tapped it out to get back on. Well, we never really got back on. We chased for a lap, and a bit and as they eased knowing the sprint was coming we just tagged on the back and then it went for the sprint and that was all she wrote. I was screwed. I worked harder chasing for one lap than I did racing for 7 laps. Still I was pretty happy with it all. I managed to get in a good workout and avoid falling. I was exhausted the next day. The race was only 2 hours 15 min and it felt like 4 hours.
This past weekend I did a Masters series race. It is an Australian pursuit. So what happens is the race is handicapped. They send the 70+ guys out first and then 3 minutes later they send the 60+, then 5 minutes later the 40+, then 2 minutes later the 30+ guys go. The idea is to win the whole thing, not just your age. That means the 30 year guys have to bridge the gap to the 40 year olds etc. Well the 40 and 50 year olds had big packs relative to the 30 year olds and their deck was pretty stacked. The 30 year olds had half the numbers and half the horsepower. The 50 year olds looked good too. So from the start the speeds are over 45 km/hr and to me were not ging to sustainable with the number of guys that we had. Only half the guys were pulling through. It was not going to last and we were not catching the 40 or 50 year old guys. they were too big going too fast. The split was growing over the first 2 laps. Well, once we have determined that the race is not going to be fought for the overall it turned to the age groups. They break the 30-35 out for wins and point and the 35-39 out. Same applies for all the other groups. The 30 yr old dudes start attacking one another.. I want no part of this, so I just sit tight. Well it is carnage. I have to deceide do I want to fight it out with these guys and be assured of a win, by virtue of staying with them or race with the guys that are in my age group? Given that I rode for 3 plus hours the day before i opted for latter given that I was riding well, but not out of my socks. I would have had to dug deep to stay with the under 35 cat 1 guys and I may have been in their way. Actually one of the 30 year olds made my mind for me when he let a gap go and I( or anyone else )never filled it in. after he pulled out of the race that was it, 8 35-39 year old guys. I start to pull pretty hard as at first I thought we should make contact back with the group in front of us. Guys are coming around but it is really disorganized. We lose guys and it ends up being 3 of us for 4 laps. As we are rolling it I try to encourage one of the guys to roll through properly. He GIVES it to me. He tells me that he and his buddy are not going to do this becasue it is too hard. He says that if i want to ride like that then go ride ahead by yourself. Ride like that? You mean the way you should ride? Asshole! i tell them that it is easier than taking 4 minute pulls, that if you come through short and snappy things roll better and you don't burn as many matches. So, basically I am racing against two guys who are riding together against me. I would take pulls and then they would attack me. JIT's, I was getting pissed off. We needed to keep it smooth, becasue given the size of some of the other groups and the handicap we could get lapped. I am pretty much driving this thing, but eventually i just sit on. For about a lap. These 2 guys try again and again to drop me. Nothing though. The problem is that they wanted to shake me, but not bad enough to want to sacrafice for the other. so the tactic becomes simple, do nothing. So, everytime they attacked I would not respond. I let the other guy chase down his buddy. I was prepared to give the attacker a lot of rope being fairily confident I could bring him back. They kept trying, and I kept on taking my free ride back up to the attacker. I noticed that on one corner I had a gap so I drilled it. Still 3 to go and I was gone. I had about 20 seconds right away, and expanded it to about 35 seconds pretty quick. They were trying to bridge but they were not getting me back. 3 to go was a long way given how hilly and how much wind there was, but I was confident I would find someone to ride with. We come to another corner and there is a back up of cars. the sign person is waiving them to go through but they are at a standstill causing a back up of cars. I could not get through the intersection and take the corner. I lost my gap. Basically, they started hitting me all the time. Still nothing though. I am guessing the one guy is an average cat4 and the other a strong 4 or weak cat 3. they had 0 tactical sense. So part way through two to go, I drill a conrner and one of the guys comes with me. That is it. The other guys is gone. Now this guy wants to tap it out. His buddy who yelled at me is chasing, but it is over. I attack over some small hills and increase the gap. I am doing most of the work and not shaking my companion. We trade pulls for while and at one point he tells me he really wants to beat his buddy! Maybe they were attacking each other all race? we agreed to work up the big climb and then sort it out with 1 km to go. I could have popped him on the climb, he was struggling a bit, but I made a deal. We hit 200 m to go and he winds it up, but I am on his wheel and then I saw him shift up, that was it, I came around and "showed him a clean set of wheels" ( been saving that saying for about 15 years)for the V! Everyone was yelling for me to raise my arms, but I just did a very very small lift of my arms from the bars. Until that moment I had no idea whether I had won or not. That guys buddy came in a few minutes later. I rode about 5.5 hours for the weekend but they were not easy miles. Saturday I did a hard rolling ride not sure I was even going to ride, let alone race on sunday. So all in all I did pretty well. I did not conquer a huge strong group, but it is nice to "open up the account" once every ten years.
I saw this girl with a huge rack walking over the Burrard St bridge. I just about lost it into the railing. Remindes me of the Seinfeld were the chick is not wearing a bra and the get Jackie Childs involved.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)