It's taper time for my runner Sara, who is running her first Boston Marathon on Patriot's Day, April 16. Sara qualified in her first marathon, Miami 2011, with a time of 3:17. She bettered that time this past December in Jacksonville with a 3:11. Her training has gone extremely well: five 20+ long runs (even-paced and each one including time on "our hill" (the Linton bridge.. no hills in SoFL), plus another "bridge workout" each week, interval training to tempo runs to specific marathon-pace runs and a few races sprinkled in. She has gotten her mileage up in the 70+mpw up to 80mpw, and all with NO INJURIES! Yay!
I have found some fun videos to help her relax during her taper and visualize the great fun she's going to have! Here is one from 1979, during the years Bill Rodgers was winning both Boston and New York (I believe he won each one four times):
Don't forget the downhill )
ReplyDeleteI live half way up a very steep hill .
That's the tricky part in Boston.. it's overall slightly downhill until you get to the Newton hills at 16-17 miles, so you have to take advantage of that AND at the same time not go TOO fast. Sara has a really good sense of pace so I think she'll be fine. Kinda like you, Peter :-)
DeleteThat sense has left me , really loving my training at the moment, it gives my running a meaning after so many years in the wilderness, going to write more once I have established a good routine, following a Lydiard type programme at the moment , ( thats why I mentioned the hills) doing all my training on hills and missing Epping Forest to train in.
ReplyDeleteThis week the weather has been incredible ( about 73 old Money) 23c
and I have been running in my new running shoes ( no bells and whistles) .
Good luck to your student Sara and remember that you qualified to run this race and it is Boston after all .