Dave ran a BQ last year, but he’s looking to better that time this weekend… Good luck Dave! Keep us updated on your race goes!

Name: Dave P (@dponthego)

Sex: Male

Age (at the time of first BQ): 41

Height: 6’6”

Weight (at the time of first BQ): 205

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

Last Chance for Boston (Dublin, Ohio), February 24, 2013 3:13:33 here’s a link: http://mvnusid.blogspot.com/2013/02/from-dl-to-bq.html

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

Almost three years. I ran one season of track in 8th grade, but nothing after that.

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

By the time I achieved my BQ, I had run nearly 4,000 lifetime miles.

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

A little over 1,600.

Approximately how many races did you run in that year?

10-12

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

For this marathon, I primarily followed “Faster from the 5K to the Marathon” but didn’t do all the high mileage. I had found in two previous marathon attempts that I had nailed my first 20-mile training runs and then struggled in the actual marathon. For this race, I never ran over 17 miles in training and decided to save the big run for the day it mattered.

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

My best friend and running partner, Cindy W, helped keep me accountable with all of my workouts either in person or virtually.

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

Yes, since I was bouncing back from stress fractures in both legs just months before attempting this, I had started swimming a couple times a week and definitely utilizing a stationary bike so that I got lots of workouts in but they weren’t always taxing my legs. I also had a more than two year streak of doing 100 pushups and 100 situps each day going and that core strengthening really paid off.

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

Definitely. I did numerous interval or ladder workouts as well as speed work on the track to help. You just can’t overdo those.

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

Mental training was really big for me with this one. I had walked at least four miles in each of my two previous marathons. I read Denny Dicke’s book “Unleash the Champion” and worked hard on my mental approach with visualization and goal setting techniques. It definitely paid off. In order to knock 28 minutes off my previous PR, it took sacrifice and hard work. But boy was it worth it when I crossed that finish line.

Side note: That finish time ended up not getting me into Boston in 2014 due to the increased interest. I missed by 11 seconds.   I got my second BQ in October 2013 at the Columbus Marathon with a slightly faster time (3:13:25) and hope to use that for the 2015 race. And, I’m running the Erie, Pa. marathon next weekend to try to improve on that.