Off to my 1st Boston this monday. Forget the rolling terrain and heartbreak hill, this is what I’m up against!! Bring it on!
Monday
Marathon of heat! Near 90 with a gusty southwest wind…cooler 60s on the Cape. (At least it’s a dry heat.)
Fwd from http://web2.whdh.com/weather/
It was rather toasty last year. The other bad news is that you get to start at 12:00 noon, so by the time you hit HB Hill it will be even warmer.
I crashed big time last year with sunburn and dehydration. Good luck, and I hope the weather forecast is wrong.
That is grim, but if it’s any comfort, boston.com and weather.com are both expecting partly to mostly cloudy with temps in the 60s-70s. That’s still kind of warm for a marathon, but it’s better than the 90 degree prediction. My experience has been that weather.com is more accurate than the local forecasters.
It’s been raining here for most of the past two weeks, and in the 40s and 50’s. It’s supposed to clear and warm up over the next three days, but they’ve been changing the forecast very frequently, so keep an eye on it. I’ve been trying to plan my Saturday ride, and since Tuesday the forecast has gone from rain to cloudy to showers to sunny. As the saying goes: Welcome to New England! If you don’t like the weather, wait a minute.
Good luck on your race. I hope you have a good day.
Yeah, this is my wife’s first Boston too so we are both worried for her. I gotta work this Monday. I would have loved to run it though. Hope it is a little cooler than the forecast.
No matter the forecast, wear sunscreen. If you don’t think you can get burned in New England in April, I have empirical evidence to the contrary.
Last year was pretty warm too. Where I live, I was on XC skis until 9 days before Boston, so as you can imagine, it was a tough go. I was ready for the heat as a result of a once a week tempo treadmill run in my basement, but I was not ready for the heat. The wind after Heartbreak was killer. You can be guaranteed at least 22 miles of headwind. In the spring, the water in the Atlantic is much cooler than the land, which on a warm day heats up quickly, especially with the 12 noon start, so you get this howling wind blowing off the water right into your face.
A few race day tips. Try and stay close to the start, not at the overpriced finish line hotels. There is a day’s Inn at Milford that is cheap ($75 per nite). Sleep in until 9 am, drive to the drop off point at EMC (off highway 90 I believe) which is only a few miles from the start in Hopkinton and take the shuttle over to the start (5 min ride). You’ll need your “support crew to meet you at the finish” and pick you up. Tell them to park their car at the end of the subway line and you can then take the subway back to your car after the race.
Bring your breakfast with you and eat a large breakfast at around 10 am. You won’t have time for lunch and if you eat breakfast at 7 am, you WILL bonk by 2:30 PM or so, just when you need max energy ! Finally don’t believe the course profile. It is downhill for the first 3-4 miles, but at the point, you reach the “second lowest point” in the race. From there, it is pretty well a good mix of up and down to the finish line, with lots of climbing and headwind. Pace accordingly.
I will be out there…any other Slowtwitchers going to be in Boston?
Sadly…not this year. I needed to take an extended break from running this winter for a few health reasons. I am running again, so I plan to run a fall marathon and hopefully be back for Boston 2005.
I live in the Boston area. Unfortunately, I have to work Monday. It’s too bad, too, I really like watching the marathon. Maybe next year I’ll be in it.
This will be my first Boston. The feelings of nervousness and excitement are fighting with each other. I am wavering back and forth from trying to PR to just having a good run and enjoying the spetacle of it all. Any thoughts on the best plan of attack?
Yes. I qualified at Philly 2002, and wanted to use my qualifying time before it expired. I’ve had a “schizophrenic” winter, trying to train for sprint/olympic distance duathlons/triathlons as well as Boston.
This is Boston…don’t hold back. Go as fast as you can. If you get a PR, then great…but don’t go to tour the course. You really want to feel like you gave it every ounce of energy! Good luck.
Thanks, that’s my plan sub 3 or bust!!!
Since the weather has changed each time I looked, I hoping for a last second miracle with 55 degrees, no rain and no wind. Why not hope? I have never done Boston before, but with at least 15 runs longer than 2 hours during the past four months, plus three 24 milers, I am as ready as I can be.
After that I have duathlons on the following two weekends, the White Lake Half-IM on May 8 and then the Armed Forces Triathlon Championships the following week. Anybody have experience with tri’s after running marathons?
Chad
The SW wind that they are forecasting is it with us or against us on the crse.?
I think that maybe there is a Slowtwitch dinner in order…in Boston
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ST dinner/lunch sounds cool! Only problem at my end tight sched. up to race and leave right after race.
Southwest wind would be mainly a cross wind. Don’t believe it. Plan for a 26.2 mile headwind run. As I said, as soon as the land warms up by noon, the wind will be blowing off the water into your face like at any place close to the ocean in the spring. Fortunately at Boston, there are a zillion guys running your speed, so you should always draft.
The weather report on the way home tonight was for 80-85°F (27-29°C) and windy. Course heads in an east/northeast direction…
But, I must warn, the weather people have been wrong a lot around here lately.
Ryan
Working Monday, but will be in the Boston area…
As a like long Boston resident I can tell you it is still very early to get an accurate weather forcast. They constantly forcast extremes - “2 ft of snow” usually means 0-6 inches.
I have found this is the most accurate forcast:
http://www.srh.noaa.gov/data/forecasts/MAZ015.php?warncounty=MAC025&city=Boston
And this to be the coolest to play with:
http://www.erh.noaa.gov/box/gfe/gridded.html
Click on the time/day links to see the forcast change.