Training partner wants to plan race-day strategy

[F Oliver]

Following a disappointing half-marathon race, my marathon training partner wants to start thinking about what we should do on marathon race day if he cannot keep up. I have no problem sticking with him but he's already panicking about 'hitting the wall'. Has anyone else dealt with this issue?

[Jon Allen]

Meet him at the finish line? 

No, seriously, it depends on your goals and priorities.  If you want to run the best time, then just plan to run together as long as you both want to go the same pace, but don't worry if you separate later.  Don't feel bad and spend energy worrying about it if you separate.  If it's more important to you to run with him the whole way no matter the pace (for support, encouragment, friendship, etc), then just tell him those are your intentions.

One thing about running with someone the whole way- it results in the slowest time.  The reason is that, if you feel good and he feels bad, you run at his slower pace.  But then if he starts to feel better and you feel bad, he will run at your slower pace.  So you run at the slowest pace the whole way.  Unless I'm pacing someone, I never plan to run with them the whole way.  If you happen to run a lot together, great.  If not, you'll see each other at the finish.  But I'm always trying to run the best time rather than run with friends, so your situation may be different.

In the mean time, you may want to figure out if he just happened to have a bad race/bad day, or if his disappointing half-marathon is really a reflection of lower fitness.  This may make a difference in your marathon plans.

[Dale]

Definitely make a plan as to what the "rules" will be.  During the race isn't the time to be wondering if you're buddy will be upset if you leave him behind.  Come to whatever agreement you plan to make before-hand so there's no hard feelings and you can both run the race you want to run.

But I think running with a partner during a race can be beneficial, especially in a marathon, assuming your goal paces are similar.  I'll disagree with Jon a bit (sorry Jon!) in that if you stick together in the early miles at your goal pace, you can help each other pull thru the rough patches and equally importantly hold each other back a smidgen when the horses want to go but it's too early and would result in disaster later on.  It can also distract you from the mid-marathon misery (not so fast to hurt really bad, but been at it long enough that things just kinda suck).  But in a race that long, there will probably come a point where one of you feels the need for more speed and has to leave the other behind.  Better to have that discussed ahead of time than to agonize over it during the race itself. 

[Jon Allen]

No worries, Dale.  Like I said, it's all about goals and priorities.  There are certainly times where having someone to run with can help you. 

[F Oliver]

Thanks for the advice. During the half-marathon, he was starting to get sick and was going through a family emergency (that he only shared with the rest of us on the way home) so he was definitely 'off' that day. Our heart rates and training abilities are virtually identical most days and I'm pretty sure we both perform better due to the friendly competition. I think the key for us will be to agree on pace ahead of time and keep each other to it (more or less). The main goal for the first marathon is to complete it so I would prefer to complete it together.

[dave rockness]

Make sure to get on the same page with this one.  On my first marathon, I trained with a guy and we planned on running the first 1/2 together and then agreed to make a decision at the half way point on how to proceed.  It took us 2 hours to get to the half way point (I was probably in 1:45-50 shape) and thank goodness he was ok with separation- I finished an hour in front of him.  Unless you're a pacer, I'd also support the other comments that you should each run your own race. 

[Sasha Pachev]

I assume the goal is the fastest time for both.

Early on see if both of you can tuck yourself into a group. Based on the half marathon of 1:48 I assume you are not too fast for the fastest official pace group, so you will have one to run with. Find a group that is going your pace and sit in it for as long as you can.

Once you do not have a group and there is nobody to draft behind start trading leads. Do not run side by side! Whichever one of you is feeling stronger at that point should take longer shifts up front. Change the leads frequently, e.g once every two minutes. If one is feeling better than the other you can do something like 4 minutes/1 minute. This way the stronger one would have to run alone for less.

Regarding feeling bad about being dropped, etc. I've done this lead trading with my teammates/training partners when there was money on the line, and I have been the one who got dropped and ended up with less money or no money at all. We had no bitter feelings afterwards because we knew that we've been honest and done our best to push each other to the best possible performance on that day.

[Jennifer Schmidt]

I have been through this before.  While I lived in Florida, my friend and I trained for multiple marathons together.  We ran just about every long run together.  We ran a total of one marathon together.  It was good for me at the time, but unfortunately not for her.  What we did after that race was as we approached the big day, we came up with a plan together that worked for the both of us.  In some cases, we would start together and if one felt better than the other, that person would go ahead.  For the last couple of marathons, we have wished each other good luck at the start, hugged and said "see you at the finish."

I am sure that you guys can make a decision that will work for the both of you.  Happy Running!