MelindaRuns
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jan 1, 2011
Your stats are kind of like mine as far as how many halfs and my longest ever was last weekend's 14 miler as I am training for my first full - the Disney in Jan.
The 3 hour half barrier was huge for me. I am on the wrong side of 50 so I wasn't sure that I was EVER going to get under 3 hours for a half. I had run for 2 years and couldn't seem to get over the hump - I finally cracked it when I began using disciplined and consistent run/walk intervals as well as shortening my stride. Previously, I was constantly changing up my intervals in a effort to run longer, walk less and get faster. It did not work for me.
Once I vowed to stick to one interval set and train consistently at that interval along with the shorter stride, my half times dropped in the course of 9 months from a PR of 3:09 to a new PR of 2:48.
I have heard/read repeatedly that the primary goal for a first marathon should be to finish. I have also heard it said you should have give yourself some other goals for focus. In my case, for my first full my primary goal is to finish in the 7 hours allowed, my really reasonable personal goal is to finish in 6:10 (double my average half time plus 15 min) and my stretch goal is under 6 hours - that is 20 secs slower per mile than my usual half pace)
If you are usually around a 3:15 half, that is around a 14:53 pace. If you do the full at that pace you would finish in around 6:30. Don't know where you are planning to do your full, but at Disney, that would have put over 1000 people behind you at the finish. Not sure if it is the time or the number of people behind that weighs on you more...
I know the really experienced coaches on this board will have some great ideas for you but wanted to share what I did since we seem to coming from a similar place
Good Luck!
Thanks so much for your response! We do sound a lot alike. I have been running a little over two years myself, and that 3 hour hurdle looms large for me. How did you find the intervals that worked best for you? I have tried all kinds: 3's and 2's, 2:30's and 1's, 5's and 1's, 5's and 2's, half a mile and 1's. I havent found that magic one yet. All of these have seemed fine at times, and at other times they tanked. Its so dependent on the day and how I'm feeling. Definitely my first goal would be to just finish. Its not a Disney race, but its a bigger one (Grandma's). 5:30 may be too optimistic. Thanks so much for your help.