Pikachu wrote:
I would throw the stopwatch away and go by feel. First half normal easy pace, second half progressing to medium effort and on good days last quarter close to projected marathon pace. And do not run sub 6' right now. Ease into it. Like this (just an idea):
week 1: 70' easy.
week 2: 80' easy.
week 3: 70' easy - moderate.
week 4: 90' easy.
week 5: 90' easy-medium.
week 6: 75' moderate.
week 7: 90' moderate.
week 8: 40' moderate, 25' med., 15' MP.
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Play with the duration and paces! If the single session is at 7:22 or 6:15 per mile is not as important right now than progressing so that you are the fittest when it matters and consistency.
Just my two cents.
Great advice. That's exactly what I would have said. Start slow/easy. Warm gently into the run, so that perceived effort, in the first 45-60 minutes, is never particularly hard. The first run at a given distance/duration should just get the miles in. Once you've established your ability to run for that duration without problems, begin to open it up in the second half.
I routinely start my two-hour runs with a HR of 70-75% of max. Keeping perceived effort relatively consistent, with a breathing rate of 3/3, my HR slowly rises to 85% of max, which is basically marathon pace. This is in accord with John Kellogg's recommendations.
85% is notably hard early in the run, but it's NOT particularly hard in the second half of the run, if you've warmed slowly into the run. JK talks about the "full of run" feeling. That is what the HS runner should be cultivating. When training for marathons, I've had precisely the same feeling at the two-hour point in a three-hour run: the feeling that I'm strong, full of running, and well within my capacities. But it takes a fair bit of controlled running to get there.