Pacing for first few miles of marathon?

Good idea.

You can always speed up in the middle miles if you start out too slow.

Better to start out too slow than too fast.

No no no! You want to go out slightly faster at the beginning so you can put time in the bank which will pay dividends later. You will certainly slow down in the second half so if you might as well bank a some time whilst you are still fresh at the start.

Go out hard, come home easy is what i like to do!

15-20 seconds/mile is fine. Or if it feels easy and you're right on pace, that's fine, too. Let the pace come to you. The thing to watch out for in your first marathon is that it will feel super easy from miles 5-13, maybe even farther. You have to hold off the pace that comes to you more so than other distances. It's easy to find yourself 10-15 seconds/mile faster than goal pace too soon.

+15 for the first mile - or two- is a good idea, especially if uphill. The first few miles aren't as easy as the next 15 to 18 miles, but you might know that from your training. The trick is to avoid going even a few seconds over the goal pace when you're feeling great. Save that for the last 10K if you have it in you.

"Putting time in the bank" never works.

Kipchoge wrote:

"Putting time in the bank" never works.

Except it does when done right. For example Kipchoge in his sub 2 had almost the entire marathon 10 seconds in the bank. The worst thing that can be done is running the first half slower than goal pace. At the very least the first half should be exactly goal pace.

Thanks all.

Thank God it's cooler.

Race time temps are supposed to be 55-58'F with 10% chance of rain Sunday 10/20.

Also, where are good spots to watch the race for spectators? I don't want my friends trying to mess around going downtown if they can watch along the route.

I've never run the full before, only the half. Maybe Evan (forcerunner) or a few others like ohia can chime in.

Kip is a BEAST. I don't know how it's humanly possible to run that fast.

Same with Lagat, Meb, etc.

bcvb wrote:

Kipchoge wrote:

"Putting time in the bank" never works.

Except it does when done right. For example Kipchoge in his sub 2 had almost the entire marathon 10 seconds in the bank. The worst thing that can be done is running the first half slower than goal pace. At the very least the first half should be exactly goal pace.

Disagree strongly. The worst thing is going out substantially faster than goal pace. All those people walking or jogging their recovery pace in the last 10k? Some are undertrained, and some tried to gain 3-5 minutes in the first half only to give up 5-20 in the second half. Settle into pace over a few miles. First half split will be goal + overage from first few miles, maybe just a bit more from any uphill in the first half. Then average a couple of seconds faster in the second half, then see if you can take it home at the end. Technically a negative split, but with most miles (4-20) run pretty much like an even split race.

And even though bcvb calls 10 sec in the bank “done right,” I call it within the margin of error of an even split, and way different from what most runners (even pacers) do when they think they’re banking time.

+1. Carrying extra fatigue byproducts with you for 13-20 miles is a very, very bad idea.

Going out way too hard is a big mistake.

But running the first half 1-2 min faster is just being realistic, even splits are rare.

Interesting point.

This is what I've done since March 9 (32 weeks, 38 mpw average, but I was hitting 45-55 mpw from June onward until a 9/30 taper). However I've done 3 20-milers, 1 21-miler and hit 60 and 61 miles at times. Also did a 13.1 in 1:42 on 4/27, a 5k on 6/9 in 21:53 and a 5k on 8/10 in approximately 20:44.

Mar 87.36

Apr 110.58

May 137.31

Jun 174.76

Jul 219.66

Aug 230.92

Sep 188.17

Oct 81.31

1230 miles

I hope it's enough. I am not going to bank time at all. I'll go out slowly the first 3 (around 24:30-ish?) I've decided, and go from there.

Good luck, OP.

Thanks Shuffle.

Weather will be good too. Flat course, but a hill at mile 17.

Best of luck Jecht, I just picked up my bib and found out there are no pacers for 3:30, so I'm bumping up to 3:35 for my first marathon. Hope to see you there getting your 3:20!

Thanks Average.

I know 3:20 is slow for LR but you have ro start somewhere!

jecht wrote:

Doing my first this weekend.

Goal is 3:20 or better, but should I go +0.15 or +0.30 slower the first few miles? Or only do that the first mile (which is slightly uphill on the course I'm running)?

https://www.columbusmarathon.com/elevation-comparison

I'll beat you old man! I'll run 3:19 and show you!

Go out slower. I did for my first marathon recently (about 15 seconds a mile slower the first 5k) and ended up even splitting.

Here’s the thing...I thought I would “speed up a lot” at the end, and it turned out, I was only able to speed up about 5 seconds a mile. Meaning, what I thought was “too slow” at first was probably close to my correct pace, and it saved the second half of my race. I cannot even tell you how many miserable looking people I passed in the last 6 miles. It was like we weren’t even running the same race. I felt good until mile 21, less good but manageable mile 21-24, and in the pain cave mile 25, but by then it was short enough to gut out.

I was shooting for sub 3:35 and finished in 3:32. I was behind the 3:35 pace group until mile 17 and then I passed them and stayed ahead. They started about 30 seconds ahead of me though.

Jecht how did it go? I ended up at 3:17 and went for it!