Dialing In A Marathon Pace

Good morning.

As marathon day approaches the mileage gets reduced but the quality of the run stays. Fresh legs produce good quality. Yesterday when I went for my 6 miler my main goal was to see how easy it would be to run at certain marathon paces.

One marathon goal I have is to break 3:30:00 and to do this I have to average approx 8 minute miles throughout the run.

It did not take long to hit 8 pace yesterday. But, my legs said, "we have so much more to give you." My lungs and heart said, " let's get moving."

So, I sped up and soon found that 7:45 pace felt so comfortable. Breathing was easy and I was very relaxed. Really it was more like gliding than running. The feet did not spend too much time on the ground with a smooth easy cadence.

Soon I was under 7:40 pace and still was comfortable. Interesting.

What does all this mean? What is my marathon pace? What pace can I maintain for 26.2? Not sure yet.

But, I will find out on marathon day. I will listen to my body and revise as I go along.

Split Time Moving Time Distance Elevation Gain Elevation Loss Avg Pace Avg Moving Pace Best Pace Avg HR Max HR Steps Calories
1 0:08:57 0:08:31 1 8 6 8:58 8:31 5:53 119 138 0 56
2 0:08:07 0:07:56 1 4 0 8:07 7:56 5:47 127 136 0 58
3 0:07:53 0:07:50 1 2 0 7:53 7:50 6:08 130 135 0 56
4 0:07:42 0:07:37 1 0 4 7:42 7:37 6:13 135 143 0 61
5 0:07:39 0:07:33 1 0 4 7:39 7:33 6:11 139 145 0 61
6 0:07:37 0:07:32 1 6 8 7:37 7:32 6:08 143 148 0 65
7 0:00:35 0:00:34 0.08 0 0 7:18 7:03 7:03 144 145 0 5
Summary 0:48:32 0:47:33 6.08 20 22 7:59 7:49 5:47 131 148 0 362



-----
" Beyond the very extreme of fatigue and distress, we may find amounts of ease and power we never dreamed ourselves to own, sources of strength never taxed at all because we never push through the obstruction."

* It takes courage to push yourself to places that you have never been before... to test your limits... to break through barriers. And the day came when the risk it took to remain tight inside the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.” - Anais Nin