BQ or Bust
I’ve made qualifying for the Boston Marathon my goal ever since running a 3:43:34 in the 2006 California International Marathon. Unfortunately, injuries at inopportune times have trashed my training for the past two years.
I’m healthy now, and may even attempt a spring marathon. I’ll be 50 next month, and so I need to reduce my best time by at least 7 minutes and 35 seconds to BQ. That’s roughly 17 seconds per mile.
I’ll periodically document my progress here as motivation, but I’ll try not to bore you. Today I ran 6 miles in 49-flat, so I only need to string together another 20.2 miles at that pace and I’ll be set!
I improved 13 minutes from my first to second marathon, but I would be interested in hearing from others who are, or have been, in this situation – needing an attainable, but significant, PR in order to qualify for Boston.
Okay, I think it’s totally doable, especially if you choose the right marathon. I’ll use my marathon history as an example…
BTW, BQ for me is 3:10:59 or lower…
First – 2005 NYCM, Finished in 3:26:28
Second – 2006 Hartford, Finished in 3:11:33, (-14:55)
Third – 2007 NYCM, Finished in 3:08:18, (-3:15)
Fourth – 2008 San Francisco, Finished in 3:09:08
Fifth – 2008 NYCM, Finished in 3:02:20, (-5:58)
So I think it’s possible with good training.
Hope it helps, and good luck to you in your BQ quest.