Tuesday, November 10, 2009

half marathon-ing!

This post is mostly for recording my current thoughts, but I thought I'd share :)

Starting to do research into pacing strategies for the half marathon in January. I feel like I am gonna graduate in 11 weeks by REALLY preparing myself for this half. So here are some decent articles that I found on the subject:

NYRR
Gordo Byrn Half Ironman
beginnerTriathlete.com thread

The common theme that I got was that you should start out slow and ramp it up to mile 10, then hit the gas. Going out to hard is gonna burn you. This isnt a 5K or 10K! Also, trust your pacing from the McMillan Running Pace Calculator.

One of these Sunday's Im gonna run laps around the top of Central Park to get to know that section. I don't know how many times I have ran the loop from the transverse around 100th street and down. The only time I have ever raced above that was in the NYC Triathlon and I went into that totally blind (bad idea, btw).

If you have any half marathon racing suggestions, lets hear em!

4 comments:

  1. I have nothing useful to provide about half marathons except the faster you run the more likely there is to be food left for you :) As for the north hills in Central Park, they are tough! I think it is a great idea to get some hill work in there so you know what to expect!

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  2. For my latest HM PR I did a gradual ramp up strategy and it worked great. It's hard to hold back at the beginning and I accidentally let it rip too early and couldn't ultimately push the pace at the end I wanted, but I did manage to negative split the whole thing regardless. Which race are you doing?

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  3. The NYRR Manhattan Half....2 times around Central Park with a little extra. Have you done this one before? I think its gonna be around Jan 24th next year.

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  4. I would pick your goal time and figured out what the average pace is, and stick with that. Obvi you'll go slower uphills, but for me staying constant is the key to a great race.

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