Relax. If your goal is to complete the marathon, then you will if long as you don't freak out and allow the distance to intimidate you.  Last time I checked, the people who walk across the finish line get the same medal as those who run (and those damn walkers often look better and happier than me).  So don't sweat it.. Stick to your plan and have confidence in it.  The mental strength you'll derive from sticking to your plan will help you in this first race.  Just keep the pace easy and don't risk injury.

In the marathon itself, be cautious for the first 20 miles.  If your goal is really just "to finish" then going out at 2 m/m faster than MAF could be a recipe for disaster, so don't sweat the pace this time.  If you feel really strong at 20 miles (OK 30K if you're impatient) then go for it at the end, but until you have some experience with the distance keep it conservative for most of the race - especially the early miles.

my opinion:

run it at MAF if you don't think of this marathon as a race, just a 26-mile training run.

run it above MAF if you think of it as a race. how much above MAF? you would have to know your LT/AT to guess better. but you are the only one who can feel which pace/HR is the one that while above MAF still doesn't burn too many sugars thereby giving you a chance not to run into the wall... the problem is the longer you plan to take to do the marathon the lower this HR will be. at least I read that and it seems completely logical to me

PS: to be honest and this is still just a subjective opinion of someone who's yet to run a marathon, I do not see the point of doing speedwork for a marathon if the aerobic fitness is not high. my take on this anyway

Thank you all for the feed back.  I have to keep telling myself the goal is too finish but when I start thinking about how many hours it will take my ego wants to do it faster.  Thanks Runnerclay for the specific tips. I did a few days on the eliptical that did not show up on my log. You're right, I should be running an aditional day during the week. I'll see if I can stay with the 12min pace group during the marathon.  Are you suggesting I can go up to 155HR?   What is the rule on eating, do you really not eat anything on a 3-4 hour run?

thanks

Erich

Thanks C-R.  I just read the sticky on food.  I'm amazed that some people can run 3+ hours without gels!  I have a lot to look forward to.

-Erich

I ran my one and only Marathon in 1985 (yes, that a looong time ago!)

Back then, eating on the run wasnt really that emphasied (well not in rural Ireland anyway) and I wasn't really that tuned up on what I was doing, so all I had was water, and possibly sports drink (can't remember for sure!)

I probably would have had a lot more energy towards the end if I had eaten,

but having said that I didn't feel that I really 'bonked'.

I dunno why it's so amazing being able to run without food

for me 2 hours is no problem without food, I believe 3 would be ok too (haven't tried that yet, careful about my joints as a semi beginner.) and that 2 hours run is without breakfast. breakfast comes after it..