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Hi,
Just wondered if anyone has any input on how to pace a 63.3km race as compared to a marathon. My weakness, as I guess for most hobby-runners, is lack of real long runs. I've run plenty of marathons, and kinda know how I fare in a marathon when it comes to pacing. Its no secret I would have to start the 63km slower than the marathon - but how much slower? At the end of a marathon my legs are toast and going on for another half seems difficult! on the other hand, after a half my legs are also toast, and the idea of running another half is laughable, but I know thats managable as it all comes down to pacing.
If it matters I'm not really fast but not really slow either. I guess i would run an open marathon in somewhere around 3:05 - 3:10 right now.
Any input is appreciated
What sort of weekly mileage have you been averaging? And for how long?
Also how many marathons have you run and how frequently do you race them. How many have you run this year?
Last edited by:
satanellus: Aug 3, 18 1:04
Save for a few ups and downs during the summer vacations, I've been quite steady on 50-60 kms most weeks the last year - year and a half. I ran 2500 kms last year, and I have run 1600 km so far this year.
I've run a total of 10 marathons, where 4 of them were part of a full IM. Of the 6 open marathons I've run, 2 of them have been on trail. This year I ran one road marathon i april and 1 trail marathon in june. This year is the first in a couple of years where I havent done any IM. Last year I did 1 IM, the year before 2 IM, and 1 before that.
You're not in bad place going in by any means.
While you haven't been logging huge miles, it looks like you've been relatively consistent this year, especially if you've still been doing some regular swimming and cycling. You have decent base with your years of racing and training, and enough experience that you're unlikely to encounter anything physical gremlins that you haven't previously put to the sword.
Assuming a flat course on road or on trail with surface, without doing any serious number crunching, I'd suggest go through the marathon about 15 to 20 minutes slower than the marathon race pace that your current form would suggest.
You should find a sweet spot midway between marathon pace and IM marathon pace.
thanks! sounds like a good idea to go out somewhere between IM-pace and Marathon-pace! I guess I'll be slowing down no matter hos slow i start, given my legs aren't built to run for 5+ hrs straight - I'll probably try and go out at around 4:50min/km and hold steady as long as possible. Maybe I'll finish somewhere around 5:15 - 5:30:)
For my first 70k I aimed for 1 minute per mile slower than my open marathon time. The best advice I got was do the first third like it was a warm up-no matches burnt. The end is going to hurt no matter what-have fun and good luck.
Is this a trail ultra or a road ultra? The terrain of the race can make a difference in pace. Are you pacing the whole thing or just a section(s)?
not much different..
used to race a 56km run every year, ran marathon pace.. blew up a couple of times, but also blew up in marathons just as often.
best marathon time 2:41, used to go through marathon mark in the 56k at 2:45 or so. The 56k started flat for 28k, then a big climb and descent to marathon mark, so it was a bit slower course than most marathons.
the extra 7k for your 63k is a consideration though.. so my conservative guess would be try for about 10m slower than standalone marathon time, at the marathon mark here, and see..
I’d call it a road ultra, even though its got sections of grass and gravel. Im not pacing for someone but trying to pace myself:)
Im probably going to go quite conservative. My open marathon PR is 3:06 and I’m planningto use atleast 3:30 for the first 42k in the ultra. Hopefully this lets me keep holding my pace for the remaining 21k. The race is tomorrow though - so not long until we se how it goes :) I’ll put up a short report here tomorrow :) now if I could only decide what shoes to run in!
Impressive times! As you say I think I should be quite conservative. Given Im a fair bit slower than you in the first place I’ll be running for well over 5hrs. With lack of long runs being my real Achilles i think taking it slow Will be the least painfull:-)