Hey all, running a half marathon tomorrow that I expect to PR in after a good training cycle. I have used training and a recent 5k to set a goal, but I’m curious what your perceived half marathon exertion is that first 3-6-9 miles. I know the last 5k is just grit it out and get it done, it’s those first few I want to be sure and get right. Even tips on breathing (breaths per step in/out) or any other tools would be great. Thanks.
Anyone?
Only done one half. I'd say first 6 miles near tempo pace, next 3-5 closer to 10k pace, last 2 whatever you can handle.
dirtroadSC wrote:
Only done one half. I'd say first 6 miles near tempo pace, next 3-5 closer to 10k pace, last 2 whatever you can handle.
Hey jackass that didn't answer the question. The question was what does half-marathon pace feel like, not what pace to run.
See this thread: How should you feel at various points of a half marathon?
First 3k fly by
5k-8k relatively hard but easy.
8-16 k being in a comfortable amount of pain. It hurts but it's just really steady.
16-21k almost home try to pick up the pace
How I ran my last half.
Miles 1-3 easy (mile one will feel slow, but stay on pace)
Miles 4-6 steady
Miles 7-8 thing will probably start to get hard somewhere after 10K
Miles 9-10 definitely going to be hurting
Miles 11-13.1 everything you have
If you start hurting before miles 5 you’ve gone too hard, and if you still feel alright at mile 10 you didn’t go hard enough.
Blue4242 wrote:
Hey all, running a half marathon tomorrow that I expect to PR in after a good training cycle. I have used training and a recent 5k to set a goal, but I’m curious what your perceived half marathon exertion is that first 3-6-9 miles. I know the last 5k is just grit it out and get it done, it’s those first few I want to be sure and get right. Even tips on breathing (breaths per step in/out) or any other tools would be great. Thanks.
If your goal time is 1:30-1:40 or faster, you should feel uncomfortable right from the start. Maybe your first mile will be too fast because of the adrenalin, then you should run a little slower (just a little bit though, you should aim for a discomfort that you can tolerate during the entire race).
If you run the first 3 miles too slow, you will never be able to win back the lost time later in the race.
If you’re more like a 2hr half marathoner or slower, you may want too start more conservatively, because you will spent a lot of time on the course and you will feel uncomfortable in the second half anyway.
Disclaimer: my most recent HM in which I ran my PR (1:19:59) came on low sleep but high adrenaline since my wife had our baby earlier in the same week. Initially, the first two miles felt easy because I was easing down to goal pace. After that, miles 3-9 felt steady - mostly 2-5 seconds under goal pace. I kind of felt like I was on the edge, which made me nervous since I felt that way even during miles 4-5. However, it kind of stayed like that until mile 10. Miles 10 and 11 felt pretty tough but not enough where I had to really mentally focus to just to maintain pace. It was the last 2.1 where I felt the pain and had to stay mentally sharp just to maintain goal pace.
I don't come from a running background so perhaps others would say my anecdotal experiences is actually support I could have run faster if I was mentally tougher in races. I probably wouldn't argue against that.
Splits: 6:16, 6:15, 6:22 (tunnels caused the GPS to be a tad off, I think), 6:07, 6:06, 6:01, 6:00, 6:00, 6:01, 5:56, 6:03, 6:02, 6:00.
Running 3-5 miles at 10k pace in the middle of a half marathon will probably mess up anyone's race. Even the first 6 miles at tempo pace is a touch too fast for all but the very elite in the world.
The half marathon for me feels good for half and then I usually get tired and want to quit at mile 10. Hope that helps lol.