APR-B-8
A CLUB MEMBER FOLLOWS MY PROGRESS THROUGH THE BOSTON MARATHON FOLLOWING
THE CHAMPION CHIP ON-LINE—THE FIRST RECORDED USE OF MY CHIP IN REAL TIME—AND MY
ADVICE TO HIM AS AN “ON THE COURSE COACH”
From: Glenn Geelhoed
To: "John on pc@aol.com".IA4GW.Harper
Date: 4/16/02 5:32PM
Subject: Re: Congratulations on a great Boston Marathon!
Thanks, John, for the good wishes!
I am delighted that you followed me on the Web‑‑‑and I believe you were the first one ever to do so!
The events around "the Boston" are as much a happening as the revered race. (see attached) It is wonderful to gather with friends of long standing, a number of them in the senior masters category and going strong. I met several MCRRC'ers on the course, including Andrea Chisholm‑‑all enjoying it.
Yes, it took me twenty two minutes from Corral 16 to cross the starting mats among 17,400 registered runners and maybe once again as many bandits. It might seem discouraging to look up at the clock at the one mile point in Ashland and see the 35 minutes from the "gun time"‑‑but, that is what the Champion Chip is all about! It was a worry to all of us who were appropriately shivering at the start in the overcast fog and chill, yet smeared with sunscreen around our singlets and worried about doing some heavy drinking along the way in view of the predictions of a heat wave headed our way. The bone rattling flyover of low level fighter jets in formation I remember from prior years that gets the adrenalin pumped at the starting corrals was canceled because of the low ceiling and even the helicopters through which the TV trucks leading the front runners have to beam their uplink feed were grounded.
I still cannot believe I am running Boston‑‑‑‑again!
It was superb, with everything you might want despite dire predictions of a sunny 81 * F day, which was all wrong by every weather forecaster. It turned out to be foggy cool with a slight breeze and even a smattering of rain at the eight mile point.
I guided a new runner through the course as an old veteran of many times down that road, and he enjoyed having an "On Course Coach," telling when to drink, where to pee, what side of the road to run, and how to take the four Newton hills without falling out. Most of all, I would give early waring of landmarks, such as when to anticipate the "Women of Wellesley " (Ah, Bless Them!) and the full chorus of Boston College. You will see a few of these favorite spots on the on‑line photos I clicked along the course again this year.
We had planned to kick in to the finish together holding high fives above the mat for the finish line MarathonFoto, but when I said "OK, let it out now‑‑there is no tomorrow!" on Boylston Drive, he said he sent the messages down to his legs, but the muscles just weren't listening, so I kicked in ahead. But he was very appreciative of the whole run in which he said he tried just to keep me in sight, and we will get together again to celebrate at some future run.
Between now and the "Flying Pig," why don't you lean back and enjoy a few runs at less than your marathon pace for about two minutes a mile at around the half marathon distance? Then knock off except for a couple of slow three milers the week of may 5. You have enough distance base to carry you at least twice the distance you train and the crowd will buoy you up during the last half in any event. I have three goals: 1) to Survive, 2) To Finish, and 3) To Enjoy it! That works best when it is injury free.
But, my favorite advice to any other runner (and, you know this is coming from an Ultra‑runner and someone crazy enough to be in the "Seven Continents Club"!) would be: "Moderation in all things: above all, in the practice of moderation!"
As with the mutual reenforcements of Joe and me on the run, I enjoy this "giving back" part of the run a lot, and wish I had been brought along into it in a sensible way without the necessarily competitive hype and with a more supportive coaching on running it enjoyably and injury‑free. When would you like to take off on a good point‑to‑point shuffle? I will try to come back form the multiple trips I have going out in the near future (schedule attached) and see if we can do a bit more "On Course Coaching"‑‑‑and we will improve each other!
Cheers!
GWG
>>> <John on pc@aol.com> 04/16/02 03:26PM >>>
Hi Doctor Glenn:
This is John from Montgomery County Roadrunners Club. I am the dentist that you see at many of the races; I hope you can remember me and picture who I am.
Anyway Doctor, I was following the Boston Marathon online yesterday as it unfolded. I checked in periodically to see how you were doing; I hope you don't mind. I guess since I am not fast enough to qualify, I thought it would be fun to track someone I knew who was running in the race.
Congratulations on completing a great Boston Marathon. What is this, #90 or so marathons now? :‑) I don't know how you do it, Doc! I saw that the pace early in the race was rather slow, probably due to the congestion from the big 'sea of humanity' at the start. How was the weather up in Beantown? I heard of worries that maybe the temperature would be too warm. I hope the weather was cooperative and you you had a fun race.
I was wondering if you could give me a little advice. I am scheduled to run the Cincinnati Flying Pig Marathon on May 5th. Of course, I just ran D.C. Marathon and Cherry Blossom ten miler. Last Saturday, I tried to do a 17 miler as a final semi‑long run three weeks before the race. Doc, I almost died. My legs were like noodles after about 12 or so miles. I had to use a survival shuffle just to make it the over the last few miles. Obviously, I am well overtrained or more correctly unrecovered from the last two races. I was wondering, is it possible I can be recovered and able to race fairly well three weeks from now? And also, what kind of training, if any, should I do between now and May 5th? I am thinking maybe run easy twice a week for 3 miles and then an easy 6 miler the next two weekends before the race. I appreciate any advice, from your experience as a physician and marathoner, you can give.
Congratulations again on a fine race yesterday, see you on the roads soon.
Your Friend,
John Y.