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BQ help

Dave LeggDave Legg
in General Training Discussions
Ok need some solid advice to pass along to my wife who is going to try and BQ July 28 at Jack and Jill in Washington. The course is a slight downhill race with a loss of 2,000 feet and 27% qualifying rate. She will be 55 on race day and need to run a 4:10 which would mean she needs to run about a minute faster per mile than her last race Sept 16 in Bozeman which is a net downhill race with that coming in the second half of race, which is at 4,600' altitude which we won't have to worry about. We live outside Ennis Mt and our house sits at 5,800' with either up or downhill type running in the area and her strong suit is downhill. So is this a possible goal to achieve? She currently runs 30-40 miles a week and I have seen a lot of improvement in her running since her last marathon. Would love to get her on the EN team, see how that goes. Thanks for your help
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Comments

  • Ann SloanAnn Sloan
    No helpful comments about BQ.  I live close to the course and run on sections of it a lot- just a couple of notes - the tunnel is DARK and cold.  Like really dark...and footing is uneven.  Then the course it's self is pretty much light gravel as you can see in the pictures.  I definitely feel my ankles if I haven't run on the trails recently.  It's beautiful course and absolutely FAST.    I usually pick up 15-20 second per mile b/w my out(up) and back.  
  • Dave LeggDave Legg
    Ann,

    Thank you for that info about the course. We do most of our running on dirt roads since we live out in the country so with that info and the fact you gain that much time per mile she got a smile on her face 
  • Derrek SanksDerrek Sanks
    How much has her fitness/MP improved since 2016? Can you plug recent race times (5Ks to HM) into a race predictor calculator (like EN's) to get an estimated marathon finish time? Then you'll know how much work is needed. Starting now, I'd have her race a 5K/10K, get her VDOT and training paces. Or find a running coach soonest. Good luck.
  • Peter GreaggPeter Greagg
    To run a 4:10 marathon, she needs to be able to run a 25:30 5 km and 53:30 10 km.
    So, I would be focusing on getting her 5 km and 10 km times to where she needs to be, before even thinking about endurance and so on.
    Just my $0.02.

  • Al TruscottAl Truscott
    Peter Greagg said:
    To run a 4:10 marathon, she needs to be able to run a 25:30 5 km and 53:30 10 km.
    So, I would be focusing on getting her 5 km and 10 km times to where she needs to be, before even thinking about endurance and so on.
    Just my $0.02.

    I agree with Peter - you must start with a realistic expectation of what is *possible* given your current running capability. Knowing what your current running speed means for a potential marathon, testing and proving it in shorter races, and doing sufficient volume to take advantage of that speed are key elements, IMO. So: train for 4 weeks specifically for a 5K, another 6 weeks to a 10K, then 8 weeks to a HM, finally 12 weeks marathon specific training. Over the course of this progression, increase weekly mileage from current 30+ to 55+ in the final two months (excluding taper). Judicious placement of recovery periods in this progression is essential to avoid injury.

    There are many freely available serious training programs floating around in books and online for marathon training. The one I used successfully when I decided @ age 55 to qualify for Boston was Advanced Marathoning by Pete Pfitzinger.
  • Dave LeggDave Legg
    Peter, Al so here is where she is at with the numbers since Thanksgiving day 10K and Santa run 5k this past Sat. with snow/ice covered road and sidewalk with 121' elevation gain in the first mile: 5k 26:06 and 10k dry roads 52:45. Trying to understand what you have suggested that this does sound doable at this point.  Al should she stay on the course of action you have described above? Not sure we have another 5k race in the area for awhile but do have 10k in mid March that she can do and then a half in mid June in Oregon since we will be over in that area. Thank you for your help
  • Peter GreaggPeter Greagg
    @DaveLegg Yup, 10 km in 52:45 is sufficient speed to hit the goal (around 4:06 for a marathon).
    Subject to @Al Truscott's view, I would target the 10 km race in March with a view to then specifically prepare for the half in June.
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