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Jon Allen
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« on: October 06, 2008, 09:41:41 am » |
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After the bad weather at several marathons over the weekend, I have already seen many runners discussing trying to maintain/improve fitness and do a marathon sometime in the next 4 months, rather than calling it a season now. Having a blog contingency somewhere could be a lot of fun. Who would be interested, and what marathons sound good? I am already eyeing Rocket City, St. Jude, PF Chang's Rock-n-Roll, CIM, LA marathon, etc.
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Dustin Ence
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« Reply #1 on: October 06, 2008, 10:22:29 am » |
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I'm game for almost any of those.
CIM looks fast and at sea-level
P.F. Chang- fairly flat I think?
St. Jude- Saturday race!
When is the LA Marathon?
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Superfly
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« Reply #2 on: October 06, 2008, 10:31:55 am » |
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For selfish reasons I'd be really interested in going to Tucson (fast, downhill=PR). However if a group was going to PF or CIM I'd feel good about that too. I'm leaning more on sticking to something in the wild wild West as opposed to the mid or Eastern portion of our beautiful country.
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Dustin Ence
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« Reply #3 on: October 06, 2008, 10:37:09 am » |
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I know those guys that went to Tucson last year said the course was different and slower than advertised. Clyde I think we could probably get a good group to go to either of those in the west. I know the Bull, and Mike are wanting another marathon soon, as well as myself. Hooper's dad lives in Sacramento and maybe he would feel in shape enough to run.
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James Winzenz
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« Reply #4 on: October 06, 2008, 11:30:32 am » |
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PF Changs is in January and is pancake flat (ask jtshad). However, it is on a Sunday for those who have qualms about running on a Sunday. So is Tucson, for that matter. LA Marathon is on president's day (Feb. 16), is basically at sea level, and although it has a bit of undulation to it, would probably be a pretty fast marathon. Last year's winner ran 2:13, and that appeared to be in less than ideal conditions. It appears that we already have a fairly large blogger contingent interested in LA, if that would help to pique interest.
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Paul Petersen
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« Reply #5 on: October 06, 2008, 11:42:23 am » |
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I need redemption for my whole year, but it's all dependent on my latest injury situation. For me, St. Jude is my first choice, simply because the course is a loop, it's on a Saturday, money 10 deep, and Sasha has said good things about it. I could be talked into CIM, because it's much closer and also pretty competitive, but it's also point-to-point and net downhill, which I'm trying to avoid. Tucson would probably be scenic, but like I said earlier, I'm pretty much through with downhill races. Plus, from most accounts, St. George is still quite a bit faster than Tucson, so PR's might be hard to come by anyway.
PF Chang I'm sure would be good, but I imagine I'll be in hibernation mode by then, and just trying not to freeze to death every day. Another cool-looking race is Carlsbad, late January. There is a half marathon and a marathon. I did the maps and profiles for it a few years ago, and thought it looked fun. It would be much lower-key than PF Chang (but still good comp), and Carlsbad/San Diego is a much cooler town than PHX.
Regarding LA, it is having a change in management, so hard to say what kind of race and what kind of competition it will be. But surely it will be an improvement over Devine. It would be fun to take FastRunningVan over with a whole bunch of people. But on the other hand, LA is a nightmare (think navigating traffic in a 15-passenger van), and I have no real desire to ever go there.
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Sean Sundwall
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« Reply #6 on: October 06, 2008, 01:09:39 pm » |
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Anyone who can run their best race 30-60 days after SGM, you are a much stronger runner than I am.
I would not run LA. I have heard terrible things the past several years and the weather is very unpredictable...in a bad way.
One other to consider...Houston on Sunday, January 18th. I am running the half marathon as part of the USATF Half Marathon Championships. Both races are very fast. The winner last year won in 2:12 and the top American was 2:25 and change.
Waiting until January might give folks a better shot at truly getting redemption.
Registration for Houston is full but elites can still get in.
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Jon Allen
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« Reply #7 on: October 06, 2008, 01:29:31 pm » |
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Anyone who can run their best race 30-60 days after SGM, you are a much stronger runner than I am. Good point, Sean. Though after the way a few of us ran (me, in particular), it would not take a great individual race to beat my time from St. George.  That said, I think 8 weeks would be a minimum for me to recover. 12-16 more ideal, but like Paul said, some of us "run" into winter training issues the later the marathon is. Hard to run 80-90 mpw in the dark and on ice. |
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Superfly
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« Reply #8 on: October 06, 2008, 02:29:39 pm » |
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Recovery time will be my biggest issue. I'm guessing the first part of December might be too close... but I'll know within a couple weeks how I'm feeling and what the time frame will be. I'd really like to plan one with a group so I'd be willing to compromise my own agendas.
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Sean Sundwall
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« Reply #9 on: October 06, 2008, 02:37:42 pm » |
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If you get lucky, it won't start snowing in earnest (except for you Logan peeps) until January. By that time you will be tapering for Houston...where it won't be snowy or icy.
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Paul Petersen
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« Reply #10 on: October 06, 2008, 02:56:04 pm » |
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If you get lucky, it won't start snowing in earnest (except for you Logan peeps) until January. By that time you will be tapering for Houston...where it won't be snowy or icy.
Yup, except for us Logan fools. I had an free entry, hotel, and flight to Houston for the Half Marathon Champs last year. But then I developed tendinitis in my hamstring, probably due to poor traction on icy and snowy roads. Had to cancel my entry. Ever since then I've been jaded about trying to hold a peak for winter racing. |
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Josse
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« Reply #11 on: October 06, 2008, 08:28:21 pm » |
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Oh how I would love a redemption race, I just don't know if I am up to extending my training. I have been going scence the begining of the year and I am ready for some rest. Plus I told my husband I would be done racing for a while.
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jtshad
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« Reply #12 on: October 07, 2008, 01:01:14 pm » |
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PF Chang Rock N Roll Arizona is indeed a pretty good course, although not quite pancake flat. It is not very scenic and the support is ok.
I am also looking into a "redemption" race and am looking at the Space Coast Marathon in Florida on Nov. 30. I have a friend who lives right there, it is VERY flat at sea level and the winning times are reasonable for consideration of placement.
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Jon Allen
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« Reply #13 on: October 07, 2008, 01:15:26 pm » |
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I may be in Florida at the end of November for work... and I stay right by the course.
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Sasha Pachev
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« Reply #14 on: October 07, 2008, 01:22:04 pm » |
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I've tried redemption races before, and most of them went just as bad or even worse than the original unless I calmed down and was successful in discovering and fixing the cause of underperformance.
I would recommend a local 5 K for redemption if you are itching to redeem yourself. At least you can try it several times. And the probability of something going wrong is much smaller.
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