Is anyone a little tired of the Boston hoopla? Geesh, I wonder what the non running world is doing with their time these past few days? Thankfully, I got in...after an hour and 15 minutes of hitting submit and sweating nervously. Hopefully in my panic stricken mode I entered all my info correct and I'll pass their verification process and actually have a spot. It sort of sucked that as soon as it closed all anyone could talk about was how the qualifying times need to be change, that they are too easy for woman, yadda, yadda. But I'm not letting that bother me. I worked hard, qualified and earned my spot at the starting line. If they want to change things up, go right ahead, I could use a new goal!!
What are your thoughts about how things went down on Monday? I understand the disappointment of it selling out before your goal race as I was in those shoes last year. But some people seem down right angry about it. I even heard someone say they are not interested in Boston anymore because too many repeaters are taking the slots and newly qualified people aren't getting a shot. A bit extreme...??? I think this year more than ever the allure of Boston has been hyped up. I can't wait to get there and see for myself what it's like.
I took Monday off after the marathon and went for a recovery run last night. Turns out I didn't have much recovering to do! I started off slow with some stiff legs but finished 6.25 miles feeling great. I definitely didn't feel like I had run 26 miles two days before and managed to run a few miles in the low 8's. I am going to continue to take this week a little easy but am gearing up to start focusing on marathon pace. Running those last 6 miles at MP on Sunday really made me think that I might have this in me. If I can learn the pace, and drill it into myself, I know my tired legs will do what they are told come race day.
Here's my schedule for the week:
Mon - off
Tues - 6 mi
Wed - cross train/lift
Thurs - 7 mi (mid miles at MP)
Fri - 5 mi
Sat - 18 mi
Sun - 5 mi or cross train/lift
23 comments:
totally impressed with the 6.25 two days after a marathon. Awesome.
Congrats on getting in! I will keep my fingers crossed that you get your 100% confirmation soon!
I can't believe how quickly registration closed but I definitely don't agree with a lot of the back lash - at least not when people are discrediting those of you who have qualified and earned a spot.
For selfish reasons, I obviously hope they don't change the times... at least not til I get my chance. Then again, I will keep working at it no matter what!
Awesome that you were feeling so good post-marathon!
Glad you feel so good so soon post-marathon! Yes, I'm a bit weary of the whole hoopla, but I will say that something's got to change for next year!
Congrats on getting in. I too, am TIRED of the Boston nonesense. It left me feeling somewhat guilty about my accomplishment and registration as so much woman-bashing has been going on. I think the hype was WAY bigger than last year. What with twitter and facebook posts from the BAA and the Marathon as well as Runner's World pimping the registration day and time. As it stands the link I got that finally worked....was from Twitter!
BAA got a full race, a lot of press and hopefully the woman and charity bashing stops. After all, we are all in this together and as runners I would hope we could celebrate our accomplishments, even if not our own.
This will be my second Boston and I am not as excited as last year based on the current press. Luckily I have 6 months to get over it =)
I wish you all the best in training!
I don't know how I feel about all this Boston stuff. I ope this negativity doesn't carry over to race day. If you qualified and got in you should feel good about your accomplishment (and a little lucky)! I don't think we need to bash womens' time. Some people work really hard for their BQ (I am still working) and I think it would be a shame to take that away from so many.
Folks on one running site were going through stats of runners based on age and gender. It turns out the female runners did average about 30 minutes behind the men. Maybe the gap is not so unrealistic. I think the 5000 non-qualifying runners could be thinned out.
I guess the BAA can make their race however they want it, but I don't think they want to get a stigma for being impossible to register.
Oy vey, try living in Boston! Strangers on the bus r asking for my opinion at the sight of my Boston jacket. The baa said it would sell out fast and urged all interested runners to sign up at 9amEST. It's not the first race to sell out in 1 day, there was A LOT of talk that it would fill up and the baa emailed past entrants, posted articles and posted it on twitter and fb. After seeing all the warnings its really no surprise to me that it sold out as fast as it did. Baa.org has an interview with the executive director about the sell out.
Yeah, i'm ready for the hoopla to stop!!
I'm one of the ones who got edged out right before my qualifying race. Actually, my qualifying race sucked balls, so I signed up for another marathon next weekend where I'm pretty confident that I'll qualify.
You know what I say? I say 'oh well.' If I get my BQ, I'll try to use it for 2012. Whatchagonnado?
And I'm psyched that you feel so great after your marathon...gives me a zillion times more confident that I'll be fully recovered for my upcoming race!
Congratulations on getting in!!
I'm kind of indifferent to the Boston situation, just because I don't stand a chance of qualifying until I turn 70. I guess I kind of wish they'd leave the qualifying times the same so that when I DO turn 70, I can get in... LOL
I wonder if it would be better to do a qualifying time and THEN a lottery like New York??
1. Enjoy YOUR Boston! It'll be awesome!
2. I get that people are all worked up about it, but they really don't need to be. Boston's going to do whatever they're going to do whether or not a few runners have a certain opinion. I almost hope they lower the times, because I know you could crush the lower one too!
Congrats on getting in! I feel like there is so much more hoopla this year around Boston. Have no idea why it's such the big deal nearly all of the sudden. All the bashing is unnecessary and leads to nothing.
It's a shame that people got locked out of the race, but I guess it just seems like the name of the game with some of the big races these days. It'd be nice if Boston said that those that couldn't get in under the wire got another chance next year (without having to re-qualify), but I'm not sure whether that's even a conversation.
There was an interesting post on Runners World about how the sell-out was a self-fulfilling prophecy, in that the BAA made such a stink about people registering early that they freaked out all of the runners, who stormed the computer system to get in. I thought it was interesting.
I qualified in October 2009, ran Boston in 2010 and couldn't decide if I should register again. On Monday I got to the point of hitting the "submit" button and decided I didn't want to do it. For one thing, even before I qualified, I thought that a BQ time should only be good for one Boston. For another, I do think that the woman's qualifying time should be lowered by 5 minutes which would eliminate a few thousand women a year but wouldn't put Boston out of reach for too many. I qualfied with a whopping 83seconds to spare and I did feel a bit of guilt about running twice with a barely BQ when some women with faster times might get shut out twice. I worked my ass off to qualify -- it wasn't remotely easy for me but I do feel that I earned my way to Boston 2010. It's a freakin blast, by the way. I had an awesome time and loved every second. Weather was perfect, I smiled every step of the way and I am usually pretty grumpy! That was also part of the reason I didn't register -- fear of the second time not being as fun!
i don't care if someone has done boston 0 times or 20 times, if they earned a spot, they earned it. Hopefully, I will earn mine next year. Congrats. Enjoy your time in Boston!! :)
I do not agree with downplaying anyone's accomplishment or woman-bashing (that would be weird, if I was woman basher...) but I do this the standards need to change. I don't think it is because it is "easy"...I mean I have no chance at the current times anyway, so maybe I should shut my mouth- but I think it is because of how many people run now- running as a sport has taken off and grown so much. At some point it was bound to get out of control- and I don't think it is fair that charity sports get taken over people who put the blood, sweat and tears into a BQ. There are plenty of other races to do for charity. SO I guess in summation- yes, I think things need to change (and imo, I think the BQ times for men are more steep) but I don't think it is because of the reasons most people do, I think it is due to the popularity of running. Eventually, if it gets harder and harder to register, after the hard work of a BQ- it will lose its luster. Why work that hard to qualify, if in the end, you get let down on registration day.
Ok rambling done!
Have an amazing time at your Boston..you earned it period.
The backlash has been crazy but if they change the times..they better look long and hard if that is the way to go. I still think have Boston as the 'ultimate' goal is awesome.
i read some great articles about how the hype is part of why it really did sell out faster this year. regardless I think the current speeds are the mental requirements that everyone had to train for and hit, so everyonoe who made it deserves it.
now if they aren't going to expand the field and the number of runners keep growing they may have to change the times, making it impossible for folks like me to qualify prior to turning 102. :)
Congrats on getting in to Boston!! I will never ever ever qualify for that race so I have no opinion whatsoever :o) And running 6 miles two days after a marathon?!? Wow!! That is amazing!
So excited you got in! And you're right, they need to get rid of the double time use, it's just not cool.
Good work this week! Stay warm, you tweeted it's going to be cold!
Nice dedication on the clicking for registration. You earned it, so enjoy it.
If they need to make things more strict, they should probably just say, "if you don't quality for boston, during boston, you can't register next year."
And yeah 20in24 again, because:
A) they are the right type of group to support
B) i actually have a shot at 100 miles in 24 hours, with the ability to compare to year's past.
The July heat is kind of a pain though.
The Boston hoopla is getting out of hand, but congrats on getting in!
I got in too!
I got in too!
I feel bad for some of the people that didn't get in -- but you are right, the sour apples are no fun. I'm glad they didn't get in and aren't "interested" anymore. It will free up a slot for someone who cares. :)
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