NYC Marathon pace?
Hello
I'm looking for some pacing advice for the NYC marathon. Background - 47 yo. Did IMLP this year(6th time). two weeks later did 19:00 5k vDOT52. Joined EN. 6weeks advanced HIM. Did 10k at the end of an oly 4wks in and raised vDOT to 53. 1 week before my HIM 5k in 18:14 holding back a little. HIM run at 7:00 pace. A little slower then expected. Jumped into the marathon Hack for last 4 weeks. added a few extra intervals here and there. Training paces 6:35 HMP 6:45 MP and LRP 7:45. did a 1:26 half marathon as part of a 20 mile run Oct 8. 3+4mile warm up cooldown. Marathon PR 2:56 in 2007. Not looking for PR but not sure what kind of ability for a full 26.2. I'm needing mental boost of confidence. 3:10 is doable. 3:05 possible to probable. sub 3:00 unlikely. is there some type of VDOT conversion for this style of training or is the vdot pace the pace we should be able to race? I'm thinking go first 13-16 in 7:10-15 pace and then speed up if feel good and finish strong `3:07.
Thanks and sorry for the long post.
Comments
NYC is a tricky course as the hills (i mean bridges) can sneak up on you and make it a harder course than it seems. It definitely is slower than many of the other major marathons. I would start out at a pace that you know you can hold for 26.2 no matter what. Then after you come off the bridge and are on 1st avenue re-evaluate. This is the point that I see many people start to fade as then went out too hard... but the few people that paced well will be able to speed up here as the crowds will be awesome and you have a long straight and relatively flat section you can make up some time. Keep in the back of your mind that the last mile in central park has some good rolling hills and it will seem very long. You can suck it up and get it done with a mile left if you know this is coming, but I've also seen many people enter the park and expect to be done and then mental give up when they realized they have about a mile to go still. A wind from the north can also be could an make for some tough sections so be prepared for that.
NYC marathon went well. Enjoyed my race and had fun. did the first half in 1:34. slowed on the 59th street bridge. Lost 1 min due to overhydrating. last 5 miles were all sub 7s except for one uphill mile in central park ~7:05. Passed a lot of people and finished 3:09:34. Was looking for steady race on the training I did and finishing strong. Good confidence builder to mentally know the training works. I took three gels and I wonder whether that is still too much. what do others do for calories during a three hour marathon?