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Tyranny of Expectations ...or why setting time goals for races is a dumb idea

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The Best HR Training Summary Anywhere

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Spoiler: Not mine :-) Mark Rice's Heart Rate Training Thoughts Way back in the fall of 2013 I was in Philadelphia getting ready for the marathon and obsessively checking the Runner's World message boards following the chatter of the cool people in the Boston Marathon section when I just couldn't take it anymore.  I had to come out of the shadows.  These people seemed nice.  Not just "internet nice" but genuinely nice and supportive.  It was time for me to create an account and have my voice heard.  Eek. I had followed their training and daily training comments for a few months after I found my way to the forum chasing links about BQ cutoff predictions.  These folks seemed like rock stars to me.  I had never been to the Boston Marathon once, but they had been there many times.  Who was I to think I had something to tell them?!?!?!? I held my fear at bay and jumped into the conversation.  I don't remember the exact trigger, but I do remember it...
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Chicago2Boston Race Report(s)

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Wow.  Where to start? The beginning I guess.  Way back in January I was surprised when the Boston Athletic Association decided to schedule the Boston Marathon the day after the Chicago Marathon.  I was already registered for the Chicago Marathon.  After I got over the initial schedule shock I got excited about the possibility of 2 major marathons in 2 cities in 2 days.  These races felt like the perfect way to celebrate emerging from the darkest days of the pandemic.  The impossible might become possible again. Participating in a marathon for me is sometimes a race where I'm doing everything I can to get the most out of my body and other times being in a marathon is a chance to be part of the best parade ever .  Think about it, what other parades are this long and in normal times might draw millions of spectators to cheer and celebrate with?  A rolling 26.2 mile party, plain and simple. After struggling for months to get to the point where I cou...
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Chicago2Boston Retrospective

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This one is going to be short and sweet, or maybe not-so-sweet.  I've made reference before to being a software guy and in software it is pretty common to do a "retrospective" every couple of weeks to keep tabs on what "Went Well", what there is " To Improve" and capture any "Action Items" that can help things go smoother in the future.  While I'll likely never attempt 2 marathons in 2 days again, I still wanted to do a retrospective on how things went this time around.  The idea is the next time I try something silly, having this board to look at might help things go more smooth. And that's it...no pontificating or bad humor this time around.  Just a quick post for my future self to help remember what my 2021 self wishes had been different for the Chicago2Boston attempt.
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Chicago2Boston - Unrestrained Optimism Takes Over

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Home2Buffalo2Boston2Chicago2Boston2Buffalo2Home Way back in January (8 weeks ago), I was itching to put something on the calendar that seemed plausible.  I opted for the Chicago Marathon even though a big city marathon seemed impossible.  A friend (Thanks Stef!) made the decision easy by pointing out that I could just buy insurance for the race registration, refundable hotel, etc.  If the Chicago Marathon didn't happen, I'd be out $50 at the most.  Sold.  With the rollout of the vaccine starting and some more time maybe we could get races back in their full glory by the time the starting gun goes off in Chicago on October 10th, 2021. One week later, my jaw dropped when The B.A.A. announced that the Boston Marathon was going to be held on October 11th, 2021.  At first, I was pissed.  I'm still chasing a 10 year streak of running the Boston Marathon, how could they pick the day after Chicago?  How rude!  However, my anger soon turned to excitem...
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Chicago2Boston Logistics

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It seems like only yesterday, but was actually 6 months ago, that I threw caution to the wind and started this whole Chicago2Boston journey.  To be honest, I spent most of the time assuming that I'd never really have to worry about it happening but now here we are so onto the logistics... This is not a normal kind of post but maybe my friends can help me figure out the little details that I'm forgetting!  In all seriousness, forcing myself to sit down and write all of this out helped me catch 3 or 4 different things that might have been forgotten so I guess it has already helped some. What to bring?  What did I forget? Click the title or here to see the list of stuff What to wear? Click the title or here to review the wardrobe challenges of 5 days and 1 carry on bag Friday, October 8th Buffalo2Boston How to get there... Delta kept f'ing with my flights so, "Hello JetBlue!" Where to stay... Nowhere!  Just picking up the Boston Marathon bib on the way to Chicago ...
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