Hello all,
I'm just after a bit of guidance really. I'm doing the White Peak Marathon on 17th May, which will be my first ever Marathon. My question is about race pace really.
I'm a 1:40ish Half Marathoner, so am hoping to do steady 9 minute miles on the Marathon itself to get me in just under 4 hours. However, in all my long training runs I've pretty much hit what i think is The Wall at around the 18/19 mile mark. I've done 2 x 22 milers, 1 x 20 miles and 3 or 4 18 milers trying to get used to the distance, and every time I hit problems. My training runs are usually around the 10 minute mile mark.
So question is how quick to go come race day. Do I stick to my plan and just tough it out when I hit problems, or do I really ease back and gauge how I feel at say the 15 mile mark? I'm really not sure what tactics to employ, as whatever I do I seem to encounter real pain! And the thought of doing 8 more miles in that state is filling me with dread!
For info I use Gels, Jelly Babies, Fig Rolls etc when out there as well as Isotonic drinks - I really feel I'm fuelling up ok, but my legs start to go and they just get worse and worse as I progress. So any advice re a race strategy would be gratefully received.
Cheers
Comments
OK thanks for that. I guess my concern is I have struggled with my long slow runs in training, so how bad is it going to be if I try to run a bit quicker! I'm just not sure how to approach it really in terms of pacing and so on, so we'll see how I go.
I keep telling myself that I've done the training and my body will get used to it, but it doesn't seem to!! Oh well....
Good luck yourself this weekend too - hope you have a good run, and cheers again for the help.