friends want me to run boston in the spring, but i'd need to run a qualifier in a marathon debut this fall
ive been running around 27 flat for 8k xc lately. were i to try at the end of the season, i'd only be looking to hit the qualifier. is this something that should not be a problem or would it be very difficult?
If you've been doing decent mileage/long runs, it should be no problem for you. But I would make sure to train specifically for the marathon (especially a few 20 milers) so you don't get any surprises.
This should not be a problem at all. I ran an even 3:10 this year and I later ran a 36:38 10k. The marathon obviously wasn't a great race, but for someone running 27 minutes on an 8k cross country course, you should be under 3 hours even on a bad day.
I ran 3:03 last week in my debut off a peak of about 55 miles and ran a PR 38:55 10K in August. If you've got decent mileage under your belt, I'm sure a 3:10 will be faily easy for you.