pacing advice

hi all

here i am, almost 2 weeks to my first marathon. started my training plan hoping to break 4h. was able to do hit all targets during the plan, made a tough HM in 1:50:11. but still, when i get to 15-16M i hit the wall big time. tried to run 18M in expected marathon pace (9min/M)- couldn't hold it after 15M.

i know the crowd on the day will be a booster, my aim is by far just to complete the challenge, running. but with a very competitive attitude in general cannot stop thinking about that 4h target.

so, i was thinking to start slower, maybe 9:15min/M then see if i can kick in a bit after 10M etc.

any ideas apart from "relax and enjoy the day"

many thanks

 

Comments

  • Go at 9.15 pace and stay there as long as you can. If you feel good at 10m and feel you can push on...don't. You will need something to get you over those miles from 18 onwards. They will be tough. Relax and enjoy the day but be prepared to dig deep later on. 

  • What possessed you to run race pace today? Let's hope you recover in the next few weeks



    Have you been running like that through all your training?



    The long runs are taken slower.



    Id take it as a learning curve and take it as PC says and see how you go.
  • no cougie it wasn't today, no worry, and throughout my training i didn't run faster than my training plan required. just tried the pace during one of my long runs a few weeks back. with hitting the wall i ended up averaging slower than what i was meant to anyway.

    basically i understand you both are telling me nicely to forget about breaking 4h at this stage

    thanks

  • Probably just have to see how it goes on the day. Sometimes you think about a time so much that you end up exerting all your energies that way. I've made the mistake of wanting that sub-4 so much that I was always checking my pace.....and missing out by minutes. In the marathon that I went below 4hrs was the one that I didn't think about pacing or look at my times at all. I was too busy thinking about the weather as it was atrocious. 

     

    You should run how you feel but rein it back in the first couple of miles as it will be congested.

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