Adapted from: Marathon: The Ultimate Training Guide, by Hal Higdon
The simplest route to marathon success is to follow the so-called perfect pace that has the runner run or the walker walk at the same speed mile after mile for the full distance. Running or walking the right pace can speed you to the finish line. For instance, to run a 3-hour marathon, you simply run 26 consecutive miles in 6:52. Even pacing seems to work the best overall.Coach Tom Grogon of Cincinnati agrees: "I want my runners to run at relatively even pace. Given this, they should view those who bolt out early as foolish people whom they will catch at the end."
If you really enjoy catching people, you can even try running or walking "negative splits." This means that you run or walk the second half of the race faster than the first half. The advantage of this approach is that at a time when most athletes are slowing down, you will be speeding up. You'll pass others, rather than have others pass you, which can be stimulating mentally.
In picking any pace strategy, it's a good idea to know what you're doing before approaching the starting line. Here are some tips for finding the right pace: 1.) Choose a realistic goal. 2.) Believe in your pace chart: check each mile, making no changes in the first 20 miles (no matter how "good" you feel). 3.) At 20 miles, if you feel good, go for it; if not, hang in there. 4.) If the course is especially hilly, be prepared to make the necessary adjustments. Weather conditions also can affect your pace times. 5.) Carry your pace chart with you. This allows you to know how close you are to pace at every point in the race. 6.) Meeting intermediate time goals gives the runner or walker confidence and causes the miles to pass faster. You'll find it easier to run or walk using a pre-determined pace.
On race day, always consider that there are many factors that can affect your pace including wind, temperature and other weather condition, your level of health, hydration and nutrition and others.
Be careful about misjudging your own abilities and setting yourself up for failure on race day. It's much more fun if you can successfully race your plan versus feeling that you have failed when you go slower.
The best pace-setting device inevitably becomes that in your own head. Experienced runners and walkers eventually know when to slow down and when to speed up. Experience thus becomes a major factor in marathon success as well as one of the fascinations of the race. Although ability and training certainly are major factors, the marathon definitely is a thinking man's (and woman's) race.
Running, walking or doing a combination at the correct pace for your ability level is crucial in the marathon, especially for the first time marathoner. It's so easy to start the race by going at too fast pace for which you are prepared. Your pace during the first mile oftentimes feels effortless due to the adrenaline rush and excitement of the event. If you run or walk the first mile or too fast, you'll pay dearly for the mistake in the later miles. A much better plan is to start out slower than what you hope to average and then run the middle miles at your chosen (hopefully realistic) pace. It's a better strategy to pick up the pace during the final miles when you know you can finish rather than starting aggressively. In the world of marathoning, there's no such theory as "putting the fast miles in the bank early in the race" and then holding on in the end. If you go that route, you will most assuredly visit the dreaded "wall" (the point in time when glycogen stores within the muscles have been depleted and as a result, the runner's pace slows considerably, oftentimes to a walk). During the marathon, constantly monitor how you are feeling, and adjust your pace accordingly based on your perceived energy level. Your past long training runs will enable you to do this.
Runner's Web has a wonderful tool, a marathon splits calculator, that enables you to key in a goal marathon time and view split times for shorter distances displayed in both miles and kilometers. Some texts have "race predictor charts" which will provide you with the opportunity to extrapolate from your shorter race times (e.g., 10K, half-marathon, etc.) a projected marathon times. Check out this great web site, MarathonGuide.com, for their "Race Time Predictor Chart". Use charts such as these as a guide in determining what pace you should theoretically be able to maintain for your marathon. The information derived from these charts is less-reliable if you haven't completed some training runs of 20 miles or longer.
