Question for you: does it happen that your marathon pace, in a real marathon, counting the fade, the PoP stops, is slower than your easy pace?
I wish I were a smart racer. I always go out too fast, hold on until mile 19 or so, then fade badly. Somehow I usually end up just where I expected. I'm hoping that since my next one is flat, I'll be able to run race pace and hold on to it better without the fade. They have pacers, so I plan to take advantage of them.
Cy - I do McMillan paces, so there is a wide spread in my easy paces. ATM, easy/long is about 9:05 - 10:00. For Boston, I trained for a MP of 9:15-20. At Boston, my overall pace was 9:15. My previous race my MP was 9:45 and I finished with an average of 9:49, which was also within my easy pace range.
Think of the poor elite marathoner Guye Adola who debuted in 2:03:46. Not much room for improvement there.
LOL
My marathon pace for both marathons was about a minute faster than my general easy pace. My MP this time was a 7:45, easy runs are generally 8:50s if not slower
+1 😂
My MP was about 8:47mm, and my EZ pace can be 9:40-10:15 depending on the day.
It took me 4 marathons to run one faster than easy pace.
With all the gains I've made, my easy pace is no faster than when I started running. Slower, actually. Maybe this is normal, IDK.
1st: E=8:30, M=9:47
PR: E=9:00, M=7:47
Dave
I'm talking about probably 30mpw at peak (including a 20-mi LR )
:highfive:
Thanks. I'm asking out of curiosity. I would have a tendency to think that if you can't run the distance at least at easy pace, you were undertrained? But I asked the question because what I think and what is are sometimes different things.
DaveP, you train hard. Was is bad pacing strategies? Lack of training volume?
My first was right about at easy pace but the rest have been about :45 to 1:00 faster than easy.
Running a marathon faster than easy pace requires a certain level of fitness most first time marathoners don't have. But I don't really get running slower than easy pace unless you are running all your "easy" runs too fast or you went out faster than easy and blew up.
From the Internet.
First marathon: easy 9:30-10, long runs 8:30-8:50, MP 8:44. That was the race where I was sick. Started off conservative because my lungs weren't 100%. Nausea kicked in at mile 10, I made it through 20 miles at 8:20 pace and then slowly withered away. Legs were fine, gunky lungs and stomach were the limiting factors.
Second marathon: easy 9-10, normal long run 8:30-9, I had some quality long runs this time around as well. MP 8:08. Higher mileage cycle so those easy days were EASY.
Including marathons when I was a true beginner doesn't really tell you anything. When I was properly trained for a marathon, I ran it a minute and some seconds faster than easy pace. None of that other shit I did counts even remotely for anything other than the fact that I was racing to the best of my ability/fitness at the time I ran them.
Thanks. I'm asking out of curiosity. I would have a tendency to think that if you can't run the distance at least at easy pace, you were undertrained? But I asked the question because what I think and what is are sometimes different things. DaveP, you train hard. Was is bad pacing strategies? Lack of training volume?
lol yes. A pace that is easy for a short distance is not easy to hold for 26, if you are not sufficiently trained. I never ran more than 3 days per week, probably averaging about 15 mpw. Other than one HM 4 months prior (after which I vowed to never, ever run longer than that), I had not run anything longer than 12 miles, which I think I had only done once or twice. I had a neighbor planning a marathon who asked me to keep him company on his long runs. I sad sure, but I'm not doing anything more than 12. Then in the weeks leading into his marathon, I stuck it out on weekend runs to 14, 16, 18, 20. Those were on top of 2 weekday runs of 6-8 miles; those 4 weeks were 28-34 miles total. Everything was at about 8:30 pace, which felt easy to me, even for the longer ones. The 20 did start to feel hard in the last couple miles. After doing the 18, I signed up for a marathon on the same day as his, because I was ready!! I was going for 4:00, which I figured would be no problem. I didn't have a watch at that time, I just followed the pacer. I lost her around 16-17, and the last 6-7 miles were awful as every muscle & joint from hips down started seizing up.
Update on my neighbor: he actually bailed early on a couple of the LR. And on race day he downgraded to the half. My last experience with a RP, heh.
Omg that's awesome. lol
Meanwhile, you found yourself, as did a lot of us. The origin stories for most hobby joggers are eerily similar, with most of us cringing as we recall the stupidity. I like Bert's "runaway dumb train"; it's perfect. lmao
About your RP. I try to stay away from unreliable people. To me, being on time and being true to your word is important.
So when I give advice to beginners, and tell them that they should at least be able to run the marathon distance at easy pace, I'm not being too drastic? Too "elitist" in my advice?