1st Marathon Advice
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KenMierke posted 45 weeks ago.
Don't put too much stock in pace calculators. There are many individual factors that will affect those estimates. Remember that this is your first marathon. If the final 10K goes well, you will have a good race. If it doesn't, you won't. 26.2 miles is a long way. When was the last time you heard a marathiner say "I finished really strong; I just wish I'd pushed the first 10 miles harder"? Probably never. Be very conservative with your early pacing.
The biggest mistake I see marathoners making is underfueling. Running out of sugar (stored as glycogen) is the biggest cause of fatigue for most athletes at that distance. Consume 2 calories of carbohydrate per pound of bodyweight per hour.
When you start to fatigue, be sure to keep turnover high, no matter how much you have to shorten your stride. Allowing turnover to decrease when you get tired on the run is like shifting to a harder gear when you get tired on the bike - it requires more forceful contractions from the muscles when their ability to produce force is diminished.
Good luck!
Ken
Ken Mierke Ken@Fitness-Concepts.com
Fitness Concepts Fitness-Concepts.com
Author, The Triathlete's Guide to Run Training
www.EvolutionRunning.com
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houseofdixon posted 45 weeks ago.
It's good to hear about the stride turnover. I've spent a lot of time working on my cadence for cycling, so I'm used to keeping that up. I haven't focused on it much for running, but it sounds like the principle is the same, which makes sense.
Thanks
From the mind of Jeremy A. Dixon
"The HouseOfDixon"
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beads1985 posted 45 weeks ago.
Go with you gut, enjoy the race and the experience of finishing.
No matter what the time, finishing is quite the accomplishment.
BTW - Which marathon are you doing?
''Nothing to it, but to do it''
http://beads1985.trifuel.net/
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TryScott posted 45 weeks ago.
If I remember correctly from another thread, houseofdixon is in Ohio, and the Columbus Marathon is this Sunday. My lil brother and I are doing our first half-marathon there. My only goal is to finish before the first marathoner, so we'll be on the same 9:15 pace as the OP and his friends.
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cjhoffmn posted 45 weeks ago.
I remember from my first marathon that I had this overwhelming feeling of having to run faster after the frustrating walk to and across the starting line. I was fortunate that I was with experienced runners that kept me in check.
It seems that around the 10-15 mile mark was the one spot to decide if you had some more to push. You've gone far enough at that point to have a decent sense of how you feel, but you've got long enough to go that you can still make a difference in your time.
My thoughts on it.
To tri or not to tri - that's not a question at all!
I'm doing my first full marathon this coming Sunday, and would like some advice as far as pacing.
The pace calculators I have used say I can do a 3:40 or better marathon. My long runs (20mi) have been somewhere in the vicinity of (9:15 min/mi).
We have a group of friends going with us and there are 4 people planning on running the 1/2marathon in 2:00:00, which puts me at 4:00:00 for the full.
It is my first marathon, so i think i should stick with my original plan and finish at 4hrs, but I just don't know if i'm shorting myself, or just being greedy and trying to really race...Plus I am just coming off a horrible 10K two weeks ago, so I may be trying to compensate for that. I think I already know the answers, but I figure it can't help to ask.
Thoughts?
From the mind of Jeremy A. Dixon
"The HouseOfDixon"