New Boston Qualifying/Registering Procedures

I had been at a loss of things to blog about this week, and today I saw this article (Thank you Running Fit, for posting on f/b)
Boston AA Announces New Procedures for Marathon Registration, Qualifying
With my main goal of this spring being Boston Qualifying, this definitely caught my eye. I was amazed last year how fast the race sold out, and was actually relieved that I did not scrape together a hasty attempt to try to qualify in November since it would have been full anyway. I probably would not have done well, possibly re-injured/delayed the healing of my ankle, and spent a ton of money registering late to a race far away. All around, a bad situation, and I am so glad I didn't mess around with it.
I am also really glad that I have been hoping to not only qualify, but BLOW AWAY the time. Well, not really blow it away, but safely qualify, hopefully by 5-10 minutes. This would mean I would be allowed to register on either day 3 or day 5 of the process. These dates are going into my planner. Additionally, I was planning on using the Kentucky Derby Marathon as a backup, but do at least the half. Perhaps I will do the full just to try to improve my time, even if I do qualify. The entry fee is very reasonable. It will be my first race in my new hometown, so why not go big? I guess I will need to see how I do at the Martian, and go from there, as well as check the fee schedule.
I am feeling really good, though. 20 miler #1 with Cristina this past weekend was AWESOME. We had decent weather (no snow falling and dry pavement in February in MI = decent), and we were able to get in 20 miles in 2:56, or an 8:45 pace. Yes, this is slower than a BQ, but we were at a conversational pace (well, Cristina was, but I was able to talk for the most part), and the course we train on is much hillier (is that a word? spellcheck says so) than my marathon. Yeah, I am feeling good!