Well That Was Quick...Entry to 116th Boston Marathon Has Been Accepted

I applied to run the 2012 Boston Marathon last Wednesday night, September 21st, thinking I had applied too late in the process to get into the race (especially after hearing that the 2011 race sold out in 8 hours). At 10:30 a.m. I received the following email notifying me that my entry has been accepted. I'm in!

Wish I could say that I'm going to start training for it today! My eye is still in healing mode after a vitrectomy to correct a detached retina 2 weeks ago and my doc says NO RUNNING still. <grumble>

But I'm out there walking every morning. Better than nothing. Hoping in another couple weeks I'll be back to my usual running routine.

Dear Conejo Joe,

This is to notify you that your entry into the 116th Boston Marathon on Monday, April 16, 2012 has been accepted, provided that the information you submitted is accurate.

A Confirmation of Acceptance card will be mailed to you via US Postal Service mail in October.

In early April 2012, an official Number Pick-up Card and Welcome Booklet regarding the B.A.A. Boston Marathon and related race week activities will be mailed to you via US Postal Service first class mail. If you do not receive your Number Pick-up Card (required to claim number) and brochure by April 7, please contact our Registration Office at registration@baa.org. Registration related inquiries may also be directed to 508-435-6905.

Note that bib numbers will not be distributed on Race Day. Your travel arrangements should take into account picking up your number at the Seaport World Trade Center in South Boston on Friday, April 13 from 2:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., or Saturday, April 14 or Sunday, April 15 from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

JetBlue is proud to be the Official Airline of the Boston Marathon! Take $10 off each way with Promo Code RUNBOSTON12. Book your flight to Boston between September 24, 2011 and April 11, 2012 for travel departing April 12-15 and returning 16-18. Promo codes can only be redeemed online at www.jetblue.com/promo.

Get the best hotel rates by using the Official Lodging form from Marathon Tours and Travel. For more information, email info@marathontours.com or call 617-242-7845.

For additional tourist information, please visit www.bostonusa.com

We look forward to seeing you in April! Best of luck in your training!

Sincerely,

Boston Athletic Association

World Record Time in Men's Marathon Set Today at the Berlin Marathon

Andrew Makau won the Berlin Marathon for the 2nd year in a row today in a world record time of 2 hours, 3 minutes, 38 seconds. This is 21 seconds faster than Haile Gebrselassie's previous world record time set 3 years ago on the same course. 2:03:38 is a tad under 4:43 per mile. At this point in my life, I'd love to do ONE mile in that time! That's an incredible time!

Makau's time in last year's race was 2:05:08, so he shaved a minute and a half off of last year's time. A minute and a half represents an improvement of about 1.2%.

Makau's 5K split times were as follows:

• 1st 5K: 14:37
• 2nd 5K: 14:40
• 3rd 5K: 14:35
• 4th 5K: 14:38
• 5th 5K: 14:48
• 6th 5K: 14:20
• 7th 5K: 14:38
• 8th 5K: 14:59 (slacker)
• Final 2K: 6:23

Talk about consistency!

Looking for a personal best time? The Berlin Marathon appears to be a good bet. The last 4 times the men's world record was set took place in Berlin today, 2008, 2007 and 2003.

For the last 30 years or so, men's and women marathon records have been almost exclusively set in London, Chicago, Rotterdam and Berlin.

Congratulations, Patrick Makau!

Oh What the Heck, Let's See If I Can Get a Boston Marathon Entry

I've run the Boston Marathon two times. The 100th Anniversary race on April 15, 1996 was the world's largest marathon ever (at least at the time) with nearly 39,000 entrants. I signed up for that race to be part of the celebration.  Then I ran the 2000 Boston Marathon on April 17, 2000.

The 1996 race was supposed to be purely a "fun run" for me to be part of the big celebration. I had run a 2:37 PR Los Angeles Marathon on March 3rd and my body should have been resing for 3 to 4 weeks afterward. But I looked back at my records and boy was I intense back then. I didn't even take a day off, and after a "light" week was ramping my mileage up to 60 to 80 miles per week. Then I raced 2 5Ks in 7 days, with times of 16:18 and 16:23. That was 9 days before Boston.

Boston came and mentally I'm pumped to race it given my recent performances. But it was a biting cold day that I wasn't prepared for physically...yes, I did not bring warm enough clothes and there was snow on the ground. I was miserable before the race.

I knew I should have just stuck with my original "fun run" goal but my ego told me to go for it and see what happens. Well the details are blurry but as I recall the last 6 to 8 miles were a death march, though I managed to pull my lifeless body to the finish line in 2 hours, 45 minutes.

The next Boston was another "milestone" race....the "New Millenium" Year 2000 Y2K race (remember all the stress and concern over Y2K...ah yes, the good ole days). I ran a 2:36 at the Long Beach Marathon in November 1999 and was set for a decent performance at Boston.

In that 2000 race I was doing pretty well up until Mile 15, when I had to make a pit stop. Pit stops are never good for me...completely take me out of my rhythm. I was at 1:18:30 at the halfway point, exactly half of 2:37. But with that pit stop and shivering cold winds (I noted there was a strong headwind and my teeth were chattering loudly at the end of the race), I managed a 2:43:49. The good news is that this was my Boston PR. But my performance was not up to par.

At that point, I had run 2 miserable, cold Boston Marathons and I was done. Put a fork in it. I love Boston but that was it for me. No mas. Finito.

That bring us to today, the 7th day in a row that I have not run, due to my retina surgery last week. I've pretty much written off my Fall Malibu Marathon plans. What to do....

I was checking out one of my fav running websites, MarathonGuide.com, and noticed an article indicating Boston Marathon 2012 has been open for registration since September 12th and ends September 23rd. Today is the 21st.

Last year the race sold out in like 8 hours. This year they changed the process to help ensure the fastest runners have a better chance of getting into the race. So the first 2 days of registration was limited to runners who beat their qualifying standard by 20 minutes or more. I looked back at my Malibu Marathon time of 3:05 last year and saw that it beat my standard by 25 minutes (sometimes it pays getting old).

So I thought, well what the heck. My wife wants to go to Boston, so why not just sign up and see what happens. I qualify for sure but given I signed up 9 days after registration started, I'd say my chances are pretty slim at getting in. I don't see how it would be possible, unless they see I was way under the standard and let me in to the club.

If not, I'll be slightly disappointed but also relieved. I'll keep my $150 and start pondering a West Coast race.

Interesting, I had to "acknowledge that my ($150) entry fee is non-refundable, even if the race is cancelled." That's pretty intense.

Detached Retina Forces a 30 Day Hiatus From Running - What the Heck?

So a couple weeks ago I noticed there seemed to be something in my right eye. Figured it would go away. Wasn't too obnoxious, just occasionally a spot would make it look like there was a fly or something. They call these things "floaters" I later discovered.

But they didn't go away. They got gradually worse, to the point where my vision was slightly blurred last Saturday through Tuesday. Little floaty shapes and black spots, kind of like a dirty camera lens. So I called the ophthalmologist and they were nice enough to fit me in for an appointment the next day.

The doctor took a look, and by the tone of his voice, it didn't sound good. I'm usually cautiously optimistic at doctors' offices and have never had a major ailment. But when he asked me to stick around to meet with the corneal specialist, that was not a good sign.

It took the 2nd doctor about 2 minutes to tell me I needed to go in for surgery...TOMORROW. Somehow the retina in my right eye became detached. Had I waited another week or two, chances are I could be losing some eyesight. He was in surgery the next day, and within minutes I was scheduled at 9 a.m. for a vitrectomy and cryopexy sclural buckle. In layman's terms, remove the vitreous fluid behind the retina, attach a silicone band with a cryogenic procedure and place a gas bubble in there to allow it to heal. Or something like that.

Everybody asked me, what caused this to happen. We just don't know. Could have been knocked in the head 20 years ago, could be the fact that the eye is nearsighted, could be family history, who knows.

Crap. Here I am, Friday night, one day post-surgery. The surgery seemed to go fine. But for the next 7 to 10 days I can't even see out of my right eye until the gas bubble dissipates.

Hopefully my eye will be fine, though now no doubt I'll have cataracts at an early age as a result of the surgery. But hey, people get cataract surgeries all the time.

But as a result of my completely out of the blue problem, I can'd do anything overly physical for at least 30 days. Yep, that's right...NO RUNNING!!!  I looked back and if I do refrain from running for 30 days (and I plan to unless somehow the eye feels completely back to normal sooner and I can run very lightly), that would be the longest no-run streak since I started running 1993.

In 1993, for some reason I took 25 days off from running in the October/November time frame. I don't know why. My notes are sketchy and I can't recall. The good news is that, 4 months after that break, I ran my first marathon, the 1994 Los Angeles Marathon, in a rainy 3 hours, 3 minutes. I was a lot younger back then, but I'm encouraged to be reminded that I took a long break and came back quickly.

My 2nd longest hiatus from running since 1993 was in 2006, after I was, ahem, neutered. Yes, you don't wanna be running around after someone messes around with you down there.

So perhaps my sudden misery will result in something new, something big. In a way it is kind of a relief being forced to take off an entire month from running. I've been having a variety of physical ailments and perhaps this experience will allow me fully recover, then come back with newfound passion.

So while I sit here, typing this with one good eye, the other closed and sore (like a fork and knife are stuck in it), I have faith that this is yet just one more temporary challenge in this game called life.

And the other good news...is that they did say that I'm allowed to WALK when the eye starts feeling better. Chomping at the bit...over and out.