<p>I’m excited for you too! While I may not aspire to have as lofty of goals, you and others motivate me to make my own personal goals short term and long term. </p>
<p>Eat well, taper well. :)</p>
<p>abasket- Congrats to him on the consistent race and the finish! The problem with NY is that they have to get out to the start hours in advance and then sit around in the cold. That defeats a lot of people before the race even begins.</p>
<p>sabaray- taper time! You will get very crabby!</p>
<p>What do you mean get very crabby? I’m already a crabby person! Don’t tell my husband it’s only going to get worse! </p>
<p>Question about qualifying times. Just curious (not getting any personal ideas…). </p>
<p>What are typical qualifying times for some of the major marathons - or even local ones. What do they require??? Do they usually ask for a 1/2 qualifying time or lesser sized races??? My cousin who raced Chicago seemed to think that Boston had stricter qualifying times - true or not???</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.baa.org/races/boston-marathon/participant-information/qualifying/qualifying-standards.aspx”>http://www.baa.org/races/boston-marathon/participant-information/qualifying/qualifying-standards.aspx</a></p>
<p>Many races have no qualifying times to enter, but almost all have a cut-off time, so if you don’t finish in, lets say, under 6 hours, you will not get an official time.</p>
<p>abasket, kudos to your brother! He did extremely well. Races of that size are brutal on the average runner who, as MOfWC said, has to wait for eternity to start the run. </p>
<p>Thanks Deborah! Wow, those times seem to be to be pretty lofty. Not to sound rude or judgy, but some people that I’ve seen on tv and such for Boston don’t appear to be running at those paces! My cousin mentioned that she needed a 4 hour qualifying time - and she wasn’t far off. She’s in a new age group now but it looks like her Chicago time was still five mins off - she wasn’t looking to qualify and make another trip to the states for a race, but interesting to note. </p>
<p>There are also options to raise money for a charity and gain entry that way. The fundraising goals are pretty lofty, though - and you have to guarantee the amount with your personal credit card. </p>
<p>You’ve got a speedy family, abasket! </p>
<p>Boston is the only marathon with a qualifying time, although some of the ultras have qualifying requirements. (well, the Olympic Trials Marathon has qualifying times) Many of the huge marathons have a lottery for gaining entry. Since I hate large races, I don’t worry about it. </p>
<p>The Boston qualifying times were a lot harder back in my day, but had to soften as the race got larger. They tightened them back up a little a couple of years ago, and the general opinion is (and this isn’t me saying it just because it affects my age group) is that the older women’s groups really took a disproportionate hit, making it much harder to qualify for Boston. Those runners you see who look slow in Boston…remember it is all relative. They might be among the best in their age group! There are a number of charity spots but you have to raise a LOT of money. The local running clubs who support the race with volunteers also get some slots.</p>
<p>BB, you forget how awesome you are. It being a 26+ mile race, any runner doing marathons has gone far beyond average. Folks who do them like you do are rare. 
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<p>I’m in Vegas for the week. Anyone have running biking hiking suggestions? I’ve done red rock and mount charleston looking for something different</p>
<p>Very interesting info ladies, thanks. Interesting, but good about the charity spots.</p>
<p>Also love that technology allows us to “follow” racers. Though we were out of town yesterday, I was able to tap my phone and get updates on where my brother was and was doing in terms of distance and time to put my mom’s mind to ease that he wasn’t on the course being trampled in some shape or form. </p>
<p>ohio- I used to go to Vegas often for business things. I ran the Strip, but it’s really a pain now that you can’t really cross the streets without going up and over the overpasses. It can only be done early in the morning, too. You could run out to UNLV and run on their track. It’s not far from the Strip and I have run there, too. There are a lot of paved paths and dirt trails in Henderson, if you are out that way. Watch out for snakes on the dirt trails. </p>
<p>Thanks MOWC. I usually stay downtown away from the traffic gridlock. I’m going to Henderson soon and rent a bike and do the river loop trail</p>
<p>A few pages back I linked to a NYTimes story about women who train for marathons when pregnant. One of them followed up with a video of her workout: <a href=“A Pregnancy Workout - The New York Times”>http://www.nytimes.com/video/science/100000003206785/a-pregnancy-workout.html</a>. You might get some ideas, i-dad.</p>
<p>She’s pregnant with her fourth child. Here’s the original article, <a href=“For Pregnant Marathoners, Two Endurance Tests - The New York Times”>http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/26/sports/for-pregnant-marathoners-2-endurance-tests.html</a>.</p>
<p>The comments are interesting. Some people feel these women are narcissistic, addicted, extreme, obsessed. A friend of mine (mother of 3) saw the photo of a very pregnant Clara Horowitz Peterson and was totally grossed out, saying she’s abnormally thin and unhealthy.</p>
<p>I think as long as the runner has a doctor’s OK, there’s nothing narcissistic about exercising during or after pregnancy.</p>
<p>Wow. I’m just skimming the comments and find quite a few of them offensive and ignorant. </p>
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<p>When my children were infants, H provided quite a bit of their care. I couldn’t breastfeed because of health issues. I supposed if I had breastfed them I’d be indicted for endangering their health because of medications I needed. Yikes. The tone of many of the comments seem to focus on pregnancy being unsightly or unattractive. I honestly don’t think women can win. Whatever you’re doing, someone seems to think you should be doing something else. </p>
<p>Did an hour on the bike. Hills plus some wicked wind gusts made for some tough spots. Glad to have it behind me for the day.</p>
<p>Marathon runners just inspire total awe in me. Can’t imagine running one at all, much less carrying a little human being in progress inside me while doing so!</p>
<p>It was wicked cold for my half marathon on Saturday! It was 32 degrees with 19mph winds. I was really dreading standing around in the starting corrals but that didn’t end up being as bad as I had feared. Between having tons of people mobbed together and the building breaking the wind, it wasn’t that bad. But I was cold a good part of the run, especially the times running directly into the wind. The finish area seemed to be a wind tunnel and I got very very cold then. I think the cold helped me run, though, because I ended up with a time of 1:49 which was much faster than I had even hoped for. I’m not sure if I can ever do that again. DH also ran well, he was just a minute and a half behind me. I am having vague thoughts of trying for a marathon next year, but I’m sure I would have to do a run/walk method.</p>
<p>Nrdsb4-I think wind gusts when bike riding are a killer. Glad you got through your ride OK!</p>
<p>fireandrain-I read that article about the pregnant runners when you posted it last week and was just amazed. Especially the lady with 4 kids. I can’t even imagine. I am in awe. I totally don’t understand why people are judgemental about the choices these athlete moms make. We all make choices in how we raise our children, pursue our careers, and live our lives. For the most part, we all do the best we can - we should be supporting each other not finding reasons to tear others down.</p>
<p>Gym workout tonight - I hope my trainer goes easy on me. My knee is sore and I don’t need to make it any worse.</p>
<p>Wow, great time C3Baker! Nice run!</p>