Translating 5K pace to 1/2 Marathon Pace

bshedwick

Just read an article on Runners World about 5Ks and 1/2 Marathons. While I didnt really agree with the author's logic regarding maxing out at 7 miles for the long run during training, I did see that they had an interesting formula for taking your pace for a 5k and multiplying it by 1.1 to get a reasonable Half Marathon pace.

8:00 5K pace = 8:48 Half Marathon pace.

That actually seems pretty accurate to me. And that's pretty close to what my numbers are (and expected to be for my first half)

Anyone else have any thoughts on this?

scottb81

I think the race pace predictors are pretty accurate; at least they are for me. However, they assume you have trained with adequate volume and time for the race predicted. Also, I disagree that a 7 mile long run is enough for any training plan. There should be lots of 90 and 120 min runs in there to maximize aerobic development.

arc918

Those number are about the same as the McMillan calculator. They are certainly useful, but you have to do the work to get the results (not to imply that you are not). People sometimes think because they can bust out the 5K time, the half is a given.

It gets even worse with marathons. I can't come anywhere close to on McMillan.

I didn't read the article (I happen to dislike all things runners world), but I can tell you the best thing that ever happen to my half marathon was marathon training. I am much better served by 17 mile long runs than 7 mile long runs.

So all that said, that formula seems reasonable. It also could act as "no faster than ~ 8:45" until mile 10 kind of thing as well.