Flush from a great half marathon, that question pops into my head "What are my chances of qualifying for the Boston Marathon?" and I would love to hear feedback from my friends here. I am guessing if I up my training to 5 days/ 36 miles a week for a few months, and then embark on a marathon training program, I have maybe a 25% of making it. I think I have to run 20 -30 sec/ mile faster than my current speed. If you would disagree on my chances, I would love to hear of it. Currently, my plan is to wait until I run a 1:45 (or so) HM (yeah, dream on) and if that happens, then transition to a 6 – 8 month marathon training program. Here are what I think are the pertinent facts. • I turned 54 this past February. I am thinking about the possibility of qualifying at the age 55 standard (3:45). My race times have improved somewhat since I turned 50 (when I started running again). • I have run two marathons, but they were back in the 1970’s (poorly trained, my best time was 4:11:15) • My best race times are 23:19 (5K, 10/07), 48:43 (10K, 3/08), 1:49:53 (HM, 5/08). The 5K time is a bit soft. I would guess that currently I should be able to run a 23 minute 5K and a 1:48 HM (on flat course). • I currently run 4 times a week, around 30 miles with a long run of 12 miles and have been pretty steady with this pattern for the last six months or so and it has worked out good for me. In the last few years, I ran 923 miles (05), 917 miles (06), 1028 miles (07), 1229 miles (08) and am on track to run 1400 miles this year. I probably could go to five times a week and 36 miles/ week as a base fairly easily, but it would take some time. • I am relatively injury free. I had two bouts of ITBS in 2006, but am recovered. Both bouts seemed to occur as I was upping my mileage and doing longer long runs. I feel though, that I know enough now so that this shouldn’t be a concern. • I don’t think I should/ can lose any weight. I am 5’10” and 130 pounds. • I have never been very fast. When I was 23, I ran three 10K’s (best time 44:39) and tried to break a six minute mile (6:11 was the closest I got). • I don’t think my running form is very good (e.g. my brother says he can recognize me running from far off), have never been formally coached, and I have sense that my technique could be improved. (for example, in all of my race pictures, my feet look like they are barely off the ground). • I could travel a bit to find a good marathon to qualify at (probably would be CIM in Sacramento if I travelled, otherwise it would be the Surf City marathon in Southern California) • Although I would love to qualify and go to Boston, I don’t feel like I have to. In other words, I am not as driven as some other people about these things. I think the main questions I have are: How much faster could I get with more miles? Could I get any improvement with formal coaching? I would be happy to answer any other questions to assist you in this idle speculation. Thanks for reading and for the history of support.

How much faster could I get with more miles?

Try not to think of it as getting faster, but rather holding the speed you have for a longer period of time. In this case twice as long. More miles will certainly help you there. I'm not sure what else you have going on but if you can squeeze a 6th day of running into the week it would help. ... and what srlopez said.

It is absolutely certain that if you start a marathon training program, you can do it. You have the natural speed and the ability to do it. The only real question is will you transition to running the extra miles the training will require?

Miles, more miles , then run more miles. Also read up on Arthur Lydiard. His training philosophy fits your needs at where you are in terms of running. I feel that people who lack natural speed can compensate by upping their weekly volume of miles, since this allows you to carry whatever speed you do have over a longer distance. Your ht. and wt. are perfect for running long distances. You can even swap out doing speed work by doing 1 or 2 races a month. Remember, your goal is to run a marathon faster, therefore endurance is the key factor. I can nearly guarantee that if you could get up to and run 60-65 mile weeks, you'll get your 3:45 just off of distance work. Last thing, even though you'll be doing more miles, try to run them at a steady clip rather than a "survival" pace. Alex

Husky - I bet you’re in better shape than when you ran your first marathon back in whenever it was. However, just to get a feel for it, why don't you run your heart out with your brothers in the June Green River Marathon Relay part and just keep going at an LSD training pace to get the idea of nutrition/hydration for the marathon distance again. See you there? ps - if you really want to BQ, maybe change your name to mariposai.

Go Huskies! Go huskydon! I take great interest in this thread b/c my situation is analogous (except I need to lose 4 lbs). I have a 1:50:00 HM done, but that was 1.5 years ago. This year (including Sunday) I've run 3 HM's in the 1:53 range. As people point out, it is not a slam dunk for me to run a 4:00 marathon....I just need to gradually increase the miles so I can extend the HM stamina farther out....

I refrained from responding to this one because I just don't have the experience or knowledge base. But I've enjoyed reading the responses and want to wish you the best! Sounds like the more experienced folks think it's very doable with a good plan so go for it!

I'd want to see that HM time down to at least 1:46 before I would give you a reasonable chance to run a 3:45 marathon. The reality is that relatively few runners run marathon times faster than what their shorter races project. The calculators say mid 1:46's but they assume something close to optimal marathon training. That's the bad news. The good news is that you WILL end up running a half marathon at least that fast if you execute the plan you have outlined. No one can say for sure just how much you will improve, but in all probability it will be significant. I like the idea of building the mileage up to 36 mpw and holding it there for a while before beginning your marathon training. You have allowed ample time to get yourself in great shape, imo. The only question is the same one that we all have, which is whether we will be fortunate enough to make it through the training. It usually takes a lot of dedication and determination combined with a little luck. There is no doubt that this is a goal you are capable of achieving. Enjoy the journey. ETA: I checked out the Surf City and it looks like a good one. It got me thinking about it. The Web site is nice and reviews on marathonguide.com were very good.