My target for this year was to qualify for Boston 2013 but reading these stories is making me think twice! Well done to everyone who had the guts to start.
I ran my second marathon on Sunday (not Boston, obviously), and was wondering if the more experienced marathon runners here could give me some advice: I originally had sub 3:10 in mind way back in November when I started training, but a 1:26 half 5 weeks ago made me think I could hold a 7:00 pace to give me a qualifying time of sub 3:05. Long story short, it wasn't to be, I finished in 3:08 but I had a mini-collapse of sorts the last few miles (8:00+ pace, after solid 7:00-7:10 most of the way) - just total agony in the legs and couldn't go any faster. Energy levels were good, but this was such contrast to my first marathon (3:28 but with a strong finish) it was a bit of a shock. I followed Daniels program A with a peak of 60 MPW which probably averaged to 50 - I suspect I just didn't do enough miles?
My second question is what to do about the next marathon. There is one in 22 weeks, but according to Daniels, you need 24 weeks to build the mileage - if I chose to peak at 80 next time, do I need to start with a few months of easy running? (In which case, 22 weeks isn't enough) Or, can I just take it easy for 3,4 weeks then pick up with the tempo workouts without 6 weeks of easy running, since I already have a base from the last training cycle? Might be a stupid question, but when you are trying to build your training on your own with a book, these things can drive you nuts.