Forums >Racing>Choosing a HM pace
I have a HM coming up this Sunday and I'm not entirely certain what pace I should target. I'm currently in the middle of training for a 5/25 marathon using the Hansons marathon plan, basing the plan off of 3:00 / 6:52 pace. I'm hoping to come in under 3:05 for the marathon.
My past 4 5ks have been:
12/14/2013 / 19:19 / 6:14
12/7/2013 / 18:43 / 6:02
11/28/2013 / 19:12 / 6:11
11/23/2013 / 19:15 / 6:12
Using McMillian's calculator, that gives me anywhere from 1:26:39 @ 6:37 to 1:29:26 @ 6:50.
I'm thinking I could probably come in at 1:28:XX but I'm not sure what I should do on race day. Target 6:50 pace for the first 3 miles and then see how it plays out? There's a pretty big hill at mile 9 of the race, up 200ft over the course a of mile. Any advice would be helpful!
5K: 18:43 (12/13) 10K: 42:50 (12/12) HM: 1:30:10 (3/14) M: 3:34:46 (5/14)
Interval Junkie --Nobby
I lack the experience of many of the people here, but I happen to be targeting a similar goal [so add several grains of salt to what follows].
I looked over your log with a comparative eye to what I'm doing. My goal is to break 3hrs in the marathon. My last PR was 3:04. Two marathons before that my first was 3:32. So, I started in a similar place to your Cowtown marathon. That was 2 years ago, though.
It's hard to figure out how accurate your tempo runs are, since humidity and dead-legs seem to be factors, but your "tempo" runs are at marathon target pace. That seems slow to me. Your recovery at the end of the run hits 9:30 and 10:30 paces. As Mikey told me, that indicates you over-did the rest of the workout; basically you were at something like race effort if 10:30 was what felt "easy".
Your 5Ks are a bit slow too, but I also know a few people that just are not fast at 5K, but own a 2:54 marathon. So maybe that has nothing to do with anything.
Your long runs are around 7:40 pace. These aren't 20milers, they are 14-16milers. I did similar paces for those runs last summer when recovering from injury. It resulted in the 3:04 PR mentioned above. So that looks on par with your goal. However, the plan targeting 6:52 pace is out of line with that goal. 7:00 is more in keeping.
If you really are beat after your tempo runs, I don't think you'll last long at 6:50 pace for the HM. I would start at 7:05 for the first 3, drop down to 7:00 for the next 4. Then hit 6:50 for 3 and see what happens. If you feel great, you can always check the rest in at 6:40 or better.
The HM should be a good indicator if you're in line for your goal, though.
Good luck!
2021 Goals: 50mpw 'cause there's nothing else to do
Agree with most everything stadjak said, especially if, as he said, after studying your logs he has found that your tempo runs at 6:50 are killing you. Also, from the sound of it you are training through this race (not tapering) with your eye on the marathon in May, so that also works against you for a good time.
Nevertheless..... coming from a guy who stupidly over-reaches all the time because I'd rather burn out than fade away, why not go for it? Run your 6:50s or 6:45s from the start and see if you can hold it up. I think if you can run 1:28 under full training load then 3:05 in May is achievable.
- Joe
We are fragile creatures on collision with our judgment day.
Nevertheless..... coming from a guy gal who stupidly over-reaches all the time because I'd rather burn out than fade away, why not go for it? Run your 6:50s or 6:45s from the start and see if you can hold it up.
OP, this is probably what I would do, too. I'd want it to be a true time trial so I would know how reasonable my GMP was and I wouldn't feel it served that purpose if I eased off too much at the start. Plus, you seem to be an experienced enough runner that you should be able to run a HM at pretty consistent pace from start to finish (with the exception of that uphill, of course). And if you blow up, you're running it early enough in the training cycle that you can run another race to confirm your GMP is out of reach or give yourself confidence that it's not.
It's hard to figure out how accurate your tempo runs are, since humidity and dead-legs seem to be factors, but your "tempo" runs are at marathon target pace. That seems slow to me.
FYI, I think that's Hanson's, though. At least at the beginning of the plan they're done at MP so they will appear "slow" to those using the "fastest you could run for an hour" or 15K-HM pace benchmarks. I borrowed his tempos for my current training cycle. I'm a month and a half out from my goal marathon and I think HMP miles in my tempo runs just show up two weeks ago.
My blog is JT Running DC. It's awesome. Guide to Washington DC Area Running Routes. Guide to the New York City Marathon. Guide to the Boston Marathon. Guide to Running Gear. Guide to Running Clothes.
Still waiting for my official time, but my watch said 1:30:06 (officially 1:30:10). The hill at mile 9 zapped me for the rest of the race and then I got the initial shocks of a calf cramp at mile 11. Probably could have pushed through it but I pulled back and didn't really hammer miles 12 and 13 home. Marathon training is more important than a good HM time to me, I'd be dead with a calf injury. Oh well, there's always more races. Thanks for the advice guys!