Boston 2015...And Reflections From Boston 2014

We are less than a week from the joy and pain (from mile 6 on and especially from mile 23 -26.2), but I'm thinking a lot about Boston 2015!

This is probably partly due to my reaction of the wheels coming off late during Boston 2014 and thinking "I can do this race better!"  The wheels coming off show pretty well in my splits:

The first half of the race I ran 1:33:30, and the second half of the race I ran 7:31 slower....so in 1:40:01. What doesn't show well above are four miles at close to 8 minute pace at the very end. I lost about five minutes there. This isn't all that bad, but I actually hoped to run 3:05 total for the event. I still think 3:05 is a reasonable time for me, but I need to modify my training going into next year in order to make the next jump up. 

Here's what im thinking in terms of modifications:

1. Practice running downhill at race pace. This is my number one training modification. I can see this happening on Geddes, hospital hill or out at Cass-Benton in the form of repeats. 

2. Do at least half of marathon pace runs outside and include hills during the runs. This wasn't possible this year due to the harshest Michigan winter in my lifetime, but I'd be surprised if we had that again. 

3. Make 6:45 or 6:50 the target pace for next year's event. This isn't a huge jump. I will need to make sure my speed continues to develop this summer and fall, but I think it is reasonable. 

4. As far as diet goes, I need to eat less junk and figure out if weighing five pounds less might make sense. I've been at the same weight for about four years, and it seems a good weight for me. However, some investigation here makes sense. I should likely start this investigation now. 

Things that went well in training for Boston 2014:

1. The quality of my workouts was high due to the treadmill. I didn't always love the treadmill, but it did serve me well helping me to stay consistent with pace goals

2. Run focus with lifting but not much swimming or biking. 

3. The Higdon Advanced 1 plan woke dwell again this year. And it fits my schedule fairly well with more time required on he weekends. I wonder if the Higdon Adavanced 2 would make sense.

That's it for now...tri season began yesterday, so biking and swimming need to ramp up now. To that end I started more intense lifting yesterday and am looking forward to riding today (outside!) with the young bucks at 10 am.  Hoping it all goes well and it gets me on the path to riding faster this year.