Left out of the Party

 
 
   A woman I was talking with recently ran something like her 17th marathon in Chicago in October, and managed her P.R..  That means she's been running for a long time, and certainly has this 'marathon training thing' figured out.  It also means she has gotten better as she's gotten older.  That's a trick I haven't figured out.  I don't know how old she is, but I'm guessing mid-30's.  She is one of the moms with a kid in my daughter's pre-school class, and while she was excited about running her best time, she was disappointed that she still failed to qualify for the Boston marathon, missing the time by a couple of minutes.

Like a lot of runners, I could relate.  The Boston qualifying times are really a benchmark for many people who are establishing their marathon goals.  I read in Runner's World earlier this year that only about 10% of the runners who finish marathons in this country run qualifying times.  That's consistent with another number I heard from CARA about Chicago area runners who train with their program.  About 2000 runners when through their training this year, and about 200 of them ran qualifying times.

When I started running marathons about 15 years ago, I confidently figured it would be no problem to qualify for Boston.  I ran cross country in college, and I figured I could ramp up the mileage a bit and let natural ability carry me through.  I was sorely mistaken. 

Back then, I needed to run 3:10 to qualify.  I was well on that pace in several races through the first half of the race, only to fall apart in the second half (when the real work begins).  I never got within ten minutes of qualifying.  But I also never really trained that hard.  I put in up to mid-40 mile weeks without ever really doing any speed work.. 

Then I got older.  And as most runners probably realize, that's a blessing when it comes to Boston, because the qualifying time gets easier.  Unfortunately, my running slowed down proportionally.  I did manage to get within about four minutes of qualifying when I needed to run 3:15. 

Finally, after I turned 40, the qualifying time increased to 3:20.  And I got a little more serious about it, committing to a little speed work.  That summer I managed to make it to the track about once a week for mile repeats.  After years of track practice in high school and college, I really never had much desire to get back on the track, but it was what I needed to do, and in the end I kind of enjoyed it.  I also knew it would probably get me over the qualifying hump. 

And it did.  I ran 3:19 a few years ago, and immediately went home and booked my trip to Boston.   After more than a dozen tries, I finally got the chance to go, and I ate up every minute.  I've been twice now, but I'm not going back next year, because, once again, I don't have a qualifying time.

When I reflect on that, it makes the accomplishments of my friend Mark Buciak all the more impressive.  Mark first ran the race when he was about 18 years old, and he has run it every year since.  That makes 30 in a row.  He has kept the streak alive even a couple months after he almost died from a heart ailment  a few years ago.  Weddings, funerals, babies, life commitments, you name it, nothing has derailed his commitment to run Boston every year.

Mark now coaches other runners.  His training program is called the Road to Boston, and he spoke over the weekend to a small group of runners in downtown Elmhurst at The Runner's Soul.  He's got lots of tips and information accumulated over three decades of running.  His training program gets started early next month, and you can find out more information about it at his website.  www.theroadtoboston.info

I'll probably try to run a qualifying time again in the next year or two, but in the meantime, when Mark asks if I'm going to join him in Boston, I'll have to decline and admit that I'm a mere mortal.  And wish him luck.

See you on the roads....

 

Comments

[Anony Mouse]

John,

At the tail end of your CTA bus shooting story yesterday you mentioned that police were looking for possible video survellience footage. That bus looked pretty new.

Wouldn't it have had as many as 4 video cameras on it at least one looking forward and one looking out the front doors?

Check your cameraman's footage. There might be a shot of the interior showing the cameras in place.

Each camera equipped busnhasba hardbdrive or tape that can be swapped out at the garage for viewing/recording onto other media. My understanding, possibly in error, isnthat if the bus operator hits the panic button the resolution at which video images are kept is dramatically increased for a period of time including a retroactive segment of 10+ seconds so there is a real chance the bus picked up something as the shooter's vehicle passed it.

With all the budget problems maybe CTA hasn't been able to keep this system running, but I hope so, catching these creeps doing street crime that happened to impact CTA customers would help teach thugs to stay away from CTA!