Hi,
I am running a marathon in a few days and I have not settled on a
target pace. This will be my second marathon, although my first was
quite a few years ago. If anyone is kind enough to offer some advice I
would GREATLY appreciate it.
Below you will find some information about my training and racing this
summer, as well as some other miscellaneous data. I have relied on the
Runner's World intermediate training program, and I have adhered to it
pretty much religiously, including the tempo runs and the repeats. On
cross-training days I have been mountain biking and road biking. Also,
some basic stats about me: I am 34 years old, 5'10" tall, I weigh 153
pounds, and I'm very healthy -- if you don't count the stress of my
insane life. This is just background info to give you some
perspective.
1. Sample of races I ran this summer:
June 20th - 10K: pace = 6:56
July 18th - Half-Marathon: pace = 7:14
July 29th - XC 5K: pace = 6:50
September 5th - 10K: pace = 6:50
The half-marathon course I ran in July is identical to the marathon
course which I will be running on September 12th (except, of course,
I'll be running two laps instead of one). In the half-marathon I ran
at 7:30 pace for about the first half and then I ran negative splits
for the remainder of the course, to average 7:14 (finish time was
1:34). I have run progressively better personal best times in each my
last three or four half marathons.
2. History:
I have only run one full marathon in the past: the 2000 Pittsburgh
Marathon. My performance was sloppy in terms of pace and the heat was
pretty bad – that was the year of the Olympic trials when it was
pretty brutal. I ran a time of 4:08, and my splits were very uneven: I
ran the first half at 7-something pace and the second half much more
slowly. Otherwise, I did mostly the right things: I drank water
regularly, consumed sports beverages with the water every 10-15
minutes, and I didn't ever really bonk – I just slowed down a lot. I
felt fine when I finished, albeit very hot and a little woozy.
3. Training:
Most of my weekday training has been on a crushed limestone path and
my long weekend runs have been on asphalt. My longest run took place 3
weeks before the planned marathon – 22 miles – and I felt like I could
have easily run another three or four miles. I also recovered very
quickly from the 22-miler. All of my long training runs (everything
over 10 miles) have been at a very relaxed pace of 9 minutes/mile. My
shorter midweek runs are generally faster – anywhere between 7:30 and
8:30 pace. Repeats, obviously, are run closer to my 5K pace. I have
been injury-free throughout my entire training program this summer.
I'd appreciate your thoughts on what pace I should aim to set, and any
other tips that you might have.
Thank you very much!