Nice job in the heat! And onemile nice job getting back into it!

 

Question for the masses: I start Higdon Intermediate 1/2/adding my own miles as fit this week, and I'm not sure how fast I should run my marathon pace runs.  Mcmillian puts me at like a 3:34 which is 8:11 per mile, but obviously it's my first marathon and my mileage is going to be low so I don't expect to run that fast. Should I "aim" for 3:45 and run my marathon pace miles at that pace? Or faster? Slower?

IA with onemile, use it for now and run a tune-up later in the cycle. You can always dial the pace back a bit if it feels too hard - effort-wise MP should feel fairly easy for short stretches, will start to feel a bit harder and require a little concentration for longer stretches later in the cycle as you accumulate fatigue.

One major caveat: Higdon doesn't have you run MP as part of a longer run, so if you can hold 8:11 for 8-9 miles on its own day, that won't necessarily mean you can hold it for 26.2 on lowish mileage. I did 9 at 8:10 as my longest MP run for last year's fall marathon cycle (my first); I got sick just before race day, but even if I hadn't I think 8:10 would have been too ambitious for my race pace that time around. I ran 3:48 with a puke break and some walking, and I think if I hadn't been sick 3:38-3:40 would have been tough but realistic. But sorting out that final pace goal is what the tune-up race (and training!) will help with

I can't believe I ran a marathon last week. It feels like years ago. I can't wait for the next one!

7.35 miles today. Probably 10-11ish tomorrow, since it's a holiday and all and I don't have anything else to do.

 

But sorting out that final pace goal is the most nerve-wracking thing you will ever do. 

FYP. The hardest and most important part of the whole thing.

I would use what McMillan says now for training and adjust later if needed or for the race keep in mind your mileage will be lower than the average McMillan assumes but train with those.

Thanks everyone! I do plan on doing a HM 4-5 weeks out as well to get a better idea

Ginny, sounds like a nice run! My dad's been running for a couple of years now, not training for anything. This past Jan or Feb, he mentioned that his LR was up to 6 miles, so my sister suggested the race. Once he saw that there was music on the course and corrals for people at his pace, he was in.

I am in Colorado hanging with the family. Hip/leg still funky, just keeping up the 1 mile streak and hoping that it heals. Tomorrow I join my sister and my dad and 50,000 other runners to run the Bolder Boulder 10K. It will be my dad's first race at age 70.

Just found out that my coach. Maggie Callahan, is running in the pro division of the Bolder Boulder.

You should jog a bit with her.