Boston Twice as Fast

Boston proved to be another excellent marathon. And I missed it again. We are refueling Unit 2 at the power plant, so no vacation is allowed. Unit 1 has a refueling outage next April. I might be able to get vacation in April 2012.
Enough of my whining. Boston was very special again this year with Robert "the younger" blowing away the course record, Meb valiantly fighting with the best despite an injury plagued training period, and a Houston Marathon winner taking the woman's race.

You're not seeing double. These twins finished in 2:28:35. Their splits were identical except at the 15K and the half marathon point, where they were one second apart. Here's their story in their own words first one and then the other.


Pictures from Jim Rhoades.
First photo at Mile 20 by Ted Tyler from Coolrunning
Second photo at 30K by Frank Georges from Coolrunning

I ran the Brazosport College Gator Gallop Saturday. I can't say the race was very well run, either by the organizers or myself.

I did get to take some pictures of a three-toed box turtle:




Fountain at the College:


The running trail:


South Texas view from the trail:



The Jim Rhoades pictures give me a chance to run Boston vicariously rom the warm and humid Gulf Coast. Here are a few of my favorites:








Ryan Hall didn't live up to expectations, but he did beat Bob Kempainen's record for the fastest American time on the Boston course. It seems as though he's airborne in each picture.





Houston's Heidy Lozano had a seeded number and took 2nd place in the 45-49 division with a 2:59:01 after a 1:25:43 first half




Mile 20 photos by Ted Tyler from Coolrunning
30K photos by Frank Georges from Coolrunning

Bellaire Trolley Run 5K

Well, I just barely made my goal: 18:24.9

I ran a fairly relaxed first mile, pacing off Rich F:
5:49
Rich started drifting away from me on the 2nd mile and I ran much of this mile with the lead woman.
6:00 for 11:49
The lead woman stayed about my pace and we stayed together through the 3rd mile. KeithW passed me, but I didn't try to stick with him.
6:04 for 17:52
Hearing the 17 split for the 3rd mile picked me up some and I was able to make a decent push for the finish.
0:32.5 for 18:24.9

It certainly wasn't my best 5K, but I'm happy with it. Next up is the Gator Gallop 5K at Brazosport College. This race is nearly the opposite of the Trolley Run. The trolley run is extremely competitive, but the Gator Gallop is a very low key local race with enormous trophies for nearly everyone that enters.

5K Races

It's time to race 5Ks. The Bellaire Trolley Run is coming us Saturday the 10th, then the local Brazosport College Gator Gallop on the 17th, and finally the Freeport Flapjack 5K on the 24th. I'm looking forward to these races. I don't think a PR is likely, but I have a decent shot at an age-graded 80%. As a 50 year-old, I need to run 18:26. If I geek out and use my fractional age, I only need an 18:33. It's sub-6 pace, but just by a few seconds. My strategy for running a 5K is simple:
1) run a decently paced first mile
2) struggle and push hard through the second mile
3) if I hear 11-something at the 2-mile mark, gut out the last mile
4) try and catch up to the next person and keep the clock from ticking too much in the last 188 yards

I ran a decent tempo run Tuesday morning. A 12:54 and a 12:51 for 2x2M isn't very fast, but it's the best Tuesday-Tempo I've run since April 2008.

This NY Times article is pretty close to my philosophy on going to doctors for running injuries.