Update: pacing strategy for first marathon
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ekat120
Posts: 407 Member
I posted a few weeks ago asking about the feasibility of going sub-4 in my first marathon (http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1441848-pacing-strategy-for-my-first-marathon). Short version: I did it!!!
Long version: My race was yesterday. I aimed to start at 9:30 and work my way down 10 seconds/mile every 5 miles or so. I lined up parallel to the 4:30 pace group. The first mile or 2 I was near the 4:40 pace group. My first mile was 9:35, and I had a hard time imagining going faster than that, but as I warmed up I found my groove. Plus I'm really stubborn.
By the halfway point, I was hanging around 9 min/mile. I had to pee as soon as the race started (that's what I get for having an extra glass of water before I left the house). I finally found a porta-potty without a line at mile 13 (and was in and out in 30 seconds!). I don't know if it was holding my pee for so long or what, but as soon as I started back up I got what was probably the most painful side stitch I've ever had. It was awful.
My pace dropped, I was making pathetic groaning/moaning noises, and I stopped to stretch it once. I thought that was it for me and I was going to end up walking the second half of the race. But I trudged along and kept at my cramp strategies (stop all food and water, dig my fingers into it, and exhale when the foot on that side hits the ground), and it pretty much went away after 1-1.5 miles. Surprisingly, it didn't come back.
I ramped down my pace a bit more to the 8:50-9:00 range, even though I wasn't sure if I could sustain it. I just kept looking for the next mile marker and telling myself that if I didn't get under 4 hours I'd have to do it again (and tell everyone who I'd told my goal). My last 10k averaged 8:45 min/mi, and I came in just under my 4-hour goal. Yay!
I truly don't think I could've gone any faster. I had aimed for a 2:10-ish difference between my first and second half, but it was closer to 4 minutes (though some of that was because I finished slightly faster than I'd planned). Having such a big negative split obviously wasn't ideal in terms of hitting my time potential, but I wanted to give myself the chance to bail on the goal and stick to a slower pace if I needed to, and I think having slow early miles was helpful both mentally (not feeling like it was already hard in the first few miles) and physically.
My quads and hip flexors hurt pretty much the whole time. I didn't really realize the extra pounding they would endure from a 45 sec/mi reduction from my long run pace, and it makes me wish I'd done more tempo work (as opposed to almost all easy miles) to get them more used to it.
Today, I'm basking in my own glory and doubling down on the Aleve :bigsmile: Thanks to everyone who offered advice and/or encouragement!
Long version: My race was yesterday. I aimed to start at 9:30 and work my way down 10 seconds/mile every 5 miles or so. I lined up parallel to the 4:30 pace group. The first mile or 2 I was near the 4:40 pace group. My first mile was 9:35, and I had a hard time imagining going faster than that, but as I warmed up I found my groove. Plus I'm really stubborn.
By the halfway point, I was hanging around 9 min/mile. I had to pee as soon as the race started (that's what I get for having an extra glass of water before I left the house). I finally found a porta-potty without a line at mile 13 (and was in and out in 30 seconds!). I don't know if it was holding my pee for so long or what, but as soon as I started back up I got what was probably the most painful side stitch I've ever had. It was awful.
My pace dropped, I was making pathetic groaning/moaning noises, and I stopped to stretch it once. I thought that was it for me and I was going to end up walking the second half of the race. But I trudged along and kept at my cramp strategies (stop all food and water, dig my fingers into it, and exhale when the foot on that side hits the ground), and it pretty much went away after 1-1.5 miles. Surprisingly, it didn't come back.
I ramped down my pace a bit more to the 8:50-9:00 range, even though I wasn't sure if I could sustain it. I just kept looking for the next mile marker and telling myself that if I didn't get under 4 hours I'd have to do it again (and tell everyone who I'd told my goal). My last 10k averaged 8:45 min/mi, and I came in just under my 4-hour goal. Yay!
I truly don't think I could've gone any faster. I had aimed for a 2:10-ish difference between my first and second half, but it was closer to 4 minutes (though some of that was because I finished slightly faster than I'd planned). Having such a big negative split obviously wasn't ideal in terms of hitting my time potential, but I wanted to give myself the chance to bail on the goal and stick to a slower pace if I needed to, and I think having slow early miles was helpful both mentally (not feeling like it was already hard in the first few miles) and physically.
My quads and hip flexors hurt pretty much the whole time. I didn't really realize the extra pounding they would endure from a 45 sec/mi reduction from my long run pace, and it makes me wish I'd done more tempo work (as opposed to almost all easy miles) to get them more used to it.
Today, I'm basking in my own glory and doubling down on the Aleve :bigsmile: Thanks to everyone who offered advice and/or encouragement!
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Replies
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Congrats on a great accomplishment! Thanks for posting this. I am aiming for sub-4 in January, and your account gives me hope! (I am a little confused, however, with your pace group references. 4:30-4:40 pace groups should be running slower than 10 min/mile, no?)0
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Fantastic achievement! Well done.
How did those last 10kms feel at that quick pace? Were you wearing a HRM? I'd be curious to know how you were tracking as you went along.0 -
Kudos to you!0
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Congratulation on reaching your goal!! :drinker:0
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congratulations on the finish!! Love the update0
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Congrats on a great accomplishment! Thanks for posting this. I am aiming for sub-4 in January, and your account gives me hope! (I am a little confused, however, with your pace group references. 4:30-4:40 pace groups should be running slower than 10 min/mile, no?)
Hm, I guess I did the math wrong. I was thinking 4:30 would be about 9:30 (which it clearly is not; my running math is always terrible!). I lined up near them (partly to keep myself from being too far up and going out too fast) but didn't run with them. I caught up to a faster group every few miles. I think a lot of them might have been banking time and/or trying to hit their goals relative to the gun time (I crossed the start line about 90 sec after the gun, and my husband said the 4-hour group came in about that far ahead of me). I caught up to the 4:10 (9:33?) group at about 9 miles, and they were running closer to 9:15 at that point.0 -
Fantastic achievement! Well done.
How did those last 10kms feel at that quick pace? Were you wearing a HRM? I'd be curious to know how you were tracking as you went along.
Thanks everyone!
They were pretty rough, especially since the wind had picked up a bit. But at that point, I was so close that I just wanted to be done! I had my Garmin but not the HRM. I think the limiting factor was more my legs than my lungs/aerobic system. I'm a little surprised they didn't just give out. But I must've been sucking wind pretty hard, too, because my throat was a little sore the rest of the day. And my husband said I looked like a shell of myself at the end
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Fantastic achievement! Well done.
How did those last 10kms feel at that quick pace? Were you wearing a HRM? I'd be curious to know how you were tracking as you went along.
Thanks everyone!
They were pretty rough, especially since the wind had picked up a bit. But at that point, I was so close that I just wanted to be done! I had my Garmin but not the HRM. I think the limiting factor was more my legs than my lungs/aerobic system. I'm a little surprised they didn't just give out. But I must've been sucking wind pretty hard, too, because my throat was a little sore the rest of the day. And my husband said I looked like a shell of myself at the end
Wow, I'm impressed. Very good first marathon showing!
And the sore throat thing is something I get too. I don't remember it on my first marathon, but I did 2 this year and almost couldn't eat because the back of my throat just burned.
You'd be surprised at what your body is capable of when you properly train for something. Again, good job!0 -
...my running math is always terrible!
Don't try to do the math. Use a calculator. Somebody has already done the math for you.
https://www.runningahead.com/tools/calculators0 -
Woohooo! Congrats!!! Sounds like it was a solid race!0
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Congratulations!!! My first will be in December.0
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Wow! Awesome first finish!!0
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...my running math is always terrible!
Don't try to do the math. Use a calculator. Somebody has already done the math for you.
https://www.runningahead.com/tools/calculators
Yeah, I usually do that, and I'm also usually good at math, but something about running makes my brain shut off 0 -
Congratulations!!!! Great job.0
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Congrats! Nice work!0
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Thanks guys!0
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Congrats! and my running math is terrible too, and I got a degree in math ha ha.
I need to start slow for my next one. sounds fun to pass people instead being passed.
You did awesome.0 -
Amazing! Very inspirational!0
