Pacing for Marathon with 3k ft net elevation drop in 1st Half?

Training Advice/Discussion Marathon

2 years ago 06/16/2021 11:50am EDT

1st half goes from over 8k ft to 5k ft while the 2nd half

I looked at the Revel Mt Charleston Marathon which has a similar elevation profile for the 1st Half and it seems on avg people in my age group ran a split that was ~15% faster than their "normal" half time. (for example, 6min/mile pace in this race vs. 7min/mile on a flattish course).

My question is does that seem like a good rule of thumb? For example, if I'm targeting 6min/mile pace, is it "safe" to be hitting low 5's for the first half or is a better recipe to just go out just slightly faster on the 1st half to avoid risk of blowup in the back half (which has rolling hills).

2 years ago 06/16/2021 11:50am EDT

re: Hazel

Hazel wrote:
1st half goes from over 8k ft to 5k ft while the 2nd half
I looked at the Revel Mt Charleston Marathon which has a similar elevation profile for the 1st Half and it seems on avg people in my age group ran a split that was ~15% faster than their "normal" half time. (for example, 6min/mile pace in this race vs. 7min/mile on a flattish course).
My question is does that seem like a good rule of thumb? For example, if I'm targeting 6min/mile pace, is it "safe" to be hitting low 5's for the first half or is a better recipe to just go out just slightly faster on the 1st half to avoid risk of blowup in the back half (which has rolling hills).

* while the 2nd half is flattish with rolling hills

2 years ago 06/16/2021 12:09pm EDT

re: Hazel

I don't know why I am responding to someone who can run a 2:37 marathon. You likely have a better idea than me. I think you would beat up your legs running downhill that fast. I did run a 1:15 half once that had a lot of downhill in the first half. The second half felt terrible.

I would do a marathon pace workout that included a mix of downhill and rolling to get an idea of how fast you could run the down.

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