Newbie doing marathon in 5 weeks looking for pacing advice

Bluesquare

Hi guys,

I would like to do a sub 430 marathon in about 5 weeks. I have a hm pb of just over 2 hrs. My last long run was a 19 miler at 319 and i felt very good after this. I still have two 20 mile runs left. I think I could probably to a ten minute mile pace- so dont know whether to go with the pacers or not- i i find it hard to self pace - i keep speeding up and slowing down whilst using the garmin.

Also is there any specific strategy advice for running with a partner as people hit lows at different times ??

thanks

RJC

My only advice for you is that in my first marathon the last 6 miles were like the 7 circles of hell. You will never feel like that again so if you don't achieve your time, don't be hard on yourself.

I remember planning a 3:27 for my first marathon and being delighted with my 3:59 (and 27 seconds) when I got to the finish line. I was beaten by 3 guys dressed as bananas which I had to cut out of my finish line photo.

Good luck.

bart simpson

RJC wrote: »

My only advice for you is that in my first marathon the last 6 miles were like the 7 circles of hell. You will never feel like that again so if you don't achieve your time, don't be hard on yourself.

I remember planning a 3:27 for my first marathon and being delighted with my 3:59 (and 27 seconds) when I got to the finish line. I was beaten by 3 guys dressed as bananas which I had to cut out of my finish line photo.

Good luck.

ah your getting me worried now!! im doing my first this year going for under 3:30 what kinda training did ya do for your first marathon?? did ya hit a wall ?? how did your pacing go? etc

misty floyd

Bluesquare wrote: »

Hi guys,

I would like to do a sub 430 marathon in about 5 weeks. I have a hm pb of just over 2 hrs. My last long run was a 19 miler at 319 and i felt very good after this. I still have two 20 mile runs left. I think I could probably to a ten minute mile pace- so dont know whether to go with the pacers or not- i i find it hard to self pace - i keep speeding up and slowing down whilst using the garmin.

Also is there any specific strategy advice for running with a partner as people hit lows at different times ??

thanks

Thats a hard one to answer and something you need to figure out really. Plug in your HM time into this. Its the macmillan calculator, not perfectly acurrate but will give you something to think about.

What kind of pace did you do your LSR's at and how did it feel?
Do you think you could have run them faster and kept it up?
You say its 5 weeks from now. Why not check your marathon pace with the calculator and run some Planned Marathon Pace (PMP) miles at the end of your next LSR (5 miles perhaps?). See how that goes.

If you think you could run 10 minute miles, then go with the 4'30 pacers and if you feel you could pick it up later in the race...do it.
The slowing down and speeding up with your garmin....do you use the 'average' pace or the rolling pace? I leave it on average and find that a lot easier to keep pace steady.

What marathon are you doing by the way?

misty floyd

bart simpson wrote: »

ah your getting me worried now!!

yeah the more I go around boards, the more worried I get about planned pace and what I would like to run the marathon in.

r.e my above post. I'm a relative newbie myself

RJC

bart simpson wrote: »

ah your getting me worried now!! im doing my first this year going for under 3:30 what kinda training did ya do for your first marathon?? did ya hit a wall ?? how did your pacing go? etc

Training was fine. I'd had on and off knee pain but a physio had sorted it out. I was easily able to knock out 20 miles in a LSR at 8 min/mile.

However, the wall will hit you at somewhere between 17 miles and 21 miles. I ended up dropping the pace to 9.5 min/mile and walking through feed stations and stopping for wees and any excuse to slow down.


The lesson I learned was to always do a 22 - 24 mile run in training (so you can mentally feel the wall in training) and to have a good nutrition strategy.

And to pray!

Pisco Sour

RJC wrote: »

My only advice for you is that in my first marathon the last 6 miles were like the 7 circles of hell. You will never feel like that again so if you don't achieve your time, don't be hard on yourself.

I remember planning a 3:27 for my first marathon and being delighted with my 3:59 (and 27 seconds) when I got to the finish line. I was beaten by 3 guys dressed as bananas which I had to cut out of my finish line photo.

Good luck.

Very random target time for a first marathon.

misty floyd

RJC wrote: »

However, the wall will hit you at somewhere between 17 miles and 21 miles

If you run it too fast that might happen. Many people finish a marathon without hitting a wall. Wish I could say I was one of them.

Bluesquare

Thanks for the replies.

I have used the mac millan calculator and reckon its to fast for me - I have read some article that made sense from a personal point of view that takes weekly mileage into account - and because I am a bit on the low side i should add on 50 secs to my half marathon pace which brings me nicely to a ten minute mile. my long runs have been bewteen 10:20 and 10:30 and i have felt that i could go the distance at this pace (it can be a bit dull ) Have two 20 milers left so i reckon maybe i can try doing a bit at the ten min mile pace. I am kinna hoping to have a bit left in the tank so i dont hit a wall but murphys law and all. Had an awful hm so worried about starting too fast. I suspose one you do a marathon you wil figure out quite quickly what you should have did.

I am doing the florence marathon. Any advice on a race srtategy when you are running it with someone else??

that article as mentioned above if anyone is interested: http://mysite.verizon.net/jim2wr/id208.html

RJC

04072511 wrote: »

Very random target time for a first marathon.

Just under 8:00/mile - seemed achievable based on training runs (has been achievable since).