Name Bob D

Sex: Male

Age (at the time of first BQ): 39

Height: 5’10”

Weight (at the time of first BQ): 145

At which marathon did you get your first BQ? Loco Marathon (Newmarket, NH)

Tell us a little about the race. Advertised as fast and flat. Strava gave 861ft, garmin 504ft. Two loop race, miles 10-13 and 23-26 being on rail trail gravel. I think those miles from 10-13 helped save my legs for the second half grind. The trails were very muddy though which became more of avoid the puddles at all cost type of running. Pacers were setup for 7, 7:10 and other paces. I followed the 7:10 pacers for the majority of the race. There was some wind and drizzle, temps were decent though and no sun.

How long had you been running when you ran your first BQ? Started running Jan 2014

Did you run in college or high school? No

What was your approximate lifetime mileage at the time of your first BQ? 10000

How many miles did you run in the year before your first BQ? [Didn’t answer]

Approximately how many races did you run in that year? 3

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, 1 interval, 1 tempo, 1 slow long

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

Did cross training play a role in your training? If so, how? None.

Did speed work play a role or specific workouts play a role in your training? If so, how? Speed or tempo type work on tuesday and thursdays. Long slow on saturday or sundays. Other days super easy.

Any other thoughts you would like to share with those of working towards a BQ? Very odd cycle for me, I attempted a hadd style approach at first and was running decently fast long runs at 7:30/mi pace. Got burned out. Had some really poor long runs. Then rebooted, forgot about going for the BQ and just did Tuesday/thursday workouts and long runs slow (8/mi). Didn’t know how the marathon was going to go, simply decided race day I’d follow the 7:10 pacer and hope for the best. Took GU at the start, then at miles 4, 8, 12.5, 17, 21. Had one more but couldn’t stomach another. Carried my own gatorade water bottle + extra GU tablet dissolved in it. Took some aid station water but not much. Eventually I felt good enough around mile 23 that I felt like I could speed up a bit, didn’t work out though and barely gained a minute on the pacer. Finished sub 3:07 for a BQ below the new standard for 40 year old age group of 3:10. Also of note, I ran a 9/23 half in 1:28:46, was disappointed in that race as I thought I could go sub 1:28. Afterwards I sort of felt my body was geared more towards the marathon.

Number of 19+ long runs: 9
Number of 16+ long runs: 4
Number of 14+ long runs: 5

Max MPW: 71
Avg MPW from June 1 – Oct 28: 62
Avg MPW last 18 weeks: 63

Taper really was only skipping the long run previous weekend and taking a few days off week of the marathon and all easy 5-6mi runs.