Lessons Learned on the Road to My Boston Qualifying Time

I wanted to share my journey to achieving my recent Boston qualifying time, along with some lessons I learned on the way. Let me tell you, it was quite the emotional rollercoaster! It’s been 10+ years since I’ve qualified for Boston. I knew that being ten years older (I am now 47) would make the faster times harder, but I was determined to give it my best shot.

I signed up for Snickers Marathon in Albany, GA for March 2022 with the goal of qualifying for Boston. For my age group, that meant I needed a time of 3 hours and 50 minutes. My most recent marathon, ran in March of 2021 was my slowest one to date, at 4 hours and 19 minutes. Would I be able to run nearly 30 minutes faster? I had done a lot of training over the summer, though, and made great improvments in a few fall half marathons, so I was confident that I could reach my goal.

My training went well. I did a 16 week plan that was very similar to the plan I used to qualify ten years before. Training peaked at around 60 miles per week with long runs, tempo runs, intervals, marathon pace work, and plenty of easy runs. I stayed healthy and injury free, and showed up to the race ready to go for that BQ goal.

My race plan was to run between the 3:50 and 3:45 pace groups. With Boston, you sometimes need a cushion on your qualifying time to guarantee entry. (In some years, it could be several minutes below your qualifying time, depending on how many entrants there are.) I arrived at the start line of Snickers Marathon feeling great, feeling confident, and feeling ready. My husband was running the half marathon, so he was there to see me off, and my running partner was also there to spectate me and her husband (who was running the marathon).

The gun started and the pack was off! Within the first mile I quickly fell into my goal pace, 8:45 per mile. My plan was to stay between 8:35 and 8:45 for each mile to reach that 3 hour and 50 minute goal. Soon, I was with the 3:45 pace group, so I settled in with them.

The weather was good, it was a little bit warm and humid, but nothing to affect running performance much. Our pace group was ticking off the miles, but I felt very crowded and crunched up in the group. That was not something I practiced in training, running in a tight group. My stride felt off, so I decided to pull just a little ahead of the 3:45 pace group. That would ultimately be a BAD decision for me.

The miles were clicking away, I was hitting my splits perfectly. I was starting to come in just under 8:35 pace, there was a slight tailwind, so I just went with it. Miles 6 through 10 were a really flat section and I was really running well. I even got a little greedy thinking maybe I could go sub 3:45. I saw my friend at mile 10, and that gave me an even bigger boost.

And then the course got hilly. It enters some neighborhoods with small rolling hills and lots of turns. I was still running strong…until I wasn’t. At mile 13, I felt very fatigued. This was WAY too early to be feeling the marathon fatigue. I did my best to stay in my pace window, but I was slowing down.

At mile 16, the 3:45 pace group caught back up to me. Whoops. I knew then that I had made a mistake by going out in front of them. I WILLED myseld to stay with that group a minimum of 4 more miles, to carry me to mile 20. This was SO hard, but the pacer was great and very encouraging. The miles went by so slow, and I just kept trying to hang on to that group.

I stayed with them until mile 21, a small win for me that I met my goal of hanging with them until mile 20. At mile 21 it was a water stop, and I just couldn’t get myself to catch back up. I watched them pull away, as I struggled to keep running.

The next five miles were me just trying to hang on. I was doing the math in my head of how much of a time cushion I had until my 3:50 time goal. I still had a few minutes to spare, and it was the only thing keeping me going. At mile 22 (or so) I did make a point to be grateful for where I was at, and grateful that I am able to run, and grateful that I can put myself through challenges. This definitely helped keep my head in the game, instead of turning it into a pity party.

Mile 23, mile 24… they were going so slow. My water stops were starting to not be quick, as I dilly dallied trying to drink more water (it was starting to feel a little warm at this point). I kept checking my watch, checking the overall time, and calculating what pace I needed to keep to still come in under 3:50. I still had not blown it, but the cushion was getting smaller.

Mile 25, mile 26…I still had it. At this point I finally KNEW I still had it. I just had to get through that last mile and cross the finish line. The course had a lot of turns here, but I barely remember them. I remember the final turn through some trees, and that final finish. My friend was there, yelling her head off for me, and I gave it all that I had. I crossed the finish line in 3:48:12. I made it!

I stood there, a little stunned for a second, and hobbled through the finish line. I was looking for my husband, and couldn’t find him anywhere (apparently, he was right there, weaving through the crowd). He finally found me and exclaimed “YOU DID IT!”, which at that point I finally emotionally broke down and cried, right there at the finish. He laughed at me, because usually I am not a crier, but this race was definitely and emotional rollercoaster.

Even though I got a Boston Qualifying time, my final time gave me only a minute and 45 second cushion for entering Boston, so I was nervous that it would not be good enough. In years past, you have needed 3 or 4 minutes UNDER your goal time to still make it in. When it was time to apply, I sent my registration in, and hoped for the best. Several weeks later, I finally got the email I was waiting for. I was accepted into the 2023 Boston Marathon! Definitely worth all of the emotions (and tears).

Even though I reached my goal, I still learned a few things about racing a marathon. My lessons learned on my road to a Boston Qualifying Time:

• DO NOT go out too fast. I should have known this one, this wasn’t my first marathon! But I felt so good and fell into that trap. You always pay for it later.
• Give yourself small goals within the race. Telling myself I had to stay with the pacer from mile 16-20 gave me something much smaller to focus on (instead of the 10 miles left), and a confidence boost when I achieved that.
• Take a moment to appreciate the race. Instead of spiraling into bad emotions, I made sure to feel grateful for where I was at and for the opportunity to race.
• Do not lose hope. You can think that everything is going wrong, but if you just keep going you can still reach your goal.

So there you have it, my journey to achieving my Boston qualifying time. It was a rollercoaster of emotions, but it was all worth it in the end. And I learned some valuable lessons for my next big goal.