Road to Boston

Everybody here runs 100+ miles per week, and started off running 2:30 marathons. You will get more replies @ coolrunning or on the runnersworld forums.

mppre wrote:

Everybody here runs 100+ miles per week, and started off running 2:30 marathons. You will get more replies @ coolrunning or on the runnersworld forums.

You are an idiot.

Atleast that is what everyone says they do! %^)

I started running back in 92 at age 33. I always wanted to run Boston. I was running 20 to 30 mpw. After a year or so I ran Boston as a bandit. At mile 19 I crashed and burned, knees, dehydration, etc. I trained more and wanted to qualify at some point but it seemed unlikely. I was running 5 milers at about 6:50 pace. At age 39 I had an ms scare and stopped running thinking I would never run again. After a year the symptoms went away and I started running again a little at a time. After about a year or so I started to get my mileage up to 30-40. Then I met a great group of runners mostly older who had run many marathons. I started listening to the stories and got inspired to try to attempt a bq. One of the guys was planning on trying to qualify at Sugarloaf in 6 months. I trained with him and got my mileage up to 50-60 w/20 mile long runs. I needed a 3:20. I actually never thought I'd do it on the first try but ended up with a 3:17 although after mile 20 on I felt so bad I didn't think I would hang on to even finish. I continued to race and got my 5 milers down to the low 6's and ran Boston the next year 2003. On a hot day I ran 3:28. Then in that fall I ran Ocean st 3:10. I currently am running around 70 mpw give or take and may try to break 3 hrs at a fast course this fall. I think I'm close. I recently ran a 1:25 half. A sub 3 would be unbelievable to me.

I know sub 3 is just a training day for most of you but for me it would be huge.

OK - I'll give it a go. My first marathon came within my first year of running. I finished in 4:26. It was painful. For some reason I was hooked. Read a lot about training from the Higdon's of the world and then came across letsrun. No joke. Got my mileage to the 60per week range and learned about recovery days. Got my boston qualifier after a few misses by running an even-paced marathon. Mile1 was two seconds off my average pace for the race.

To summarize - slowly build up to 60miles or more per week. Include recovery days. Do one longer run (15+) and one semi-long run (10+) per week. Learn pacing. Have fun. I now hope to increase my mileage even more because I know the results follow.

These stories are what I am looking for. Great job guys!

In 2000 ran Chicago in 4:34. Was pretty disappointed and knew I could do better...followed a pretty basic program - one long run of 20 miles.

Took 2001 off of marathoning and just ran...worked on getting my mileage up and buidling a base. No particular program - just running.

Tried Chicago again in 2002 and came up with a 3:29. Nice 65 minute PR, but still short of the BQ.

In 2003, hit Chicago for a final time. Ran 55 - 65 miles per week, 3 - 20 milers, hard 8-10 mile runs on Thursday nights and 30 secs BELOW marathon pace. Ran Chicago and popped a 3:07:08 to get my BQ. Did Boston last year and will be going back in two weeks.

The key for me was running about more miles and not being afraid to run hard. That same year I made my BQ, I did my half PR of 1:25:34 [Dexter / AA] and Crim 10 miler [63:15].

Just don't give up...get the miles in....run a decent amount of your miles at marathon pace and pray for good weather!

Good luck.

Paul - here's a sample training week and this is peanuts compared to the elite runners or the very competitive people who frequent letsrun. But it allows me to have some balance in life. Monday: 5miles on trails. Tuesday: 14miles with the second half at Marathon pace or faster. Wednesday: 5miles on trails morning, 4miles on trails evening; Thursday: 5x1mile repeats with 3 minutes rest betw. I do these at about 6:20 pace. 2mile warm up and 2mile warmdown. Friday: 4miles on trails or rest. Saturday: 22miles with 16-22 at or below marathon pace. Sunday: 5miles on trails. That's just under 70 miles.

Since I have a job, commute, family, the weekly schedule works better for me so I can plan life far in advance. If I have to skip a recovery day for any reason, including aches, so be it. But I try very hard not to miss the repeats, or the semi-long, or the long run. This program gets me in great shape for half marathons but I'm still not doing enough to carry me through a marathon. Boston was a goal and I did enough to qualify. My 5k through half marathon times all predict <3hr. performance but my best marathon is 3:08 using this above schedule. My only conclusion is that I need more miles and they can't be too tough to knock me out.

This doesn't sound like much to this group, but normally I'm a 25-30m/w guy. Over the summer I started putting in 40-45 and this fall at age 59 I ran Air Force at Dayton in 4:13 (no laughing!). A couple of months later I got my BQ in Columbus with a 3:54. I've been doing 50s trying to get a pr in Beantown. Last weekend I did a 45:02 10K race after a 7-mile mileage run. I'm hoping for 3:45 or better at Boston. It's not easy with a full-time job, but being able to beat most of my club buddies 15 years my junior sure is fun!

My story

Ran first Marathon@ 49yrs.Sydney olympics course 4:08.(2001) 4 months later.

Ran second Marathon L.A.(2002) 3:42(neg split 11 minutes). 5 months later.

Ran third marathon Gold Coast(Australia)3:22(2002) (even splits)

My age group Qualifying time for Boston 3:35.(was 3:30? then)

Maximum weekly Mileage 80k (about 50 miles)most weeks were less

The secret---consistency and staying uninjured.

Boston time 3:50:08.(2003) The only change in training was an increase to maximum week of 100k(62miles) by adding a midweek longish run.Did not perform well at Boston but had a good year in shorter events.