Name

Dewey

Sex:

Male

Age (at the time of first BQ):

47

Height:

5’8″

Weight (at the time of first BQ):

154

At which marathon did you get your first BQ?

The Louisiana Marathon

Tell us a little about the race.

Relatively flat course, cold (low 40’s), sunny, breezy.

How long had you been running when you ran your first BQ?

8 years

Did you run in college or high school?

No

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

6000

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

900

Approximately how many races did you run in that year?

10

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

no

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

Yes

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

Only ran 3x/week, and did as much volume on the bike (3x/week) as running, with relatively high-intensity intervals on the bike. Strength training with the legs 1-2x per week for 6 months before the marathon. Also swam 1-2x per week, but I doubt that had much effect.

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

Yes, traditional speedwork at track once a week, ranging from 400m in the summer to over 2 miles as the January race approached. I also did long intervals at and above race pace built into long runs, mostly toward the end of the runs.

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

Weight loss helped, strength training helped, getting aerobic volume on the bike helped, and all of them kept my legs stronger and mostly uninjured. It helped to have run the same course the year before my BQ, because I knew the hills, bridges, boring areas, etc., and I could prepare for them.