Damn, this dude ran a lot of miles at a young age…

Name: Max

Sex: Male

Age (at the time of first BQ): 22

Height (at the time of first BQ):  6′ 1″

Weight (at the time of first BQ): 160

At which marathon did you get your first BQ? Lincoln Marathon

Tell us a little about the race. Hot (76 at finish) day on a relatively flat course. Inclines and declines are very slight until about 16 miles. The last half marathon is a spoke out and bank with the out portion being uphill and the back being downhill. There is also no shade on the back half (ugh)

How long had you been running when you ran your first BQ? 8 years

Did you run in college or high school? Yes

What was your approximate lifetime mileage at the time of your first BQ? 13,000 mi

How many miles did you run in the year before your first BQ? 2,200 mi

Approximately how many races did you run in that year? 2

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

Did you run with a running club or utilize a coach? No

Did cross training play a role in your training? If so, how? I lifted weights 3x/week for the first 2/3 of my program, but only did bodyweight workouts the last month as an attempt to increase my “peaking”.

Did speed work play a role in your training? If so, how? Yes. Pretty much just basic interval workouts and tempo runs a few seconds faster than race pace. Tempo runs great for building confidence

Any other thoughts you would like to share with those of working towards a BQ? In my opinion increasing mileage is the best route to take towards decreasing your time. I ran about 50-60 mpw during my training and wish I could have been in the 60-70 range.

Also in general, you can never hydrate too much.