Baystate marathon, sub 3 - 3:10 guys?

bump. i'm shooting for 245ish, hopefully under 2:50 as it's my first marathon, so i'm not totally sure, but figured i'd bump this for you. Good luck man.

Looking for 2:44-2:45 at Baystate...

I'm looking for 3:45 - 3:50 can i run with you guys?

hey john bill, i read about your training a lot on the runners world forums. What kind of pace do you plan on fitting for the first half? Again i'd like to run 2:44-45 too, but being my first, i'm a little on the nervous, cautious side.

good luck! wrote:

hey john bill, i read about your training a lot on the runners world forums. What kind of pace do you plan on fitting for the first half? Again i'd like to run 2:44-45 too, but being my first, i'm a little on the nervous, cautious side.

I was hoping for a 2:45 on my first marathon last fall at Cape Cod and screwed it all up, but did so because of lack of caloric intake, not pacing. I was so worried about the pace that I didn't worry about getting gels and ended up totally bonking around mile 22 or 23. Anyway, as someone who was probably at a similar fitness level and in your shoes, I think you'll have no problem holding 6:15 - 6:20 pace, but be sure you take in calories because the pace is most certainly deceivingly easy.

good luck! wrote:

What kind of pace do you plan on fitting for the first half? Again i'd like to run 2:44-45 too, but being my first, i'm a little on the nervous, cautious side.

Going to go out easy for the first 4 miles, 6:20-6:25. Would like to hit the half at 1:21:30-1:22:00, meaning I'll drop to 6:15 at mile 5, and try to hold it for as long as I can. I've never run the course, but it seems fairly flat, and easy to get into a rhythm on.

Good point about food. Though, for me, massive eating the three days before is as important as what I eat race day, and during...

We can hook up at the start, if you want...

John

john bil wrote:

We can hook up at the start, if you want...

John

..........

Wouldn't somewhere along the course be more private?

hey that actually sounds great, i wanted to start off kind of conservatively at 6:20-25 as i negative split all my long runs and tend to have to ease into runs. My runs have kind of all pointed towards 2:45ish, but i have one last test sat 10 easy 10 at mp which i think will show me where I;m really at.

MA road runner wrote:

john bil wrote:

We can hook up at the start, if you want...

John

..........

Wouldn't somewhere along the course be more private?

But then we'd lose the thrill of maybe getting caught...

good luck! wrote:

hey that actually sounds great, i wanted to start off kind of conservatively at 6:20-25 as i negative split all my long runs and tend to have to ease into runs. My runs have kind of all pointed towards 2:45ish, but i have one last test sat 10 easy 10 at mp which i think will show me where I;m really at.

Good luck on that run. I've got something similar planned: 6 easy, 14 @ MP, 2 easy. email me at bil.john at gmail, if you want to make a plan for the 19th.

Shameless bump, its cool that my threads helping a few people, still looking for a few 3-3:10 guys. BTW for those who have never ran Baystate, the first mile is uphill, just a little gradual incline. The start is kind of crazy with all the people running the half and full, I'd make my first mile my slowest. Mile 2 is flat, mile 3 has a few small hills, mile 4 has a little hill with a steep rise and then its flat until mile 14 which is about mile 3 since the course loops. Last 7 miles seem to be very flat with maybe a slight,slight decline and the last mile is downhill and flat. It's good to get into a rhythm for the last 10 miles.

so alex, with some patience do you think an even split or close to it is possible due to the uphills at the start? Wish I could be of some help with the 3-3:10. this year,baystate is part of the ne grand-prix series, so that should bring out some more people, so hopefully a deeper pack in the 3 hr range.

gl is right. There should be others there running around 3 pace. I know a sub-3 is my dream goal but I'm having doubts about achieving it. My 21 mile long runs are much harder than my training for my 3:02 pr 3 years ago and I'm fading towards the end and my mid week mrp runs are only 7 miles and kinda tough. I may be lucky to run a 3:30 the way I feel now. My plan though is to throw caution to the wind and just go out between 6:50-7 early and then settle into the 6:50ish goal pace and hold on for as long as I can. I'm hoping to capture some magic that day. If I dnf then so be it. I'll be 50 in Dec so age may be catching up. My name is Bruce so if you see a 5"10, 155 lb thinning brown hair guy with likely a black singlet near the front of the start come over and introduce yourself and I'll try to hang with you for as long as I can. I wont be able to chat that much along the way though especially at that pace.

bump

Check with the Greater Lowell Road Runners Club. They probably can help you out as this event is in their front yard.

To goodluck!, yeah I think even splits or even a negative split is possible here. Just a heads up I've only raced this last year but do many MP runs and long runs on the course. I ran the first 8 last year too quick for my own good (sub 6:50 pace w/out ANY marathon specific training or MP pacework) and was trashed by mile 14 without taking any gatoraide, etc. Just an all around bad day. Since then I've tried to figure out the course better and I think I have a good handle on it now. The first mile is uphill, but isn't part of the loop and thus isn't run twice. The last mile is downhill so I suppose that would help. I got some advice last year from an extremely fast and knowledgable runner from Lowell who told me he believed that an extreme negative split would be possible and that a negative split would be the way to go. I'm going to try a slight neg split but if its a tough day I'll just try to run even.

To Pey, I like your guts man, its only a race why not go for it? I'll be doing the same and if for some reason I have a bad day I believe I can still hang on like grim death for a sub 3:10. I've seen you're training around on the marathon training posts and I think you'll run a hell of a lot faster than 3:30. I'll be the 6ft young guy with a white jersey and green shorts, and most likely nike zoom marathoners. Bump for anyone else running this marathon and good luck to everyone that's posted.

Bump for an actual, non-sarcastic, post about running.

10 days left, how's everyone's taper going?

hey alex, i was shooting for a 2:45, but with an infected blister, i missed 10 days of training last week and the one before. i'm hurting bad now, and trying to get my legs back under me. This being my first marathon i've decided to not have a bad experience and scale my goal back to 3:05-10, and hopefully that goes well so i can train and drop a quick time at boston. So I'm in your boat now time wise, what kind of splits are you looking for out there?