I'm in the midst of training for the Dublin marathon on Oct 28th. It will be my 5th marathon but the first I will "race" others I ran just to complete and have a pb of 3:33. Training has been going well and have averaged 55-60 miles per week with a weekly long run of 2-2.5 hours. My original goal was to go for 3:05-10 based of my HM pb of 1:25:30. As part of my training I raced a HM yesterday, I was expecting to get a pb of about 1:24 but ended up finishing with 1:21:52. Based on this I was wondering if my goal marathon time was a bit soft? should I be aiming for sub 3? Must admit the idea of starting out at sub 7 minute miles is quite daunting!
I felt good in the race yesterday, though I did notice afterwards my heart rate was pretty high (AVG 180bpm) which seemed strange as I rarely go above 165 in training. The race I set the pb in was the new Forest half which is multi terrain and whilst not hilly has quite a few small undulations so would say not an especially fast race (winning time was 1:15).
Any thoughts?
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Comments
Yes, if you are appropriately trained for marathon distance then sub 3 is a realistic target. You've got marathon experience as well and it sounds like more could come off that half time if it were a fast and flat road half.
Once you are sub 85 for a half you can realistically think about a sub 3 mara (imo).
I agree with the others you should have a go at sub 3. They have sub 3 pacers at Dublin so maybe stay with them for the first half and then see how you feel. Even if you don't get sub 3 this time you should get a great PB and that sub 3 is a realistic goal for you in the future.
Thanks all!
Good luck on Sunday be interesting to hear how it compares