Half Marathon Two Weeks Before Marathon? (Read 762 times)

I'm having trouble setting goal/pacing for my first marathon coming up in February. One thought is to run a half marathon before the marathon and use a race equivalent calculation to set a marathon goal. Conveniently, there's a local half marathon 2 weeks before the marathon, AND my training plan (FIRST) has a 13 mile long run planned for that same weekend. The only real hesitation is that the plan calls for a long run at marathon pace. But, of course, if I want to use race equivalent calculations, I need to actually RACE the half marathon which, I hope, means somewhat faster then marathon pace. (Let's ignore the face that I don't really know what my marathon pace is ;^) If I go all out on the half marathon, how realistic is it to expect to recover fully in two weeks for the marathon? FWIW, not only has my training plan included runs from 13 to 20 miles for the last seven weeks, but I have run half marathons (including trail runs) before, and I've completed several half ironman triathlons, so the half marathon distance isn't really a stretch for me. I don't want to use those results to set a goal, though, because I've improved quite a bit as a runner since then; for example, my 10k time is about 7 minutes fasters than it was. Plus, the conditions (trail run had significant climbing; half marathon was run at below zero wind chill; triathlons,--obviously--have a bit of swimming and cycling before the run) weren't really equivalent to the marathon (Tybee Island, flat as a pancake). As best as I can recall, however, I was able to recover from the earlier races fairly quickly. (In the case of my most recent half ironman, I was able to win my age group in a 10k trail race two weeks later.) Comments or suggestions on the following three alternatives are very welcome: (a) continue with my training plan, ignore the half marathon (b) run the half marathon, but at my best guess at marathon pace; if it's fairly easy, then figure the marathon pace is right (c) run the half marathon all out and use race equivalents to predict a marathon pace [Note: I'm not sure if I have the will power for option (b); if I enter the race, it will be hard to hold back.] Thanks a lot in advance for any advice or comments. Stephen

If you're using FIRST, you must have a valid 10k pace or a good estimate of one. You could use that with a race predictor to calulate a goal MP. Another option would be to go out and run has hard as you can go for an hour. This will give you your lactate threshold pace. Use this number to calculate your projected MP.

I think having a goal pace based on predictors is way overrated. Just race by feel. Your results will likely be as good or better than they would if you pre-determined a goal pace. If you can run a half marathon to determine marathon goal pace then why can't you run a marathon to determine marathon goal pace?