Feet Meet Street: Good Luck, Boston Runners!

Monday, April 16, 2007

Good Luck, Boston Runners!

The 111th Boston Marathon is underway in less than desirable conditions as I understand. Wind. Rain. General ugliness. While out on a run, I've often thought (feared?) what it would be like to have to run a marathon in terrible conditions. How would it effect your time? Would you even care and go instead into survival mode? I think of all the conditions (outside of several inches of snow on the ground), I least enjoy running into wind. It feels like you are trudging across a swimming pool. Lately, it seems I'm constantly running into a wind storm. During the real hard gusts, I'll shout "Aw, c'mon now!" to no one in particular. At least it makes me feel better. Best wishes to the Boston Marathon participants. I'd love to join the crowd at the 112th!

With Boston taking place and a recent mention in Runner's World magazine, I decided to rent a little independent movie called Saint Ralph. It's the story of a Catholic school teenager in the 1950's whose father is dead and mother passes into a coma. As he deals with typical teenager adolescent issues, the threat of being forced into an orphanage now hangs over his head. He comes to believe that only through a miracle will his mother awaken from her coma. Coincidentally, he is also told that it would be take a miracle for him to win the Boston Marathon. Ultimately, he decides that he needs to win the marathon in order to save his mother. It's a pretty funny and entertaining little film. I think it would appeal to any Catholic, runner, and fan of independent films...or at least 2 of the 3. Check it out. Besides, where else will you get a Paavo Nurmi reference in a flick?

As for this weekend, my LR wasn't as long as previous weeks due to this being a step back week. Next week I have my first 20 miler. Sunday, due to the lower mileage, I decided to do 13.1 miles at my Bayshore first half-marathon goal pace as a sort of trial run.

I'd like to do the first half in 1:36:30 at Bayshore. My Sunday numbers:

13.1 miles
1:35:47 time
7:19 per mile

Three more weeks of hard training to go!! Getting excited!?

3 comments:

Mike said...: that time is awesome

i think the 112th is in your cards; Mon Apr 16, 04:24:00 PM
Mir said...: Thanks for your thoughts! I like the quote a lot; I'll have to remember that one. I think you're right--it's not a matter of if, but when. I'm certainly never going to give up! Who knows--maybe both of us will toe the line at the 112th.

Saint Ralph is a sweet movie. I saw it on sale at Target and took a chance on buying. Luckily, I loved it! I think it's a great movie to watch pre-race or just when needing a little motivation.; Wed Apr 18, 10:38:00 PM
Ryan said...: First, I noticed that you are in Okemos, MI - which is adjacent to my beloved MSU, where I resided for the best period of my life from 1993-1997.

Second, thanks for your comments. You can join the 112th Boston. Don't know your age, but based on your times, it appears well within your reach.

Keep running. I look forward to tracking your progress.; Sun Apr 22, 09:49:00 PM