training question for first marathon

[April G]

I am 3 weeks away from running my first marathon.  My question is about long runs.  I ran a 20 miler on September 5--6 weeks from the marathon, and have also run an 18 and 16 miler prior tothat.  I ran a 1/2 marathon two weeks later(last weekend), and was planning to run one more 20 miler this weekend.  However, due to a spontaneous decision to play a long day of flag football as well as jump into some track and field stuff, I am very sore(muscle sore not injury sore) and did not do 20 miles today as planned, since I thought it would be unwise.  If I push the 20 miles forward a few days and run it less than 3 weeks away from the actual marathon, would this be unwise as well?  Is it worth it to do one more 20 miler or may it do damage?  Otherwise I have generally been running 10ish miles a day, 6 days a week, 60 miles a week, for a while now--I would have to check my blog to see how long I have been at that mileage.  I was thinking maybe I would still run the 20 miles but keep the intensity low--no speeding up at the end.  Sorry I am long winded here but my next question is about tapering--all base mileage for the last 2 weeks while cutting mileage?  Maybe?  And lastly, I have read the discussion about fueling for the marathon--is there anyone who just drinks gatorade and runs their marathons that way?  That is my plan for the marathon--it has worked fine for my long runs.  I was just going to chug gatorade every 30 minutes or so.  Now I am wondering if that is sufficient?  Last question--pace.  My 1/2 marathon predicts me for a 3:20 marathon so 7:40ish pace but I am not sure if I am really trained for that or not.  I am a novice runner and have only been running a little over a year.  I was thinking I would start at 8:00 pace to be conservative then after a few miles warming up drop the pace into the 7's somewhere and then just run what feels good and hope I don't keel over at the end?  I would really appreciate any input or suggestions.  Thanks!

[Sasha Pachev]

April:

If I were in your shoes I would not run a competitive marathon for another year. I would approach this one as a 26 mile long training run at a comfortable pace with a strong finish if you have any juice left, and a cool-down otherwise. Do not taper at all, train through it. Run the first 20 miles at 8:00 pace. Then if you feel good, speed up, otherwise, keep the pace, or just jog in at 9:00 or slower. Note that this strategy still gives you a Boston Qualifier in case you want to go to Boston in the next couple of years.

So do your long runs as if you did not have the marathon. Except maybe a little shorter one week before.

Fuel-wise, do what worked in the training. As I mentioned in my other post, I believe a good marathon can be run on pretty much nothing. A bad marathon can be kept from becoming really bad by carb intake. So I would not sweat the issue. If you feel some Gatorade will go into you, take some at the aid station. If you feel fuzzy headed and the pace is difficult to maintain, grab two cups or more, as much as you can grab and consume without vomitting.

If your husband, relative, or friend could show up in the middle miles with a bottle that would help. A bottle can be carried for a couple of miles, and you can make sure you get enough fuel, or at least as much as your body is capable of taking and you will not cry over spilled Gatorade either. If not, that only helps in a really bad marathon anyway, so no sweat.

[Jon Allen]

April- if you do an easy 20 sometime this week, you should be fine.  Especially if it makes you feel more confident for your race.  Your base mileage is sufficient that you should recover as long as you go easy.  But no more flag football till after the marathon, ok? 

Tapering- I would disagree with Sasha and say should should taper, even if you aren't doing the marathon "competitively".  Keep your workouts the same as before- do a little fast stuff and the rest easy.  Keep the intensity the same, just reduce mileage.  You don't want to make the mistake of 2 weeks of very slow, sluggish runs- mix a little fast stuff in, just keep it short.

Gatorade- if you did that in training, then do it during the marathon.  If you wanted to try gu's during the training the next 3 weeks, and if they work for you, then you could have that in case of emergency during the race.

Since this is your first marathon, going out slow (8:00 pace) for at least the first half is a good decision.  Don't let yourself get sucked up in the excitement at the start and run a 7 min mile or anything.  The slower you start, the better you will likely finish towards the end.  And you can always speed up after the 13 mile or 20 mile mark if you feel good, like Sasha said.

[April G]

Thanks for the input.  You both confirmed what I suspected was the right plan of action.  A BQ would be nice but finishing would be the ultimate goal this time around, since I have grandparents coming into town who are very excited about my new healthy lifestyle and will be cheering at the finish line. 8:00 pace sounds manageable, and also sounds like a pace in which I can get some gatorade in since I have yet to successfully intake anything during a race, although I have been able to hold gatorade down in long training runs.  So, a 20-miler it is later this week when I am done being sore--and no more flag football.  Thanks again for the input.