Name: Darrell R

Sex:M

Age (at the time of first BQ): 32

Height :  Six feet one inch

Weight (at the time of first BQ): About 160

At which marathon did you get your first BQ? Tell us a little about the race.  

Steamtown Marathon – Scranton Pa.  Fast marathon with net downhill.  This was my second marathon about six months after the first and I was much fitter for this race.  Ran 3:17 at first marathon and 3:05 at this one (BQ was 3:10)  I could have run faster but when I realized I was going to BQ I started taking it easy to make sure I made it in.

How long had you been running when you ran your first BQ? Did you run in college or high school?  

I never ran in high school or college…up until I started I hated it.  I lost a bunch of weight (35 pounds) on diet alone and then decided I liked to eat so I took up running to burn calories.  Almost exactly 12 months later I ran Pittsburgh Marathon and six months after that Steamtown and BQed.  Boston was my third marathon.

What was your approximate lifetime mileage at the time of your first BQ?

My log says it was 2,790 miles.  Pittsburgh I was under trained for peaking out at about 50 MPW.  I was much better trained for Steamtown.  Not much quality but many more miles under the belt.  I peaked at 70 MPW and was over 60 MPW for at least 8 weeks before the taper.

How many miles did you run in the year before your first BQ?

2,272

Approximately how many races did you run in that year? 

2 marathons a half and a couple 5ks

Did you follow a canned program? If so, which one? If not, can you give us an idea of what your training philosophy was?  

I ran a lot…..typical week was 5 days 9 miles easy, 1 day 5 miles recovery and 1 day 20 miles.  I did very little quality just ran a bunch of miles.

Did you run with a running club or utilize a coach?

Nope, all solo early in the morning before the kids get up

Did cross training play a role in your training? If so, how?  

I don’t like to XT so I do it very little.

Did speed work play a role or specific workouts play a role in your training? If so, how?

Back at that point I was just trying to get the miles in and stay injury free so I did very little speedwork.

Any other thoughts you would like to share with those of working towards a BQ?  

There is that saying ….run a lot, mostly easy, sometimes fast.  (or something like that).  That’s it, I think almost anyone could qualify provided they are willing to run lots of miles for weeks and months on end to do it.  You have to want to qualify, or love running, enough to get up and go run every day even when you don’t want to.