By: simone magri

simone magri — Sun, 08 Mar 2015 19:38:11 +0000

Hey I just stumbled upon this blog whilst looking for reviews on the FIRST program. Love what I am reading. So much positiveness and determination. I have been running for almost 10 years but for 2 years somewhere in between I didn’t race. My PBs are 1’36 for half marathon way back when I was 40 ( I am 47 now) my last half marathon time was 1’43 last year. This year I have not ran any halves yet but I paced my daughter last month to a 1’55 finish. We were aiming for 1’48 but it was her first and she ran in lots of wind and rain. I ran my first full last year in Berlin and finished in 3’58”
I was really aiming for a 3hr 50 nin but after 32k fatigue hit me. Now I know for next full I will run the distance a few times . Last year my longest run was 30k. I have trained with a few coaches. Some I liked for some reasons and some I disliked for other reasons. I do have a fav coach but due to the fact I changed job last year and now work as self- employed property letting consultant, my work hours are erratic, I work long hours and some days I am really mentally drained. Hence I prefer to train in the morning before my work day starts and for this reason it is hard to train with a coach as they all do track meets in the evening. I started looking into FIRST training and so so happy I found your blog. Thanks for taking the time to write it and give everyone so much insight into your training. I currently run 5/6 times a week . Last year i used to run 7 days a week. I also try to do strength training once or twice a week but don t always manage 🙁
With my last coach we would do track training twice a week, hill training once a fortnight or so. Easy 50 min runs in between and one long run every Sunday usually easy but occasionally tempo.
I think the FIRST program would work for me. I would do the three runs as advised by the book and instead of cross training I would run 50 min very easy and do lots of core ( I am obsessed with abs ) plus i tend to suffer from back pain so core really helps. This year I suffered from periformis and then from a huge pain along the inner side of my quad. Not sure what it was but icing and resting helped. For the Periformis I went for painful massage and foam rolled too.
I am going to buy the FIRST book and start the programme. I want to bring my time down to 3 hr 45 min for my next full marathon. My target and my goal is to one day run a 3 hr 36 min marathon and I wish to get there in few years. In Malta ( where I live ) there is only one full marathon-a-year. So I ll register for a few marathons abroad and train my ass off and hopefully my dream will come true. PS I am a non meat eater too but I do eat fish. Love fish too much especially Salmon..I will not give it up cos my body feels so good after I eat it. Otherwise I would say my diet is 90% vegetarian. I drink only almond and rice milk but I love cheese! Now I will keep on reading your blog 🙂

By: Michael Brown

Michael Brown — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 22:05:07 +0000

I qualified for Boston by 32 seconds and after 2010 they cut the bq times by 5 min and 59 seconds. I can attest to the importance of those 59 seconds (not to mention the five min). My point is that you have to be well trained but you have to keep your focus in those late miles! Its so important to “stay on task” telling your legs “u got this” “your ok” “your strong” “your tough” any of these mantras help to keep me “on task” always keep your head in the race. This Marathon is not 4 the weak. You have to not only want it, you gotta go get it! You can do it! I did by 32 seconds and kept talking until I crossed the line and smiled. God bless. Mb.

Comments on: How I Plan to Qualify for the Boston Marathon

By: simone magri

By: Michael Brown