Up Tempo: Marathon Pace

For the longest time, I had no concept of what it felt like to have a 5K pace, a 10K pace, half-marathon pace, or marathon pace. I ran at one steady pace. All the time.

I still struggle to adjust my pace during runs, and don't incorporate enough tempo runs or speed work into my running. However, I am starting to understand that different distances do in fact have different paces. I set two 5K PRs last year, and know it is one thing to hold that pace over 3.1 miles - and nearly impossible for me to hold that pace over 13.1 or 26.2 miles.

Obviously my ultimate goal for Grandma's is to finish all 26.2 miles. Of course I have other goals in mind, too. The pace I need to be at has had my thoughts a little up tempo lately! Especially given the way I felt after last Saturday's long run.

And yet, that pace is right where I need to be - but with no wiggle room! Yikes. I would like to finish this marathon in less than 5 hours (11:27 average). 4:30 (10:18 average) would be nice, but is likely too fast to maintain through all these uncharted miles. The latter is not even a split I hit on a regular basis right now, so clearly out of the question. 4:40 - 4:45 would be a more realistic goal outside of the beating 5 hours one.

Last fall, over a month after my second half-marathon, I headed out for a 10 mile run. I ended that run with 10.3 miles in 1:58:01 - an 11:23 average. I hit the 10 mile mark in 1:52:55 - the first time I finished 10 miles in under 2 hours (and the last time I ran double digits). My fastest mile was mile 9 of that run! October and November had me seeing some of my fastest runs and average paces. I think a lot of it was due to cooler temps than I've had over the two summers when I was training for races, and due to not having been training at the time; that meant there was no pressure! When I look at the Activity log on Nike Plus, during that time frame I have 6, 7, and 8 mile runs with average paces of 11:01, 10:56, and even 10:50.More important than the pace of those runs, was the way I felt afterwards. Nothing beats that on-top-of-the world feeling.

Now I know that maintaining a pace over 8 miles, or even 10 miles, will not compare to trying to maintain it over 26.2 miles. But you have to start somewhere, and use current data to base the goal on, right? Above anything else, I hope that I end the run on June 21 knowing I gave it my all and left it all on the course.

Time to keep the pressure off  - and go for the goal!