I think that's honestly the way you get better. Some people (like Cyberic) are freaks and can race once a year and kill it. When I tell non-runners the single hardest thing about a marathon is knowing what pace to start out at, they think I'm crazy, because that can't possibly be the hardest part. But y'all know what I'm talking about.

Indeed!

I ran 10 at the gym. Feeling better today so I ran extra.

4 in the snow. Was worried about the sidewalks since there were some icy patches under the snow. Took it really easy, then did loops around the field at the nearby school. The grass at least gave me slightly better traction.

Busy work day means I miss all the running talk.  Seems to be the way my days have been going lately.  Anyway, I ran 5 miles.

 

I hate those days - when I finally get on and there's 7 pages already.

We have some work to do.

 

LOL You guys do have a wealth of information. Love hearing everyone's different points.

 

Yeah, I just don't have much experience with racing. Maybe I should race more.  

I generally have an idea of what pace I can run but I don't really aim for a pace once the race starts if that makes sense. I just start running at half marathon effort and sometimes that ends up being faster than expected and if that's the case I go with it. Or if my wishful pace feels too hard, I back off.  I guess I have run enough half marathons to know the effort and I have never felt like I wanted to speed up and waited until mile 9. If I feel like going faster than planned is the right effort, I know that in the first mile and go with it.  In most cases, it feels from the beginning like a hard but possibly sustainable effort. In many cases I question if I can maintain it within the first few miles and then I get into somewhat of a groove for a few miles, then I start telling myself I only have to make it to mile 10.  Making it to mile 10 is easier than making it to 13.1.  Once you get to 10 miles, you start over. You are now racing a 5k and give it everything you have left.

For my first couple half marathons I ran with this fear of bonking. And then I learned that I could actually run a half marathon a lot 'harder' effort from the start than I thought.

ymmv but I think your body knows what pace. You just have to get a feeling for how much you can push it. and it's probably a harder effort from the beginning than you think.

Half marathons aren't that bad if you've been running a while and have a decent base because you generally have the endurance and stamina to hold on for 13 miles even at a pace you didn't train for. If you start out at a pace that is too hard, a very little less speed is enough to make it possible to keep going to the end. Marathons OTOH, are a lot harder if you pick the wrong pace at the beginning because it takes a while before the error makes itself felt and by then, you're screwed. I don't race very often, but my HMs are often faster at the end than at the beginning, even when I start with an ambitious pace. I usually run comfortably hard most of the way. Marathons have to be super easy at the beginning or I'm dead by halfway and walking at the end. Deciding if easy is easy enough is not always simple when you're well tapered. On most of my marathons I start too fast because it feels easy, then slow down a lot after mile 20. It averages the same as if I'd started out where I intended, but the effort is different. Someday I'll actually run the pace I intend and see if that keeps me from slowing down as much or not. It's different running 50 miles a week and racing 26 vs. running 50 and racing 13.

I ran 4.5 on the TM. It's still snowing.

3 miles outside. Didn't feel too bad and no coughing attacks.  Just more tiring than I expected.

Also, has everyone noticed that Strava gives 2 decimal places now!