I'm at less than four weeks to my next marathon and my first one to try to qualify for Boston. I have 27 minutes to drop to just qualify, which is probably not fast enough to actually get registered. I probably need at least another five minutes, or a total of 32 minutes. Not realistic? Here are my goals and my plan:
I'm currently at 4:22 (10:00/mi pace) (Rock 'n' Roll USA, March 2013).
To get to my PR of 4:14 (Ithaca Marathon, 1982), I need to drop eight minutes (9:41/mi). How? From the remaining 3+ weeks of training, which includes two more long runs of 21 miles each.
To break 4:00, I need to drop 14 more minutes (9:09/mi). How? Cooler October temperatures, net downhill course (-250 ft), and draft from fellow runners.
To just BQ (3:55), I need to drop five more minutes (8:58/mi). How? Motivational signs and other crowd support.
To have a chance to get registered, I need five more minutes (3:50; 8:46/mi). How? Doppio loading and running on the resulting fumes.
Actually, based on one of those race times predictors, my marathon times predicted from my 2013 5K, 10K, and Half times are 3:40, 3:33, and 3:43, respectively; although my coach Jason says those predicted times assume great or perfect training, in order to realize the predicted potential. So, all together, perhaps my plan for BQ is The Half Onion version.
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