DF, you know the answer. Jack Daniels and LBCM. And don't listen to Dev either. Even-split that bitch.

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t

2nd marathon for me, California International in 1995 (ran my PR of 3:06 there)....the following year's BM was the 100th and I opted out of it fearing that it would be a madhouse (which it turned out to be)...qualified again in 1998 at Napa with a bit slower time (3:14) and ran Boston the following April and had a blast.

Though my time sucked there, but a redeye flight two nights before the race will do that to you....

When I was "seriously" running the reference I used most was the "Comptetive Runner's Handbook" by Bob Glover and one other guy whose name escapes me at the moment. It worked pretty well for me, though my achilles heel then was having the speed but lacking the endurance (was able to run a 16:30 5k and a 35ish 10k but couldn't translate that into corresponding marathon times)....

So now I have the endurance but not the speed. Sheesh, getting old sucks sometimes...

Anyway, good luck on your quest. If you have the chance to run Boston, do it, it's an amazing experience.

It took me until my lucky 13th marathon to qualify. I could never stay healthy enough to train properly so just ran them for fun until a couple of years ago. Once I realized I could train healthy I cobbled together a program that really worked. I had a pr of 3:36 from the first 10 marathons. I did this program and dialed it down in three races. 3:25, 3:18, then 3:14 after turning 35. I qualified in Tucson which is a great race if you don't mind downhill running. Sounds easy but it humbles a lot of people who can't hold up for the distance down hills. Sounds like you are an east coaster so Jax is your bet.

The plan to half IM train for a while is a great one. It gets you in good shape without pounding your legs up too much. Then parlay that into a few months of marathon specific training and you are good to go.

My advice, don't try for 3 hours until you run the 3:10. Running sub 3hrs is takes a special combination of physical attributes, training, and experience. A few people can just go out and to their first one sub 3... but not many. Given your previous times, train smart and get yourself to Boston first... then go for sub 3. The difference between 3 and 3:10 is very big for most people. Don't bit it all off at once. Boston is special, don't jeopardize your chance at it by going for 10 minutes you don't need.

Once you are doing marathon specific training, make sure to do three things... 1, long runs at a slow pace. Just like in ironman, you need time on your feet. The difference between 20 and 23 miles in the long run is not a big deal. Just make sure you get in some long runs over three hours so you will have spent the entire race time on your feet. So 21 miles at 9 minute pace would get you a 3:09 long run. Element two is medium distance runs exactly at goal pace. In your case, about 7:10. Start at 4-5 miles and top out at 10-12. Gotta teach your body the exact pace but don't do it on the long runs because you will have had your race well before race day and won't have time to recover properly... good way to get hurt. Third is tempo/lactate threshold work. I use a combination of yassos (translate your goal time to minutes and seconds and do 800m in that time.... so 3:10 marathon is 3 minutes 10 seconds for 800m or half miles at 6:20 pace. The other temp work that is great for marathons is mile repeats 20 seconds faster than goal pace (7:10 - 20 sec = 6:50 pace). Do this with 90 seconds of rest and work your way up to 10 or so. The easiest thing to to is alternate the yassos and mile repeats every other week.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

I BQed at my first marathon (Long Island Marathon) in 2004 with a 3:23:18 and re-BQed at Boston 2005 with a 3:23:32. I ran a 3:26 on Monday with no speed work and no hill work for the last 8 weeks due to an injury.

For me, the key is consistency. 4-5 runs per week: 1 speed, 2 tempo, one long, one recovery. Combine this with IM base training and I have a strong enough endurance base to run strong at Boston.

Alot of folks use fall marathons like Chicago, Marine Corps or NYC as a BQ race because you can use it for 2 Bostons (i.e. Chicago 06 can BQ you for Boston 07 & 08). Find one that suits your strengths and train the course. I also suggest reading Hal Higdon's words of wisdom on his site www.halhigdon.com.

Good luck.
Kathy

Sounds very much like the Hal Higdon advanced marathon program, which I was leaning toward.

It's encouraging to hear the transition from IM/HIM training to marathon specific training has worked well for some - I was a bit concerned that the sudden shift to high-mileage running wouldn't translate well in terms of running speed & endurance. I suppose base is base for the most part.

The advice about going after the BQ first makes a lot of sense. It's been over a year since my last marathon, maybe I've forgotten how hard those minutes are to shave off & how easy it is to give them back when the going gets tough.

Thanks for all the replies - now if anyone has a functioning right knee they can lend me I'll be well on my way.

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The devil made me do it the first time, second time I done it on my own - W

I agree that Chicago is the best bet, if you can get a preferred start or at the front of the open section. It's flat with great crowd support and was my fastest of seven and an easy Boston qualifier. I ran a typical 6 day/week program, to 50 miles/week and with three LSD runs of 20 miles.

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"No more hurting people - Peace"

I just entered the lottery for the NYC marathon on Nov. 5th - guess we'll see what happens.

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The devil made me do it the first time, second time I done it on my own - W

Be VERY careful using Yasso 800's as a gage of your marathon fitness. When I'm in good 5K shape, I can run them in 2:30, but I don't have a prayer of running a 2:30 marathon. For Yasso 800's to be accurate, you have to put in the miles. Simple as that.

Both the Daniel's and Pfitzinger plans are fantastic and will work. I would STRONGLY suggest that you spend a month before starting one of these programs just working on your run base. All easy miles, letting your body adapt to the bigger volume, or you could find yourself struggling and injured, especially on the Pfitzinger plan. Try to get you miles in excess of 60 a week during this time, and just do them easy. Then start the plan with a good run base.

I qualified on my first time, and went under 3 hours at Boston using the Pfitzinger plan. However, I just PRed this fall doing only easy mileage, although I jacked it up from my typical 50-60 per week with a couple of interval or tempo sessions, to over 70 a week for 8 weeks of pretty much all easy mileage. I did 4 tempo runs the last 4 weeks, including a marathon pace run of 10 miles in the middle of a 19 miler. The pace I averaged for this run I averaged, to the second, for my PR. I did no intervals even though I very much like to get on the track and crank.

I just ran Boston on Monday - it's a goal that is very, very worth working toward. Best of luck with it!