Forums >Racing>Debut Marathon, Thoughts?
Your racing history is so similar to mine. I went through several 1/2 marathons breaking 2 hours just on 2 occasions before venturing into marathon territory.
I went through the same thought processes, hesitations, concerns expressed by you. Having completed my 5th marathon at a PR time of 4:14 recently, I feel that you can reasonably aim for anywhere between 4:10 to 4:30 (yes that is wide range). My training mileage was only in the mid 30s in my highest month and I also walk at water breaks.
A couple of things that I have learned from during my own recent marathons. - I thought I will share with you a couple of blogs /race reports from my recent marathons that you may find useful
Going in I know my weekly mileage is not enough for the time I desire but I continue to improve with each race.
My longest training run of 22 mile with all the breaks exactly matched my marathon finished time. So time on feet rather than pace seems to have helped immensely
Have never run with a pace group, All my marathons are very small events so much so there was not a runner 50 yards from me in some cases.
Marathon#4 - felt strong in 1st half, finished 1st half 6 minutes faster than goal time and ended up giving all of those 6 minutes back plus some more, 2nd half was a full 18 minutes slower than the first - I gave back 12 minutes instead of the 6 I though I picked up in the half
Finished 4:28 for a PR but was a mighty struggle from mile 20 onwards. Race Report in my blog here.
http://harisubrahmanyan.blogspot.com/2013/05/bob-potts-rail-trail-marathon-york-pa.html
Marathon#5 - Consciously held back in 1st half, came in at 2:08 exactly on plan and despite the struggle at mile 22 managed to get a negative split and finished with a 4:14. Was very pleased with that. Race report here.
http://harisubrahmanyan.blogspot.com/2013/11/potomac-river-run-marathon-november-17_7060.html
Again good luck!
hari
Your racing history is so similar to mine. I went through several 1/2 marathons breaking 2 hours just on 2 occasions before venturing into marathon territory. I went through the same thought processes, hesitations, concerns expressed by you. Having completed my 5th marathon at a PR time of 4:14 recently, I feel that you can reasonably aim for anywhere between 4:10 to 4:30 (yes that is wide range). My training mileage was only in the mid 30s in my highest month and I also walk at water breaks. A couple of things that I have learned from during my own recent marathons. - I thought I will share with you a couple of blogs /race reports from my recent marathons that you may find useful Going in I know my weekly mileage is not enough for the time I desire but I continue to improve with each race. My longest training run of 22 mile with all the breaks exactly matched my marathon finished time. So time on feet rather than pace seems to have helped immensely Have never run with a pace group, All my marathons are very small events so much so there was not a runner 50 yards from me in some cases. Marathon#4 - felt strong in 1st half, finished 1st half 6 minutes faster than goal time and ended up giving all of those 6 minutes back plus some more, 2nd half was a full 18 minutes slower than the first - I gave back 12 minutes instead of the 6 I though I picked up in the half Finished 4:28 for a PR but was a mighty struggle from mile 20 onwards. Race Report in my blog here. http://harisubrahmanyan.blogspot.com/2013/05/bob-potts-rail-trail-marathon-york-pa.html Marathon#5 - Consciously held back in 1st half, came in at 2:08 exactly on plan and despite the struggle at mile 22 managed to get a negative split and finished with a 4:14. Was very pleased with that. Race report here. http://harisubrahmanyan.blogspot.com/2013/11/potomac-river-run-marathon-november-17_7060.html Again good luck! hari
Hari, thank you for sharing.