Name: Kelly

Sex: Female

Age (at the time of first BQ): 29

Height (at the time of first BQ):  5’2

Weight (at the time of first BQ): 130

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

Tell us a little about the race. Conditions were ideal for a BQ. The weather was perfect, in the 40s and 50s. The course is super flat, especially compared to Atlanta where I live and train and which is incredibly hilly. This was my first marathon, so not really knowing what to expect, I stuck with the 3:35 pacer until mile 15/16 when I picked up the pace a little bit. Hovered around 8 minutes until miles 23-25 when I really started to feel the distance and slowed down a bit. Hit 8:00 for mile 26 and finished in 3:33:16.

How long had you been running when you ran your first BQ? 14 years

Did you run in college or high school? Yes

What was your approximate lifetime mileage at the time of your first BQ? 5600? Total guess

How many miles did you run in the year before your first BQ? 1000? Total guess

Approximately how many races did you run in that year? 4 – 1 5k, 2 10ks, 1 half marathon

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, Ran 4 days/week. 1 long run, 1 tempo/speed workout, 2 easier runs

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 swam occasionally – usually 400 yards x 4 with a warm-up and cool down, or something like that. I took an entire 9 days off in the middle of training to go on vacation to Patagonia but I hiked about 50 miles, so that should probably be considered cross training, too.

Did speed work play a role in your training? If so, how? Yes, I tried to run speedy 1 day a week. Nothing super regimented. Usually 800m repeats or mile repeats. Sometimes would just do a fartlek run if I couldn’t get to a track.

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