Ok, I’m signed up to do the “Goofy” Challenge for charity at next month’s Disney Marathon/ Half Marathon. That means that I’m running the half marathon on Saturday and the full marathon on Sunday. I want to run an all out effort for the marathon, but don’t want to sandbag the half marathon. So, is it possible to run my current marathon pace for both races on successive days?
If you’re in the giving spirit, here’s my fundraising page. http://pages.teamintraining.org/vtnt/wdw15/pmcgahan
Ok, I’m signed up to do the “Goofy” Challenge for charity at next month’s Disney Marathon/ Half Marathon. That means that I’m running the half marathon on Saturday and the full marathon on Sunday. I want to run an all out effort for the marathon, but don’t want to sandbag the half marathon. So, is it possible to run my current marathon pace for both races on successive days?
If you’re in the giving spirit, here’s my fundraising page. http://pages.teamintraining.org/vtnt/wdw15/pmcgahan
You might be different than me but for me I couldn’t run a half on Saturday at marathon race pace and then run a marathon on Sunday also at marathon race pace. I think the half will just take some out of the tank and you won’t be able to perform as well as you possibly could at the marathon. Certainly, you could do both at very respectable paces but just not at the absolute best marathon pace you could. That’s just my experience though. FWIW I have done 22 marathons with multiple BQ’s, etc so I’m at least fairly decent at executing marathons (lest you think I am basing my input on 1 or 2 pudly executed marathons).
Good luck!
You can do anything you set your mind to do.
Is it possible? No doubt. The real question is have you trained to do so?
Thanks for the replies 323, Bman and Scott. I feel that I’m in great shape right now. I’ve averaged 54 MPW for the past 20 weeks. But, if I was going to hold back on one of the runs it would be the half marathon. How slow is the fastest I should run the half if I still want to run the full at my current marathon pace?
Running 13mi. the day before is not optimal prep for doing an all-out marathon. Realize that the 1/2 will have some impact on the next day’s marathon (but if you just wanted to run your best possible marathon you wouldn’t have signed up for the Goofy). This issue is how much impact can you tolerate. My take is to do the 1/2 at marathon pace, and then see what you can do for the full (the challenge being to see how close you can come to marathon pace…knowing the 1/2 probably cost you 5-10sec/mile).
No it is not.
Thanks for the replies 323, Bman and Scott. I feel that I’m in great shape right now. I’ve averaged 54 MPW for the past 20 weeks. But, if I was going to hold back on one of the runs it would be the half marathon. How slow is the fastest I should run the half if I still want to run the full at my current marathon pace?
If you want to run the full at your highest potential, I would run the half at super slow speed. Something like maybe 1:00-1:30 per mile slower than marathon race pace. I thought you were saying you wanted to run them both at your marathon race pace though?
If I were you, I would decide which one you want to race and which one you don’t and run them appropriately. Even a 13 mile jog the day before a full-out marathon is going to leave you in a less than ideal place to run your best marathon though.
If I were you I’d give it a go, understanding that the last part of the marathon may not be your finest moment. If you don’t you will always wonder. They make more marathons on a weekly basis.
Even a full day just walking around Disney the day before would probably take away from your marathon performance. We’re thinking of doing the wine and dine half next year, but the day before will be a relaxing pool day, and maybe a little Epcot.
Is your marathon pace 10:00/mile or slower? Answer: yes
Is your marathon pace 6:00/mile or faster? Answer: yes
Otherwise, Answer: No
no
.
The key word in this question is “goofy”.
If you have to ask, unlikely.
I gonna ask your age because I think that matters for the pounding and recovery after the half. I guess both are relatively flat so that helps. I would go with training shoes on the half day to help alleviate the impact. I would also plan on lots of relaxation afterwards…good recovery steps like a nap, keeping your legs elevated, ice bath(perhaps), chocolate milk, etc. Think of it like a cycling stage race from the recovery standpoint.
Are you a mileage guy? It also I think depends on how you handle mileage. If you’re running 54 a week, you’ve got a lot of pounding in the legs so a 13 miler might not be too bad.
Are you looking for a marathon PR or just a normal marathon? I think a PR would be out of the question but 5 minutes slower would be doable for both if you’re in PR shape. For example, sub 3 would be a PR then I think a 3:05ish pace for both would be doable. Obviously, the key would be not to run a 1:25 on Saturday. 
You’d have to do everything you could to run “slow” because you’ll be fully tapered and ready to go.
Good luck.
No it is not possible if you have properly dialed in your marathon pace. You will run a slower marathon as a result of doing the half the day before. How much slower? Depends on 800000 factors, but accept that you will not run your optimal marathon time. Anyone (ok, may 99.99% of the people) who say they could run 13.1 at MP and then 26.2 at MP the next day is not actually running MP, they are running slower.
Running the half will make your full marathon slower.
Nothing more to say about it.
Thanks for the comments. I’m soaking in all the thoughts here. A little more information about my current state to help formulate more guidance from ST.
I’m 50 years old and just ran a 2:56:47 (6:45/mi) in Memphis on 12/6 after going thru the half in 1:25:45. I wanted to run 2:50, but that turned out to be an unrealistic goal. I was probably in 2:53-2:55 shape, but blew it by going out at 6:30/pace.
Now, I really want to run 6:45 pace on both days at Disney?
Thanks for the comments. I’m soaking in all the thoughts here. A little more information about my current state to help formulate more guidance from ST.
I’m 50 years old and just ran a 2:56:47 (6:45/mi) in Memphis on 12/6 after going thru the half in 1:25:45. I wanted to run 2:50, but that turned out to be an unrealistic goal. I was probably in 2:53-2:55 shape, but blew it by going out at 6:30/pace.
Now, I really want to run 6:45 pace on both days at Disney?
Not going to happen, sorry.