Name

Marina

Sex:

Female

Age (at the time of first BQ):

24

Height:

5′ 8″

Weight (at the time of first BQ):

135

At which marathon did you get your first BQ?

Chasing the Unicorn

Tell us a little about the race.

It was in August of 2015 right at the start of a heatwave in Pennsylvania. The temperatures were in the high 70s at the start with 85% humidity and rose to the high 80s with 90% by the end. The high for the day got up to 96. There were a lot of DNFs. With a cap of 300, about 200 started and roughly 150 finished. It was miserable. The course was pretty decent. It was a twice out and back course on a flat trail along a riverbed. It was my first marathon and I’m not sure I’d ever run it again.

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

12 years

Did you run in college or high school?

Yes

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

50000

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

2300

Approximately how many races did you run in that year?

25

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, I focused on high mileage

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

Yes

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

No

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

Yes, I was training for shorter races primarily at the beginning of the year, so I was working towards keeping my times fast in those races.

 

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

It was completely a snap decision to sign up and run the marathon that qualified me. My boyfriend had run Boston in April of that year and I decided that I didn’t want to wait until my New York City Marathon time would qualify me for the race in 2017. So we found a race to run before the qualifying window closed. I trained without letting my coach know what I was doing, which was probably dumb, but whatever. I qualified at the race and surprised everyone who didn’t already know that was the goal.