Half marathon to marathon conversion.

Also, the half was a little past when I was in peak shape, by about 3-4 weeks. I just kind of hopped into it on a whim, I was only doing 50s when I had been in the high 80s.

The standard formula is to double the half marathon time and add ten minutes. I suspect that's mainly applicable from, say 2:30-ish to 3:20-ish and that the extra time you add is less on the fast side and more on the slow side.

Either way, that's pie-in-the-sky, under-perfect-conditions stuff. I've had no trouble running a few 1:15:xx half marathons but it took me 8 tries to break 2:40 for the marathon, and the only reason I managed that was due to a downhill course.

It is much, much easier to run near your limit for the half marathon than it is to run near your limit for the marathon. Too many more things can go wrong.

As this is your debut marathon, if I were you, I would shoot for 2:30-2:32 and then, if you get to 20 in good shape, only then go for it.

2:25 is a completely reasonable goal based on a 68 minute half. You could be down in the 2:23 range based on that indicator. 85-100 mpw is probably not ideal marathon-type mileage, but it may work for you. I can't stress enough the need to approach your first marathon relaxed. If you obsess about running 2:25 you are more likely to go sideways. Just do the work and let it happen. You will learn a wealth of information from your first full effort.

Merv says your good to go.

Yeah, I'm going in pretty relaxed I feel. I want to run sub 2:30, but was going thinking in the 2:25 range if I got real fit and felt good halfway was going to go for it. What do you suggest for miles, I felt 100 was pretty good. I have had a tendency to overdo it in the past in terms of intensity, so I've stayed away from going too high while doing that. Thanks for all of your guys help.

Whatever you do, practice goal pace a lot. I used to just throw miles at the problem without much success. Wasn't until I started getting serious about the MP runs that the times started coming down.

I call troll on this one. A 68 half and don't know if your capable of 2:25. Give me a break!

It was more of a first time marathon and what others had done. I've never really focused on marathon training or paid much attention to what others have done. Hell, even when I ran the 10 miler and half it was the summer after training for a 10k during track season, so I was more so just in real good shape from 10k training. I, eventually, want to attain the B stanard of 2:22, obviously not for this year's trials. But, I wanted to know if that was realistic for a first time marathon. Sorry I don't claim to be a guru like everyone else on this board.

I know someone that ran a 67:xx half and shortly thereafter, a 2:26 for their debut marathon.

Based on your 68 half, anything from 2:25 to 2:35 is completely, so certainly shouldn't be discouraged. Liek a few other people have mentioned, I'd stress the importance of MP training runs in addition to piling up the mileage.

For the race itself, I'd recommend aiming for a 73 first half, and see how you feel at the point. If you're feeling great, you should still have a shot at going sub 2:25. If you're not feeling so hot (which happens to a lot of first-time marathoners), you should be able to dial it back slightly & still finish under 2:30.

Best of luck with meeting the B standard for the 2012 trials.

Thanks for the good words. I appreciate it, and it's nice that someone asking for a little advice received good feedback on here for once.

I have a friend who ran 2:24 at Boston and he maybe did ONE 100 mile week. . but was consistantly around 80-90 and did a few long runs of 25+ miles. . .Boston was his 6th marathon. . He also ran mid 68 half a month out from boston.

If equally trained then your half marathon pace will be approximately 5% faster than your marathon pace.

Your 68:12 half is 5:12 pace which means if you are equally as prepared for a marathon the pace you should be able to handle is approx 5:28 per mile which is 2:23:13 pace.