Wild Life Marathon - Will It Drive Me Wild or Destroy Me?

268' is very little. I imagine your previous "flat" race wasn't actually flat - only a few marathons here and there genuinely are "flat" - but even if it was, these hills would only slow you down by about a minute. If you're in better shape, really, at all, you can hit a 3:15.

BTW, your average altitude of ~1050' is a bigger factor than the hills, worth about 2 minutes of slowing at your pace if your previous race was right at sea level.

Also, are you trying to qualify for 2015? You're definitely going to be far too late to get in, so you have plenty of time to think about 2016, which is the first time you'll be able to run.

Go to this website: www.findmymarathon.com. Compare the elevation charts for the marathon you ran and the Wild Life Marathon. They put them all in the same scale, so it's easy to really see how much hillier one is compared to another. If they don't have the marathons, you can ask for it to made. It takes a day or so - at least that's my experience.

Wanted to add that I've never heard of the Wild Life Marathon. Howe many runners? Size is one consideration. I find it harder to keep pace if there are few people around to chase down, pace with, or keep ahead of.

Thanks for the encouraging info! I read a few things after posting that concur with your opinion that the hills should only account for a minute or two. I compared the Wild Life course to Boston's, and they seem fairly comparable as far as ascents, but Boston's overall elevation trends downward to the finish. The thing that really scared me was all of the stories about the Heartbreak Hill, which this Wild race seems to have, as well!

I had not considered the overall altitude at all. Thanks for pointing that out! It turns out that I ran the previous Marathon at 50 ft above sea level, so there is a 1000 ft difference there that may be a factor. I train at 1000 ft, so I'm hoping it won't be a major problem.

I was trying to qualify for 2015, but I missed it by 10 seconds! That's the only reason I was running in August. I'm hoping to capitalize on the training investment I already have to propel me through another (hopefully faster) Marathon. We'll see how it goes!!

Thanks again!!

Thanks for website -- I had not seen that before. Yes, you have a point on the size of the race...123 people ran it last year, and it looks like 14 people ran between 2:30 and 3:30. The out and back is nice because we can cheer each other on, but it doesn't look promising for a pacing group. The previous Marathon was an intimate out and back, too.

My left arm was quite sore for a couple of days after the Marathon, and I was trying to figure out why. I finally realized that it was because I kept looking at my GPS watch! I'm going to try to only look at it every half mile or so to avoid that pain. That alone could have cost me the 10 seconds that I needed!

Thanks for your help!

Let me put a few clarifying ideas on that info I brought up. Given that you're a guy running 3:15, you're probably nowhere near your long-term potential, which means your marathons might not be totally consistent yet. In other words, the 2 minute altitude factor probably doesn't really matter. Since you're not running, say, 2:15, instead of 3:15, it seems that you could probably make up the entire effect just by running a more even effort race, assuming that you're not knocking the miles off like clockwork. Of course, if you really were tapped out and totally even running 3:15:10, going out at what would now be a minute too fast in the first half may make you blow up. I feel that the slight bump in altitude is not likely to be noticeably different in your initial pacing. Rather than running 2 minutes slower like the calculator predicts, I'd expect that you're either going to run about the same and feel more maxed out by the end or blow up before the end, slow, and run more than 2 minutes slower. Of course, you can fight that blow up by continually checking your GPS watch current mile pace over the finishing miles and just really focusing hard on keeping each mile split after 20-22 down as low as possible. If you focus on each split and take it one mile at a time, you can survive an implosion without losing too much pace, which was basically the story of my last marathon (2:42:07 on a day when I was capable of maybe 2:41:00 with optimal pacing, but went after a 2:39 and suffered hard over the finishing miles).

Hehehe...I'm definitely a Marathon novice. The previous race was my second. I should mention that I just turned 42, so I'm no spring chicken, but there's some hope. 10k times (38-39 min) suggest I should be able to run 3:05-3:10, but I believe I'm lacking the total weekly mileage to capitalize on that in the Marathon. Some other folks in the forum helped me make that determination! :) I averaged 38 mpw for the previous 3 or 4 months prior to the previous Marathon, but this past month, even with recovery from the last race, I'm going to be closer to 50 mpw average unless I injure myself!

As for pacing, it wasn't all that steady. Actual required pace for 3:15 is 7:26, but I tried to keep it at 7:20 because I knew the race would be a bit long (26.38). The last 3 miles or so were really rough, and I slowed down to as much as 8:10 pace, but I was somehow able to keep it together and avoid walking...do you think I could pick up some time by actually going out slower and possibly running a more even race? It seems like a miscalculation of even 2 minutes can really make life interesting based your own analogy, although, based on your times, I think you're a bit more experienced and running closer to your full potential! :)

Well, since you're new at the distance, just a bit more training since the last one is likely to make a difference. I wouldn't go out slower, especially now with more training and experience. 38:xx 10ks indicate to me that you could definitely go sub-3 if you really had your endurance worked out, so you definitely have room to improve with more mileage. If I were you, I'd try to do a long run or two with a fast finish (say, 20 miles with the last 5 at MP) and that will help you keep things going when you're crashing near the end. Whatever you do, don't do anything stupid in the last 7-10 days before the race and I wouldn't be surprised if you can go under 3:15 next time out.

Thanks, Collin, I'm going to take your advice! I do have a question about the speed of the long runs. I ran the last 20 miler at 7:40 pace average, but I was going fastest in the middle of the run. I'll try to slow my roll at the beginning and kick it out for the last miles. On the whole, is it a bad thing to be 15-20 seconds above your goal Marathon pace on the long run? A lot of guides I've seen recommend a minute to a minute-and-a-half over Marathon pace. Is this mainly to give you more time on your feet, or is it to allow you to recover for the next days' trainings? I'm just trying to figure out if these faster long runs are actually detrimental to my training! Thanks again, and I will *TRY* not to do anything stupid in the last 7-10 days! :)