15K race tips?

ThickMcRunFast

I've been a runner for a long time, and have raced numerous 5ks, 10ks, 25ks, and marathons, but have always skipped this middle distance. I have a 15k at the end of the month that I will race as part of a marathon training program (race on Saturday, long run Sunday), so, any tips for this distance? I'm looking for pacing and nutrition info, as well as when this race might start to suck. Thanks!

CarsonRuns

It's hard to give advice not knowing what your previous results have been. What I would suggest you do is plug a recent result into McMillan's calculator. That will give you a indication of what type of time you should expect to run at the 15K distance.

As for when it will start to suck, I would compare this to the 10 mile races I have done. Usually the first 7 miles are pretty comfortable, things start to get a little tougher in mile 8 and then 9 and 10 are rather painful. So, the last 20% or so of the race hurts. For a 15K, I'd think the last 3K would be pretty difficult and painful.

ThickMcRunFast

Thanks, my most recent 5k was 21:18, but that was back in May before this round of training started. My goal marathon mile pace is 7:28, so I'm waffling between trying to run my goal pace, or trying to race at my 10k pace, which would be in the 7:05 to 7:15 range. I have no idea what to expect.

CarsonRuns

McMillan has you at a 7:07 pace for 15K based on your previous 5K. If it were me, I'd probably run the first mile at 7:15, then dial it down to 7:10 for the next 6 miles and then hammer home the last 2+ if I had more left in the tank.

ThickMcRunFast

That sounds like a decent plan. Thanks!