Boston Speed Limits

There's been a lot of buzz going around about the fact Boston sold out faster than Ryan Hall could run it.  Well, not quite... but almost. 

Many believe the rapid sell-out was because the standards for woman's times are "too easy" comparatively to the male counterpart, and the below chart (thanks, Beth!) shows that indeed, females have steadily increased the percentage ratio of those running to practically a dead heat of 50/50.  Whooa, that's pretty impressive. 

Personally, I don't know if females times are a little more comfy than the men and honestly, I don't really care.  The BAA has researched in great depth using muscle mass ratios between men and women and changes in body composition as each of us age, and these are the standard times they came up with.

Their race, their rules. 

We don't have to like it, but it is what it is (didn't you just hate that when you were a kid and your parents said that after you screamed, "that's not fair" when your brother got to stay out later than you did?).  If we want to play the game, we have to abide by the rules.  Would I like to see time changes made?  If, and ONLY if, there is a legitimate reason to other than "it sold out too early last year."

This is my personal take on a few Boston thingies:

1) I think there's a bajillion more marathons now in 2010 than there were when I started marathoning in 1997.  And specifically, more certified BQ races.  People are racing more marathons because, well, there's just a lot more out there to choose from and we don't have to drive all over the U.S. to get to them.

2) I think more women are running marathons in 2010 than when I started running them.  And definitely from when Kathrine Switzer tried to somewhat disguised herself as a man in 1967 to run in Boston.  More women running marathons = more women qualifying.

3) I think both men and women equally set certain benchmarks to reach their goals and if that benchmark is to BQ, I feel women are much more emotionally attached to actually RUN Boston.  This is just my hypothesis - I know so many guys who have qualified and have no desire to actually take out a 4th mortgage to fund their way to Boston, they just want the check mark checked.  Women - no way, we want the proof, we want that damn jacket!  Men may want that jacket, but us chicks are willing to eat Ramen noodles to wear it. 

4) And as for the 8hr 3 min PR registration, I think that people freaked out with it closing earlier and earlier each year so they bombarded cyberspace at the microsecond they could, to avoid being shut out. Actually from a scientific point of view it's fascinating. It's as though a certain type of social threshold was reached and type of "mass hysteria" set in. There could be useful ...social research in this phenomenon, I bet.

5) The problem is that Boston is just too unique, which is great for Boston. What is maybe needed are more races that have these types of qualifying times. New York does, and they're even a little stiffer than Boston's, but no one seems to notice because they also have a lottery - I can't even tell you how many people I've spoken to who did not know NYC had qualifications.  If you want a tougher challenge than Boston, try for New York!  But there could be, maybe should be, more races throughout the country with these kinds of qualifying times. To get people excited about other goals, than perhaps Boston.

My thoughts are just mine, I'm sure you all have your own and yours are wrong that's great.  But it got me thinking, after reading several comments on someones blog recently, about our training .....

Can EVERYONE get to Boston, if they work their ass off and train hard enough???

My answer to this is, from what I've learned as a coach, and as a 14-year marathoner, is probably not.  Contrary to what one may think that all it takes is a lot of sacrifice and more blood, sweat and tears than you've ever done before (and yes, it DOES take that), I hate to say it but that may just not be enough.  There's that little thing called genetics that can sometimes make us reach certain speeds and that's it - go ahead, curse your parents.

I'm not saying everyone can't get faster.  You absolutely can.  I am proof of that - for eternity I couldn't get my marathon time to stop hovering a few minutes, give or take, around that 4-hour mark.  And it wasn't until I started doing things differently in my training that I was able to get to that 3:45 time - but approximately 30-40% of our speediness is hereditary and we can only do 60-70% work to get faster.

And this tidbit of info got me to thinking, after a little shove from a certain fellow blogger when I was whining about trying to think about my own little blog and what to do with it now that I wasn't actually training for anything until this sucky heel starts to behave - maybe I should write a little now and then about some coaching stuff. 

Hum.  Maybe!?! 

I've never wanted to come across as a know-it-all - because I don't, I never will, and I'll never pretend I do.  But maybe, I could sometimes use my blog not only as a place to carry fellow manic runners along with me in my running journey but maybe to also discuss a few things I've learned along the way - as a running coach, personal trainer and from my own personal experiences.

I could write more about those darn genetics our parents gave us, what I did differently when I BQ'd, weight training, supplements, recovery, diet, my beloved protein spinach smoothie ...   Not every post, but maybe once a week...or month.

Thoughts??  Interests?

The mailbag's open for suggestions.

Until then....I'll be hanging around the Air Force Academy this weekend as Brendan goes to state marching band finals (someone came by while I was at the grocery store tonight and chalked up our driveway big time :) ) and then I'm off to New Mexico for a few days next week where I'll be sure to do a lot of running, much exploring, eating tons of muy bueno Mexican food and gathering thoughts to share.  Huge shout-out to KC (http://my140point6milejourney.blogspot.com/) who is doing her very first Ironman in steamy Florida this weekend and Jamie (http://atouchofjaime.blogspot.com/) who's trying to get to Boston; Anne doing Niagara Falls (http://asthmaandthegiftofrunning.blogspot.com/)....and to all others out there racing. 

Happy Running!

Jill