September 11th, 2008
Jim asked a good question in a comment to the previous post and when I started to write a lengthy reply, I realized I might as well put it all out there in its own entry.
He asked, “Hey Flo, I should think if you hit your goal time, you’ll have a much deeper BQ than most people manage. Why not go for Boston if you do that?” Here are my thoughts:
A “deeper BQ” would exist only because of my age and gender. If I was a guy, I’d be sweating bullets to make the grade, wouldn’t even have a chance this go round. So it’s all relative when they give you a clear advantage. But mainly, I’m looking at the big picture…
They say you have 7-10 years of improvement for running when you start, no matter how old you are when you begin. We know that growth eventually slows down dramatically after the newbie rush and the PRs dwindle from minutes to seconds, but still, 7-10 years is the common improvement window given.
It’s been a little over a year and a half for me, so forget 7-10 years (who can think that far ahead?) but 2 or 3 years…that’s a time frame I can envision. So if I keep working a steady and straight line and manage to stay healthy, I could be posting some interesting numbers down the road, for an old lady anyway 
So when the day comes that I am really ready to tackle Boston, I want to do it as an Officially Strong Runner. That means more race experience; running harder races, hillier races and not caring so much if I PR or not, one who takes a bad race as just another notch on the belt. I’m quite far from that right now, still content to seek out the flat (or in Steamtown’s case, net downhill) races while I get faster, but that’s cool. There’s time.
So that’s the deal. I might get my goal next month at Steamtown, I might not, I might get a BQ but not the one I want, I might crash and burn out of nowhere, but whatever happens, Boston will be there when it’s time.
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Hey Flo!
I’m honored to have got a whole post in response to my little question. Good answer! I’ve been running about the same length of time as you, and only thought about marathoning after I ran a half and enjoyed it. Now I’m a little BQ-crazy. It’s nice to think of there being another 5+ years of improvement ahead though. One of my running friends remarked last week: “Jim, it seems like you get a PR every time you race!” At some point those PRs will thin out of course, and maybe having less pressure will be good, enjoyment wise. You think women have easier BQ times? I’m not so sure about that, but I’ll leave it to the statisticians.
Wow, I didn’t know (or forgot) that you were only as far into this running adventure as me, that’s so cool! Yep, we both have a good amount of growing left to do, isn’t that exciting?
Very nice that your friend called you out on your constant PRs, let them keep coming as long as humanly possible and when they don’t, let us have the attitude to be fine and dandy with whatever we get. But in the meantime, keep kicking ass, Jim!