Qualifying for Boston realistic?

Well using your 1:17:30 10 mile time McMillan puts you at around 3:37 for the marathon, of course that all assumes proper marathon training (whatever that means). So, yes, I think 3:35 is completely doable, especially since you have only been running 30 miles per week.

Is qualifying for Boston doable in your next marathon? Tough to say. I'd think that 30 mpw is far too low to run your *best* marathon, but maybe it is enough for you to qualify for Boston. I'd be pretty surprised, but some people just have good innate running talent.

It all depends on your goals. Personally, I would take a long time (read: a few years) and build your mpw to at least 60-70. This will put you in a much better position to run your best marathon. Hell, I'd think you could shoot for 3:10-3:15 off of that. However, if all you want to do in running is qualify for Boston then that changes things. It seems like you have some good running talent, and so would probably respond well to one of the popular training plans. Which one depends on you. Pfitz is a popular choice. Don't like the long runs? Maybe look into Hanson's.

The usual marathon-specific training ingredients include long marathon-paced efforts, long intervals (like 2-3 mile reps), long cutdowns, etc. (getting the theme? ... the keyword is long). Try those out, see what you respond to, and repeat.

... Just don't get injured.

Thanks a bunch for the advice. I'm not running a marathon until November so I've just been doing the 30 miles/week thing until I start an 18 week training plan (yet to be chosen, thanks for the suggestions). Based on where I'm at now would you recommend a training plan that peaks at 55 miles per week rather than one that peaks at 70-80? I peaked somewhere around 40 or 50 last year. That's the most I've ever done and I didn't get injured last time. I occasionally felt some soreness on the outside of my knees most likely from IT imbalances but it was never bad and I assume that almost every marathon runner goes through that? I need to stretch and strengthen more, I know!

70 to 80 seems way too high to run 3:35. I ran 70-80 going up to Richmond last fall with a goal of running 3:08ish (and I ran 3:11 with a horrible headwind and not a very good race). If you're only running 30 miles/week right now, trying to get up to 70 (let alone 80!) is not going to end well. If you were getting IT band issues with 50 miles/week, don't risk going up to 70. I went through the IT band stuff when I transitioned from college running to marathons, and if you try and push through it you can kiss your fall marathon goodbye. Also, since you're aiming to qualify to run Boston in 2017 (since RIchmond is too late to qualify for 2016), keep in mind that you can always do a spring marathon next year if you aren't ready to run 3:35 in November. But if you go all out with 70 miles a week trying to seal the deal when you aren't ready, it might backfire.

Good point on the reps. I found this while researching 'thon track workouts. I'll probably ditch the Yassos for now and go 5x1000 or 4x1600 or even longer, like 2x3200, etc.