16 Mile Marathon Pace run

Sounds like a step in the right direction for sure. But you won't know until you run the marathon what your body can handle. Also the same person reacts differently to running the marathon each time. One day you might be a hero, the next day you're bonking. Some of this stuff depends on simple good days vs. bad days. It sounds to me like you're doing the right stuff though. Are you also doing 6-8 mile tempo runs at about 5:25-5:30 pace?

A marathon is 26.2 miles NOT 16 miles. You, my friend, need to get a better grasp of the number system.

Ignore the previous poster, you are training well.

Any reason to go longer than 22? Only to practice time on the feet. A very long slow run is even more tedious, but it can help your concentration over the ful 2 1/2 hours.

I've run a marathon at just about that pace. And I don't think I ever ran more than 14 miles straight at marathon pace before the race. So, I'd say you are in a good spot. I wouldn't worry about hitting an XX miles on a long run, but I really would try to get in at least a couple runs that are 2.5 hrs (~your goal time).

Agreeing with some of the other posters. I clicked on this thread because your question is exactly what I was banking on in my first marathon. I didn't know what I was doing for the most part, but I did a lot of quality and my avg. mileage was probably a bit lower than yours. But 2 weeks before the race (Grandma's), I laced up the race shoes and dressed in what I was planning on wearing, and ran a race simulation. I finished the 16 miles at exactly 6:00 pace. That's what I shot for on race day, and I ran 5:59 pace. I think you can reasonably expect to run 5:45 pace for the whole thing. Maybe even faster.

BTW, I never ran more than 16 at a time. Take that for what it's worth. You running 22 puts you further ahead in the game. My (now more experienced) opinion is you're better off running a few more 20-22 milers with the last few at a faster pace, as opposed to running beyond 22.

Good luck.

Great yeah, i was thinking of going for another long run where it was more about duration/time on my feet. That's what i was kind of going for when i did the 22. I probably averaged around 7:10 pace and was just thinking about being on my feet for a while. So maybe that duration already takes care of getting the body used to using energy for that long. Surely a lot different when you are just relaxing at 7 min pace though.

And yeah about my 6 and 8 mile tempos. I'm about 2 years out of college now, but I am still kind of in touch with the tempo runs we used to do. Now though instead of doing the whole thing quicker, if I do one of that distance i'll usually start around 6 minute pace and work down 10 seconds per mile, usually finishing up right at 5:20 pace for the last mile or two. So doing more stuff at that pace is something i have been meaning to do but i have mainly been working on lengthening the tempo runs for a while now.

distance guy wrote:

BTW, I never ran more than 16 at a time. Take that for what it's worth. You running 22 puts you further ahead in the game. My (now more experienced) opinion is you're better off running a few more 20-22 milers with the last few at a faster pace, as opposed to running beyond 22.

Good luck.

Ok, yeah maybe something more like 20 miles getting closer to race pace the last few miles is something I will look into then.

Thanks