I suspect that most people who finish a marathon and start planning their second (or third, or fourth…) at some point set their sights on running the Boston Marathon. There’s also a some debate about whether running Boston without qualifying (via charity bib) somehow cheapens the experience.
First of all, let’s dismiss that debate; If you run a race because you were able to raise $1000s of dollars for a charity, then you have achieved a much more important impact than just qualifying for the race. I’ve run on a charity bib once and found the experience rewarding, yet more draining than training. Qualifying for Boston helps nobody but you (and the races you helped support along the way).
That being said, I imagine the reward of qualifying for Boston carries a personal sense of accomplishment that is unmatched in the sport for most non-elites.
In my case, I’m definitely non-elite. I’m in my 40s. I’ve been running less than 10 years. I have no real running foundation from my youth. As posted elsewhere on this blog, I’ve still not crossed the 4-hour barrier in a marathon.
So why even talk about qualifying for Boston? Well, a funny thing happened to me during my last race.
While the final time was somewhat out of the blue (a full 8-minutes faster than the 1:45 I was aiming for), I specifically changed my training program last year with the goal of getting faster: More speed drills, more running at pace, more focus on nutrition (and weight loss), fewer running workouts (and more cross training) to ward off injury. It all seems to have worked.
The trouble is, as recently as a month ago, I had pretty much dismissed the idea of ever qualifying for Boston. Now I’ve run a sub-BQ pace for a half, so doing that for the full doesn’t seem completely out of the question, right?
[Incidentally, the 2018 BQ pace for me is 3:15, so I’m JUST under the cut for registration…and I know that the actual qualifiers have to run faster than that as they take you in time order, but at least I could apply.]
But how? Despite the fact that I felt strong at the end and had no ill post-race effects (apart from a bit of GI-related issues…my post-race meal was a bad choice), there’s no way I could have continued at that pace for another 13.1. I was probably 3-5 miles from cramping up. Obviously lots of long runs ahead of me, but what else can I do to extend, extend, extend for another 1:37 or so.
What have others tried? Is it just more of the same for longer, or is there some change I need to make to keep the trend line rising? How do I stop my legs from cramping up (the cardio engine is there for me). Advice sought. Let me know what worked for you.