BQ or Bust Week 1: Day-by-Day Training To Qualify For Boston Begins (16 Weeks to Chicago)

Run, Selfie, Repeat

Kelly Roberts

4.8 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 30 June 2025

⏱️ 15 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Welcome to Week 1 of my BQ or Bust journey as I train for the Chicago Marathon with one goal in mind: qualifying for the Boston Marathon. If you want an inside look at how a running coach tackles marathon training, you're in the right place.

In this vlog, I take you day-by-day through my first week of marathon training, sharing how I'm handling an early overuse injury, defining my why, dealing with summer heat, and setting the tone for the next 16 weeks. From adjusting mileage to balancing life, this series is all about making marathon training work for everyday runners, avoiding burnout, and having more fun chasing big goals.

The only way you fail is if you fail to try. WHY NOT?! Throughout the BQ or Bust series, you'll get: Weekly "Run With Me" treadmill episodes new every Friday Weekly roundup vlog + podcast episodes new every week depending on when I get them edited :) Real talk about training, the mental game, and the ups and downs of chasing big dreams

👉 BQ or Bust is sponsored by Fuel Goods — a women-run marketplace making sports nutrition simpler and smarter. Get $10 in Fuel Cash and 10% back on every order: https://fuelgoods.com/pages/partners/balg?ref=balg

👉 Watch the vlog on YouTube: https://youtu.be/grgjaXtMRrA

👉 Book with Amanda for a sports massage in NYC: https://empoweredself.co/

👉 Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kellykkroberts/

👉 Join our FREE online BALG community: https://www.balgcommunity.com/

👉 Come train with me + join my Badass Lady Gang Training Team: https://www.badassladygang.com/join-our-training-team

👉 Upcoming Training Experiences: https://www.badassladygang.com/training-experiences

👉 Get a Running Plan: https://www.badassladygang.com/running-plans

👉 Hire a Running Coach: https://www.badassladygang.com/private-coaching

👉 Learn more: https://www.badassladygang.com/

Transcript

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0:00.0	I'm scared.
0:01.0	Seven, six, five, four, three, two, one.
0:03.6	I'll be honest.
0:04.6	I'm nervous.
0:05.6	I was feeling so confident going into this round of BQ or bust.
0:09.0	Something I keep leaning on is this mantra, this mantra that I have that I discovered during
0:12.8	BQ or bust.
0:13.8	The only way you'll fail is if you fail to try.
0:16.2	I have been on a ride.
0:19.4	If we've never met before, my name's Kelly Roberts. Hey, I was one of the first
0:23.0	running influencers. I became like a full-time runner personality, an influencer, a creator in
0:30.2	2014. This clever athlete came up with a hilarious way to make the miles fly by in her half
0:35.9	marathon. 24 year old Kelly Roberts decided to take selfies with unsuspecting cute guys.
0:41.3	I started running in 2012.
0:43.3	And I used to call myself the former president of the I fucking hate running club.
0:48.3	I don't come from an athletic background.
0:50.3	I was a theater kid.
0:52.3	I got my undergraduate degree in theater. I never played
0:54.4	sports. I hated working out. I'm recovered from an eating disorder. Running and I have been through a lot,
1:00.6	which is hard because this thing that I found that gave me a lot of purpose very quickly became a
1:05.3	job. And this life-changing moonshot that I've been chasing for nine years now, BQ or bust, my journey to try to
1:12.0	qualify for the Boston Marathon has changed my life for better and for worse. This whole thing
	...

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