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Bolder Boulder Race Plan

27 Saturday May 2017

Posted by Ed Mahoney in Running

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Bolder Boulder, race course, race strategy, race tactics

BB shoe

Everyone has a race plan for running the Bolder Boulder, until they run up that mile-long hill on Folsom in the second mile.  That’s when they learn that at altitude, even slopes feel like mountains.  I like strategerizing my race plans ahead of time.  My goals for Memorial Day include running faster than the year before, and to do so with a sub 7 minute per mile pace.  The fun in planning is from knowing this course so well.  I know every turn, every uphill, every down slope.  I know the third mile will very likely be my slowest and the fifth mile will be my fastest.

So another goal will be to run the third mile better.  One clever way to do that is to run slower the first two miles.  It’s not easy starting slow in such a massive race stacked with screaming spectators from start to finish.  The excitement is amped up, and my BA wave will start out fast.  I’m going to try to run the first mile a little over 7 minutes, maybe 7:05.  Rinse and repeat for mile two.  That will have me averaging over 7 minute miles, but if I can commit to race mode at the top of Folsom Street, I’ll make it up over the next four miles with a sustained surge.

The best place to start my surge might actually be half way into mile three at 4KM on Glenwood Drive.  This is near the high point of the course.  The streets undulate a bit here and continue a slight climb to mile four, which is where I historically start my surge.  It’s also where everyone else surges.  When they zig, I’ll zag.  One issue with this plan though is that the street gets crowded in the third mile as starting waves begin to converge and it might be difficult to pass other runners before mile four.

I’ll leverage that convergence at 4 kilometers.  Runners who have started 60 seconds behind me in the next wave and maintaining a 6:40 pace will catch me about here.  Surging will be easier if I can follow after a faster runner as they pass me.  The question will be how long I maintain my surge.  I don’t expect to be able to hold it to the end.  That’s fine, but I’d like to maintain it through mile 5.  And I’m not certain I can run a 7 minute pace.  I’ve only been running on weekends for the month of May, and might have lost some conditioning.  I’m certain I can maintain a 7:20 mile pace.  Regardless of pace, the plan for Monday is for a conservative start and an early, sustained surge after two miles.  I’d like to break 44 minutes.

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My Surge Strategy

27 Friday May 2016

Posted by Ed Mahoney in Running

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

2016 Bolder Boulder, Bolder Boulder, race course, race strategy

I talk a good deal about racing.  Honestly though, my idea of racing is nowhere close to what a real, or at least younger, athlete does.  I’m not referencing speed because that is obvious, but the willingness to push oneself beyond reasonable limits.  As we age, most of us become comfortable.  We add weight.  I’m 10 pounds over the medical range for my height.  Older athletes like myself still enjoy races, but we rarely push ourselves beyond our lactate threshold.  We stay within our limits.  We might even chat while racing, I do.  Maybe we put on a good kick, knowing the end is near.  I rarely even do that, afraid of pulling one of my delicate muscles.  More often than not, I tend to cool down the last half mile, I slow down, to ensure I live to run another day.  I maintain that’s what wise old runners should do.  Although this isn’t my plan Monday morning for the 2016 Bolder Boulder.

course map

While I’m not in race shape necessarily, I believe I’m in good enough condition to race sections of this course hard.  Because I’m in decent overall aerobic shape, I should be able to surge for short sections and then recover, sort of like running a fartlek workout.  I’ll take the first mile easy, because starting out in oxygen debt will ruin this entire plan.  Although, I plan to start my first surge just before the one mile marker, and carry the surge around the corner down Pine Street to Folsom.  It’s a short section, likely under a quarter mile.  I’ll run steady up Folsom, there’s a small dip mid way into the second mile where I’ll try to  surge again if I’ve fully recovered.  Otherwise my next surge won’t be until Vista Hill, a little over half way into mile three.  This is where the racing truly starts for the elites, Vista Hill is strategic.  It’s followed by two more rolling hills, ending at Casey Hill just past the fourth mile, all three hills marking the top of the course elevation profile.  I’ll attempt short quarter mile surges on the downhill sections here, and recover on the uphills.  From here is a mile and a half downhill run through downtown Boulder, around Pearl Street.  This is the fastest section of the course.  Anyone racing runs their fastest pace in the fifth mile.  The real trick is to hold this fast pace past the fifth mile onto Folsom.  I couldn’t do that last year.  I’ll try harder this time.

elevation profile

No point in saving anything for the final half mile after the bridge over Boulder Creek.  It’s the steepest climb of the course and very few of the runners that I might have passed on Folsom will be able to pass me back here.  Everyone slows down for the hill that enters the stadium.  I’ll race for 5.75 miles with my surge tactics and cool down the final half mile.  If I can recover at all atop the final hill, I won’t so much as kick to the finish line, but I’ll try to surge again with a strong enough stride that looks good for the cameras.  Chances are though, I’ll just pretend that final hill isn’t there.  I’ll block it from memory, even while running it.  There is no spoon.  It’s nice to finish in Folsom Stadium, but not at the cost of climbing that hill.

The risk in this plan is that I won’t be able to recover sufficiently after a surge and my overall time will be much slower than if I were to run an even pace.  In fact, if I were in racing shape, I would of course run an even pace, because that’s what you do.  So in a sense, this is a wildly stupid plan, but it will be brilliant if it helps me to break 45 minutes. Odds are, I won’t break 50 minutes and will be running in oxygen debt the entire second half of the course.  But it might provide me some ephemeral moments of racing glory.

Signaling today that I’m going to run hard Monday certainly sets myself up for failure, but I like forecasting because it gives me that extra push.  Running is like golf in the sense you are really just competing with yourself.  Sort of like how betting on sports makes the game more interesting, there’s nothing like putting a little pressure on yourself with a pre-race prediction.  See you at the finish line.

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Run Austin

19 Thursday Jan 2012

Posted by Ed Mahoney in Running

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Tags

Austin Half Marathon, ball buster, race course

I registered for the Austin Half Marathon today.  That makes 3 half marathons between now and April 1st.  Register for any more and I won’t have to train in between – I’ll stay fit simply from my weekend events.

This is a call out to all my friends in Austin to join me.  I’ll be down there for most of February hanging out at my mom’s house – spending quality time.  And no doubt washing windows.  It’s not an easy course.  In fact, it’s a ball buster if you’re not in shape.  Think hills.

At a high-level, it’s 5 miles up slope, followed by 5 miles back down the same slope, although on a different street.  And the final 3 miles are over the rolling hills west of downtown Austin.  While I don’t consider myself in good enough condition to run the full marathon – at least not without pain – I suspect I’ll run this in 2 hours or less.  I’ll treat it like a workout by starting out slow up South Congress.  I’ll unwind running down South 1st Street.  Then focus on maintaining good form over those final hills.  Should be a good beer drinking day.  Having run the full last year I can tell you this is a well run event.

40.137598 -105.107652

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