Forums >Racing>How to get to Boston
So I'm wondering what it would realistically take to get from where I'm at now, to qualifying for the Boston marathon. I'm 30 years old male, so I would need a 3:10 marathon time to qualify. I've run 2 full marathons and 4 half marathons over the past 4 years, plus a couple of shorter races. When training for a half or full, I average about 30-35 miles/week of running. I am 6'1", 190-195lbs generally.
Here are my best times:
Full - 3:55
Half - 1:39
10m - 1:15
10k - 0:45
5k - 0:21
1m - 6:00
So the main questions are how much I would want to increase my weekly mileage, and whats a good time frame to prepare for a qualifying race. Also is weight a factor since I'm on the heavier side compared to an elite runner.
Losing weight will certainly help. Apart from that do much the same as you've done before, but up the mileage a bit - maybe aim for 50 miles a week.
Your marathon time is not as good as your times at shorter races, so more volume and perhaps more emphasis on longish runs would be something to try.
For me it would be a fairly short flight to Logan Airport.
The process is the goal.
Men heap together the mistakes of their lives, and create a monster they call Destiny.
It will take at least a 19 minute 5K - probably 18
1:25 or under half.
10K I think 39 flat or under.
Double your mileage, drop 20lbs. 2 to 3 years maybe.
So I'm wondering what it would realistically take to get from where I'm at now, to qualifying for the Boston marathon. I'm 30 years old male, so I would need a 3:10 marathon time to qualify.
That's a 3:05:00 starting next fall.
I don't have the coaching know-how to recommend what to do to get there but good luck with your training!
You'll ruin your knees!
I took I-90 East...
""...the truth that someday, you will go for your last run. But not today—today you got to run." - Matt Crownover (after Western States)
The Beatles would turn left at Greenland.
+1
- Joe
We are fragile creatures on collision with our judgment day.
This group might be for you, and it could use some new blood.
http://www.runningahead.com/groups/UBQ/forum
Speed my steps along your path, according to your will.
Until you up your mileage and drop your weight, you really have no idea how much time or effort it will take. Your race times at low mileage and high weight are not really a lot to go on. Maybe you could do it in a year, maybe it would take several.
I second Racing Weight and Advanced Marathoning.
And yeah, it's now 3:05, not 3:10. Good luck!
Some good info here:
http://www.runningahead.com/forums/topic/9cfd4b90c83b46c8ae75dd78679efbf3/0
http://www.runningahead.com/forums/topic/6b5ffbe4fae44b2c82ee3871a82d8a8f/0
I usually take the Orange Line but tomorrow I'll drive. Oh, that's not what you were asking. Going from 30 to 50 miles a week will make a big impact on your race times.
dropped my weight, 20 pounds less,
Ran a steady 50 miles per week for 4 months. I ended at 60 miles a month before marathon.
Ran long tempo run, ended at 10 miles at tempo per week (I used McMillan calculator to find out the right tempo pace for me)
Ran 6x20 miler, plus 1x22 miler slow.
Did tons of XT....
and I did BQ and will be running Boston 2012.
My advice: be patient with yourself, or you will get injured.
Believe in yourself and your plan!!!
Good luck.
"Champions are everywhere; all you need is to train them properly..." ~Arthur Lydiard
So I'm wondering what it would realistically take to get from where I'm at now, to qualifying for the Boston marathon. I'm 30 years old male, so I would need a 3:10 marathon time to qualify. I've run 2 full marathons and 4 half marathons over the past 4 years, plus a couple of shorter races. When training for a half or full, I average about 30-35 miles/week of running. I am 6'1", 190-195lbs generally. Here are my best times: Full - 3:55 Half - 1:39 10m - 1:15 10k - 0:45 5k - 0:21 1m - 6:00 So the main questions are how much I would want to increase my weekly mileage, and whats a good time frame to prepare for a qualifying race. Also is weight a factor since I'm on the heavier side compared to an elite runner.
The weight does matter but it shouldn't be forced to come down too much. I'm 5'9"1/2 (used to be 5'10"....) and now probably 180+ and, though I AM quite a bit heavier than when I was competitive, I think I can easily prepare myself to run a marathon, if I wanted to that is, in 3:30 or so. My mile best, in the recent years, is 6:24.
The point is; your weight should come down naturally as you start to ramp up more mileage. While you should still need to watch what you eat, you shouldn't starve yourself to bring your weight down. Then you may be lighter but probably wouldn't have energy to run much at all.
Your time won't come down just because you run several marathons or halves. That's a crap-shooting approach. Some people go through their running career, running race after race, and never improve much and, if they did, they have no idea when. They just keep racing, hoping for PR. It may happen; but they have no idea when or why. You'll need a systematic training approach and, to do that, you'll need to evaluate a thing or two. For example, I don't know what sort of training you're doing but, considering you are still a young man, with relatively good leg-speed of 6-minute-mile speed. If you check ANY race calculator, it will show you that your race time, 5k and up, compared with your mile time, is not good. I don't have a calculator with me right now but, for example, my wife just ran 1:19 for 10-miler and she's run 3:47 for the marathon. I think she's run 5k in about 22-minutes. So what does that tell ya? So, again, I don't know what kind of training you do but, if you're doing some sort of quality training, like 4-mile tempo run or getting out and try to run as hard as you can or endless intervals, you should know that THAT is not what develop stamina. And it seems that stamina is what you lack to run a decent marathon.
Of course, this does not necessary say that you shouldn't do any quality work either. With 21-minutes 5k, you should be doing 3:20-ish marathon. That's still 15-minutes shy of your target. Naturally, you need to bring your 5k time down. A good news is; with 6-minute-mile speed, you should actually be able to do 5k much better than 21-minutes. So with that, you do need some sort of quality workout. So the question is what and when and how. You need to figure all those things out and put them all in a correct order so you can perform at your best on the day. Just getting out and running hard here, easy there...is not training. You may improve a bit here and there but you'll have no idea when. In other words, you may have your best run a few weeks before your target marathon and no amount of convincing to BAA by saying, "But look, I ran a 2:55 pace over 25 miles 3 weeks before XXX marathon and here's the proof on my Garmin!!" to get you BQ.