JT qualified in 1983! Always cool to get a response from someone who ran Boston back in the days of the first running boom!

Name

JT

Sex:

Male

Age (at the time of first BQ):

29

Height:

5’10”

Weight (at the time of first BQ):

146

At which marathon did you get your first BQ?

1983 Grandma’s, Duluth MN

 

Tell us a little about the race.

Ran 2:40:18, my first and only marathon. 6:20 at the mile, 60:00 at 10, 1:20 at 20. Ran the last 10K in 40:18. To this day I keep asking why the hell I couldn’t have run 19 seconds faster!
Never ran Boston. Didn’t feel confident I could go any faster so I passed on it.

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

6 years

Did you run in college or high school?

No

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

6,000

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

2,500

Approximately how many races did you run in that year?

20+ (5Ks to 1/2 marathons)

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?

No

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

Didn’t

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

Probably stepped on the track 10X or so to run repeat quarters, fartlek workouts were definitely part of my training.

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

I was a 37 minute 10K guy in my late 20s running 30 miles a week. Made a commitment to run my marathon about 9 months ahead of the race. Slowly and steadily built my mileage up to 50-60 miles / week. About 3 weeks to a month prior to the race I had two 70+ mile weeks. Had 6 or so Sunday long runs of 20+ miles. Longest was 24 miles about three weeks prior. I tried to focus on making miles count. I was always looking to train at 45 seconds slower than my 10K race pace. As I was getting closer to my marathon my 10K PR dropped to 34:30 so I ran a lot of miles in the 6:15 – 6:30 range. Raced a lot on Saturdays before a Sunday long run. My Sunday long runs were always under 7:00 pace. FYI, just read thru my training journal a few weeks ago.