First Marathon Pacing (Read 547 times)

Dumb question alert. For my first marathon, how do I know what pace to aim for. I know what I've done in training runs of various distances, and what I'd like my goal to be, but I don't know if it is realistic. For my long runs I average about 10:30 miles. For short runs, about 8:30 miles. For stuff in between ( 8 - 14 mile range ) I averaged about 9:30's when training. I'd love to break 4 hours, but have no idea if this is realistic or overly ambitious. By the way, help quickly... Marathon's next week!!!

The only other race I've done is a half, about a year ago. I finished in 2:03, but that doesn't help much. I am in better shape now and last week did an easy 12 mi run and averaged about 5 seconds per mile faster than I did for the race, at a much easier effort level. I changed my log to public, if that helps.

9:30 pace, no faster. Just my 2 cents.

I just finished my first marathon (Dublin Marathon) and I recommend you go at the same pace as your long runs. It is difficult to commit to this speed, because you feel you can do better. I went back and forth trying to decide my speed. I thought I could run faster than 10 min/mi so I tried it at the beginning. It doesn't work. there are so many things you will learn from your first marathon that you can never anticipate a pace that you haven't tried in a marathon distance. I ended up running at 11 min/mi because I hit a slump at around mile 19. Perhaps because I went as fast as 8:30 min/mi earlier. One last thing, it is REALLY EASY to start going faster than you want at the beginning. It's like drivin in the highway, where you drive faster than speed limit because of the flow of other cars. My advice is to stick to your usual long-run pace at least until mile 20. There will be so many issues and thoughts throughout the race that you will need to make sure you can take it all in with a clear mind and not exhausted. I now feel that I can train for my second marathon with a certainty about what I need to do to improve and knowing what to expect physically and mentally. In the end, you want to be able to say to your friends that you finished the marathon, and you ran it all the way through.

I ran my first marathon two weeks ago and found that I could keep up the pace I had planned for only 15 to 20 kilometers. After that I realized that finishing your first is much more important than desperately trying to hold on to the pace and maybe not finishing at all... Us first timers have no clue what will happen after 30 kilomters! Good luck, and enjoy the race! bas