RunningAHEAD - Topic: Half Marathon PR Plan?

marcus_g

posted: 3/20/2008 at 10:19 AM

I've got a half-marathon planned in 2 weeks. The current pace calculators all have me between 1:31:16 - 1:31:39, which would represent a nice 3 minute PR for me (I'm in a decent place, training-wise). However, in my head, I'd really like to make an effort to go sub 1:30, which is an 8 second/mile difference... No need to rehash all of the talk about calculator accuracy... just more of a philosophical question: In a race of that distance, would you go out 8 seconds/mile faster than the calculators would predict you should?

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Marcus L S

The Greatest of All Time

posted: 3/20/2008 at 10:35 AM

I don't put much stock in a pace 'calculators'. Go by your pre-race training and how you feel on race day. I don't think going out 8 seconds faster is going to cause you to completely blow up. If it was 30 seconds or more, than maybe. For that distance check yourself every three miles and see where you are timewise. If you feel good, go a little faster, or if it feels like that's as fast as you can go that day and finish strong, then hold what you got. I personally don't like doing all this scientific stuff to prep me for a race. If I am watching my training and keeping an eye on my heart rate, I pretty much know how I am going to do. Just my $.02.

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JimHowe

posted: 3/20/2008 at 10:38 AM

If what's in your log are the only miles you've been running I wouldn't recommend it. Personally, I only go into a race with an idea of what pace I'll be able to hold and just try to go out at "comfortably hard" effort. If you aren't running relaxed in the early stages nothing is going to work. I do lots of mile repeats in training at an even effort and run decent overal mileage, so even though I'm not sure of what pace I'll be able to hold in the race, I'm usually pretty close by basing it on my training. Again, I will stress that if you aren't relaxed in the early stages it could be a long day for you. Go out conservative and if a sub 1:30 is in the cards you'll be able to pick it up after a few miles. Good luck.

Age 60 plus best times: 5k 19:00, 10k 38:35, 10m 1:05:30, HM 1:24:09, 30k 2:04:33

mikeymike

posted: 3/20/2008 at 10:54 AM

The more experience I get in racing the more I think the ONLY way to race is to go by feel. Don't worry too much about target pace or goal time. You are going to run what you are capable of running, it doesn't much matter what number you write on the board ahead of time. In your head you have an idea what you will run within a range and you're probably pretty close if you've really been doing the work and paying attention. If you go out 8 seconds faster than you are capable because you are fixated on a number, you will ABSOLUTELY blow up. 8 seconds per mile is a TON. I f you run by effort you won't go out 8 seconds per mile too fast, or too slow. Run as hard as you can run for 13.1 miles. There. How's that for a simple race strategy? You obviously have to hold something back for the first half to two-thirds in a race that long. I ran my fastest half marathon since 2004 on Sunday and I did it without any real pacing plan. I recorded my splits at 3, 6, 9 and 12 but it was so I could look at them later, not for making decisions during the race--I didn't even look at my watch at most of them. There weren't a whole lot of decisions to make during the race, it was just race hard. My race plan had more to do with how I wanted to be feeling, and how hard I wanted to be working at certain points in the race. And then at some point around mile 9 or 10 it just became time to go all in.

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jeffdonahue

posted: 3/20/2008 at 10:55 AM

I would more run by feel. You could try, but you might be surprised how much of a difference that 8 seconds/mile makes after a few miles. I did a HM this weekend and had planned on doing 7:30s. As I was running my body settled into a 7:35 pace and I really did notice the difference when I pushed it up even that extra 5 seconds. So I let my body tell me what I could do and this weekend it wanted to do 7:35s which is exactly what I averaged when done.

JimHowe

posted: 3/20/2008 at 11:46 AM

Quote from mikeymike on 3/20/2008 at 10:54 AM:

I ran my fastest half marathon since 2004 on Sunday and I did it without any real pacing plan.

1:20:35 at New Bedford. Well done!

Age 60 plus best times: 5k 19:00, 10k 38:35, 10m 1:05:30, HM 1:24:09, 30k 2:04:33

mikeymike

posted: 3/20/2008 at 12:25 PM

Thanks Jim I was pretty happy with that.

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Half Marathon PR Plan? (Read 443 times)