Training Review Request

[Scott]

Hello,

I am wanting to get some general feedback on my training, to date.

I am scheduled to run a marathon on May 9th.  My goal, has been to run an average of 7:30/mile, which would equate to my BQ (with a little room).

For the most part, my training has been going good.  I'm getting nervous as I've had a pain in my butt and my left leg has started to feel dead.  It's not severe, by any means, but I had a similar issue last year and had to drop out of a scheduled marathon. 

My main issue seems to be my running pace.  If I go out and run a general aerobic run, without a watch, I'll run my marathon pace (or relatively close to it). When I tried to run my marathon pace, on January 16th (16 miles) and February 6th (17 miles), I told myself to push a little and I ran faster (8.5 mph as opposed to an 8.0 mph goal).  On February 6th, I was quite tired afterward and didn't feel very well.  So, I'm not sure where I should be in terms of general pacing to reach my ultimate goal. I'll peruse the blog for information on pacing.

Any general feedback would be appreciated.  Thank you in advance!

Scott

[Sasha Pachev]

Scott:

Your mileage for the past year looks good. This is good news, as this is one of the most reliable predictors as to how badly you will crash in the marathon.

It is reasonable to expect being worn out after 16-18 miles at marathon race pace if you are untapered. Your half-marathon performance in August shows that you have some speed cushion for 7:30 average pace in the marathon. You should be in better shape now based on your training.

Your run on Feb 6 is very encouraging. Looks like you PR'ed or were at least close to in in the half en-route, and then kept going. I assume the 8:35 mile was your cool down, and it was a conscious choice to run slower rather than a blow-up forced slow down.

Note that 7:00 pace is much more demanding than 7:30, so if you were able to stay close to it for a long time running loops on the track with no competition, 7:30 in the full marathon tapered and with competition should be very doable.

[Scott]

Thank you very much!  I really appreciate your help and input!!

[dave rockness]

You look to be on pace.  Keep a healthy diet and you should do well. 

[Scott]

Ahhhh...now why would you go and mention a healthy diet, the day after the Girl Scout cookies arrive? 

Seriously though, thank you for your input...it's so nice to have such a great resource. 

Scott