On Sunday I’ll be running in the Surf City Marathon! As I set out for myself in my 2012 goals post, I want to run a sub 3:50 marathon this year. My current marathon PR is 4:02 at San Diego Rock n Roll Marathon in June 2011, which was my first and only marathon. Although I was more than thrilled to achieve an awesome marathon time on my first try, I got sick about 2 weeks prior to this race and still wasn’t feeling up to par on race day and part of me wondered if things would have been different had I not become sick. Since the marathon, I’ve continued to run and also have been training for triathlons. I’ve incorporated more speed work and have been seeing some significant improvements in pace.
However, despite completing 10 Yasso 800s at my desired marathon time of 3:50, there have been times I’ve doubted my ability to achieve this goal at my upcoming marathon. I even mentioned in a previous blog post that we were going to just pace at a 3:55 marathon and then if we felt good we’d pick it up. But then, after completing the 10 Yasso 800s in 3 minutes 50 seconds each (which Bart Yasso claims is a good predictor that I’ll run a 3 hour 50 minute marathon), I told myself that I needed to stop selling myself short just because I’m afraid that I’ll fail and I need to just go for the 3:50 marathon that I’ve been working so hard for!
Although this epiphany sounded great in my head, I went to Twitter to get some reassurance.
I got some positive feedback and even a tweet from Mr. Yasso himself:
That was all I needed!
So here it is: My goal for the Surf City Marathon is to run it in 3:49:59 or better.
Is It Realistic?
Ok maybe it wasn’t ALL I needed. I also did some research on marathon pacing and strategies for achieving your goal pace. According to Active.com, one big mistake new marathoners make is underestimating their finish time. “Marathon entrants need to realize that if they train correctly their marathon pace will be about 48 seconds per mile slower than current 5-K capability, 32 seconds slower than 10-K pacing, and 16 seconds more lethargic per mile than half-marathon clocking.”
- My 5k pace at Father Joe’s was was 7:42 plus 48 seconds = estimated pace of 8:30 min/miles at marathon
- My half marathon pace at AFC was 8:34 (plus 16 seconds = estimated pace 8:50 min/miles at the marathon
- It’s in my hometown. We run through the park I grew up having picnics and taking walks in and down the beach I grew up searching for sand crabs at. I’m not sure if this will be an advantage but at least I’m familiar with the course!
- It’s as flat as a pancake. There isn’t even an elevation profile on the course website due to this fact. It even says in the course description ” On this stretch, you will encounter the course’s only incline, between miles 3 and 4. But take heart; there are hundreds of kids at the park, waiting to cheer you on! They love marathon runners and get up early every year to come to the park, hand out water and yell words of encouragement!” Awesome!
- There are PACERS! One of the things that I somewhat regret about my first marathon is that I didn’t pay attention to my Garmin enough. By the time I realized that we could potentially break 4 hours at mile 19, we had to speed up by about 30-45 sec/mile to get there. And when we sped up, we bonked. Although our last few miles weren’t significantly slower than the first few miles, it was really difficult to keep a 9:20ish pace during those last few miles. The Surf City Marathon has a 3:50 pacer. Our plan is to start a few yards back from the pacer and then stay with him for the entire race. If we’re feeling good at the end (and I mean last mile or two, no sooner), then we’ll pass him.
Part of my race strategy is in the taper. Although last week was a fairly high volume week overall, it was down from prior weeks so I’m sure that will help. This week I have been VERY mellow, focusing on relaxation and sleep whenever possible. Mentally it has been hard for me to not train hard or put in double workout days, but I think that it will not only pay off at the marathon but also will help me mentally take a break from Ironman training. I have another 20 weeks to go til my “A Race” (makes me laugh a little saying that after watching Sh*t Triathletes Say) and I don’t want to get burned out too soon! So far this week I’ve scheduled just one easy workout per day and I plan to take Friday completely off. I am having a hard time accepting that I may only get in one bike ride and two swims this week but I know that after this marathon is over, my energy is going to be focused on improving on the bike. No need to rush!
The best part of my pre-race strategy? Bagels!
Have you tried to predict your upcoming race time based on other races? Have incorporated consistent speed work to your routine and then had a significant PR? Give me some confidence boosters! 🙂
Good luck! Just remember, don’t put all you eggs in the pacers basket. I’ve heard my fair share of sob stories about pacers who were to slow and then pushed too hard at the end to make paced time or pacers that just full on don’t hit their target. I followed a 1:45 pacer for a half and I finished in 1:50 and he finished AFTER me!
Wow! Good to know! Thanks for the heads up. I do have a Garmin so luckily we can use that to make sure the pacer is on the right track! Thanks again 🙂
Going into the Houston Marathon (1/15), I looked at 5 predictors. Yasso gave me a 3:25 estimate compared to my actual time of 3:31. Two predictors were right on for me. Daniels VDOt and (1/2 marathon x 2) + 7 Minutes both gave me 3:31 right on target. I did make a mistake at mile 24 by trying to “step it up” but ran into problems. A very strict pacing strategy plus perfect conditions may have given me my yasso time but I’m sold on Daniels at this point.
kick ass, girl. I bet you go 3:46. 🙂
I second the watch-out-for-paces advice! I’ve seen a lot of pacers go out and bank time early in the marathon. If you run too fast in the first half, the second half will HURT! Run your own race and have a great time. Good luck!
You guys are ready to dominate!
those bagels look amazing. tons of luck this weekend, I’m sure you are going to have a blast!
Good luck this weekend! Stay focused on your goal bc Surf City has a lot of out and backs…but you’ll demolish it!
I have to echo the sentiments on the pacer. I’ve never used one, but I have also heard stories about them being off.
And, in terms of using the Garmin, keep in mind that it will likely be slightly off of the mile markers partly because you will run a little further around people and taking corners differently than the way the course was measured. So, it helps to know what time you need to be at each mile marker. This is particularly important if there are a of people. I find it’s not as much of a big deal if I can take corners tightly, and don’t need to weave in and around people.
Lastly–and most importantly–I have no doubt that you are going to make your goal. Be smart. Don’t let the starting line excitement take you out of your pace. Stay in your head. Race your own race. All of those hot shots running too fast at the start? You’ll really enjoy passing them in the final miles – I promise! It’s my favorite game 🙂
Be strong and remember the pain is worth the glory 🙂
Good luck!!!!!! I’m cheering for you from afar!
Good luck!!!