following a pacer?

valentine4

Hi all,
I am doing my 5th marathon in 10 days time ( Dublin) and am toying with going with a pacer, just not quite sure?

My last marathon ( Derry) at the start line a fellow club member temporarily freaked me out saying I should go with the 4 hr pacer that I should be pushing for sub 4 not the 4.15 I was aiming for..I had a moment of panic and considered changing the plan but stuck with my original plan and finished in at 4.12.

The 4.15 pacer told me to go on, said I could go do it only he had I would have stayed with him.

My question is do I do as my friend says and push on ( you are here to race not to run were her exact words!) and go with the 4 hr pacer or stay with the 4.15?

In terms of pace, my second last long run was 18 miles @ just over a 9 min mile, I banged them out felt super..then was off for ten days in an absolute heap, terrible pains in my right foot and felt like I had ran into a wall.

Then last weekend 20 miles at a more sedate 10min mile. Felt fine afterwards.

As ever all advice greatly appreciated,

regards,

Valentine

p.s. my friend ran Derry that day in 3.24..she is 7 years older than me (I'm 38) she has said she will never run another marathon again

litsy3

Your friend probably knows your training and racing history better than we do - long run pace is irrelevant in this context because it's easy to run your long runs too fast and if you do them at marathon race pace that can sometimes make it less likely that you'll manage to race at that pace (because of the recovery needed) rather than more likely. It sounds like slowing down your most recent long run was a good save there and you won't end up having left your best running out on the road in training.

More relevant information would be:
- how did you feel at the end of the 4:12 and how long did it take you to recover (how long to feel fine and able to run again; how long before your 5k times were back to your previous level?)
- did you do other races leading up to your last marathon, and to this one (especially a half marathon) and how did your actual race times compare in the last training cycle to this one?
- how much training did you do for your last marathon and for this one, and how many long runs (more than 18 miles)?
- what is your half marathon PB? And your PBs at other distances? How many miles do you normally run per week when training and how many do you do when marathon training?

Vladimirnapkin

Like the above poster says, we don't know enough about you to say what you should do. I've been a pace leader in the half-marathon (3X) and the second half of the full marathon (2X). The one consistent thing is that no matter how many people start with you, very few are with you at the finish. Many people fall off pace at some point, and anyone with me in the last mile I start urging to speed up and beat me. (I may start egging them on sooner if it appears they are capable.) You can use the pacers to help pull you to an aspirational time (4:00) or help you keep your pace down so you don't blow up (4:15). Both can be useful, but only you and your coach can decide!

I have found that my predictive time for the marathon is more related to what I can hold for several miles in the middle of a long (20 mile) training run. Another fun tool is the Parrott Predictor: http://community.runnersworld.com/topic/parrott-predictor It's pretty useful. (Add up the fastest 26.2 miles in a week of training, and that is your predicted finish time. It's remarkably decent.)

I'm curious about the pains in your foot. That is a bit worrisome. You might wish to check into a different shoe.

Good luck!
VN

Philtex

valentine4 wrote: »

( you are here to race not to run were her exact words!))

Not true for everyone. Were you there to 'race'? Personally I don't go to race but rather to enjoy the event.