Tripleshot Cycling

Simon Pearson is running the Boston Marathon today. It's live on TSN right now. I haven't seen Simon. They seem to be focusing on the leaders instead. Simon's doing great, though. He was on 3:02 pace for the slightly downhill first 10k, and he's speeding up a bit on the flat now. He's an engineer. He's done the calculations. He's executing the plan.

Tracking here: http://raceday.baa.org/individual.html

sylvan wrote:They seem to be focusing on the leaders instead.

Wow,
Geoffrey Mutai: 2:03:01!!

Josh.E wrote:Geoffrey Mutai: 2:03:01!!

That was nuts and very beautiful to watch. It was admittedly done with a completely honking tailwind along the point-to-point course and not certifiable as a record, but it's the fastest marathon ever by almost a minute.

Simon Pearson: 3:22:24 - That is a great time at this classic marathon - Well done to Simon.

Well done Simon even if this is a *shudder* running race!

How about this for a time: Masazumi Soejima of Japan has won the Boston
Marathon men's wheelchair division for the second time in 1:18:50

That's right folks almost 45' faster than that guy who used his *shudder* legs!!

Great work buddy, you can start riding your bike again now that you've got all of this silly running out of your system

Congrats Simon!!

Nice work simon!!

Boston is a unique marathon within the Majors (New York, London, Rotterdam, Berlin, Chicago, and Boston). It is the only one to use a merit based registration system rather than a lottery. This means that everyone that runs Boston has run a qualification time at marathon in the previous year. For me I had to run a 3:10 marathon to qualify. It took me 3 attempts and four years of training to get it, one time missing the mark by an infuriating 6 seconds. I finally qualified with a 3:02:42 at the Royal Victoria Marathon and more amazingly registered for the 2011 event which sold out in 8 hours (before this it normally took a few months).

The trip was unlike any other, bordering often on more of a religious experience than an athletic one.

Like the 'Running of the Bulls' we have the 'Running for the Connection'. Fly directly into an airport that is within driving distance of Boston. Every flight to Logan is booked solid and standby if you miss your flight is almost impossible. Our plane was an hour late landing in Toronto, and even though we were fast-tracked through customs we had mere minutes to make it to the gate. When handed our boarding passes, the agent made this suggestion. "You are going to the marathon right? Good. RUN!" We made it by seconds in a stampede of fellow marathoners.

Like pilgrims descending on Mecca for the Hajj all dressed in white robes, Boston has the 'Donning of the Jacket'. It is normally extremely bad luck to put on race memorabilia before completion, and even buying gear before completion of one's first marathon will guarantee a really tough day. The only exception is at Boston because we are all pros, all confident, and all going PB. Buy the jacket immediately upon arrival at the expo and proudly wear that jacket at all times. The sea of BAA jackets around town before the race is amazing. When passing another jacket, it is mandatory to make eye contact and nod. Starting up random running-related conversations is also encouraged.

The race expo is ENORMOUS and although you are neither required to circle it in a counter-clockwise direction, nor do you have to go around 7 times, it will take hours to get your number and look at all the booths. Eat a meal before entering otherwise you'll be downing the free energy bars and sports drinks just too keep yourself going.

The day before the marathon is the 'Cheer for Others as You Would Have Them Cheer for You' 5K and invitational mile. Though the 5K offers a sizeable prize purse and was won in a blistering 14:08, the 5K race really belongs to families. No one does a marathon alone, and the BAA offers this race as a way for those supporting us chosen few to race the city and to cross one of the most sought after finish lines in sport and in the process, earn BAA 5K tees, medals, and the ability to gloat that they had already crossed the finish line. The mile races were inspirational and with each lasting a little over 4 minutes it was all over much too quickly. It was great to be a spectator and surprisingly helped a great deal in calming any pre-race jitters.

A Canadian-runner only brunch followed the races that was somewhat disturbingly named the "Boston Tea Party". Canadian back bacon, maple syrup, red and white yoghurt, and great conversation was consumed at banquet tables that gave us an opportunity to chat with runners that came from sea to shining sea.

Then there was the marathon. The crowds don't stop for 42K. Along with the 26 official water stops, rogue ones offered water, bananas, cut apples and oranges all along the route. The cut oranges were amazing. It reminded me of the soccer team oranges we used to eat as kids at half-time. Lots of potassium helped reduce cramping, natural sugars were quick to digest, sucking the rinds was easier than drinking out of cups, and the waste was biodegradable. The kids who were handing out the oranges looked like they had been holding onto the same piece of fruit since the leaders had gone past, so the look on their faces when I grabbed one on my way by was priceless.

I went to Boston with the goal of trying to break 3 hours. For me, I wanted to try for a PB and then allow myself to shut it down if things were getting ugly. The training leading up had been unconventional. I had as many results as misses, had clawed back from injury, was running strong again, and was crushing 20K brick runs after 3 hour bike rides. The major piece that was missing was the long run. I only got in a handful of 25K+ runs and only 2 30K+ runs. I knew I had the engine (something lacking when I qualified) from completing

V2N2V, and I knew I had never been stronger, but I was still unsure as to whether the body was sufficiently tempered for the rigours of 42K.

The answer was waiting for me at 21K. I had finished Comox in 1:29:00 a few weeks prior and it had felt effortless. In Boston, The relentless down-hills had ripped my quads to shreds. I have done enough marathons now to know that the sort of pain I was in should have been setting in at around 34-36K, not at 24K. The PB was not to be, so I slowed the pace down and tried to enjoy the day. I slapped hands with as many spectators as I could, I tried to make the grimace look a bit more like a smile (although from the pictures I have seen I failed miserably), and coming into the finish I raised my hands in victory. It was maybe not the time I 3:23 was not the time I was hoping for and if I had been more conservative and run safely I would have easily split the difference in somewhere around the 3:10 mark, but Boston is not for being timid, safe, or conservative.

After the race, Deb and I walked back to out hotel which was on the other side of the Charles river. The congratulations and high fives from passers by never stopped (again, keep your coat on) and neither did any of the public buses. The pain in my quadriceps lasted for days even though I was diligent about spinning the legs out on exercise bikes.

After the race we took a detour to the Big Apple and spent 4 days walking around museums (Art, Modern Art, Guggenheim, and Natural History). All I can do after a marathon is shuffle around at a snail's pace, and doing this in a museum was the one place where this did not arouse any suspicion. I was feeling good enough that on the last day of the trip we rented bikes in Central Park, donned our Tripleshot colours, and ripped around carefree for a few hours.

I am looking forward to a little more balance this summer; running when I feel like it, biking when I don't. To paraphrase a buddy of mine: enough of this marathon garbage, let's go ride bikes.

Simon,

Great race report - it should encourage all those cyclists out there to give running a try. I certainly feel for your description of the effect of no long runs on the point in the race that things become 'uncomfortable'. Although that is in fact my training plan (yes Lister I said training plan as if the lack of any real plan can itself be referred to as a training plan - remember the critical failure point for most high performance athletes is rest/recovery - I have that part nailed).

Again, congratulations on hitting one of the real monuments of Running - wear that Jacket proudly.

Michael