Marathon Pace Training

31 days and 12 hrs to the NYC marathon! That means I have to start getting very familiar with my marathon pace, so that's what I decided to do this evening. I set my trusty Garmin 405 virtual partner to run 7:25/mile and to make every mile an automatic lap. Going into the workout, I needed to my legs and effort level to understand a ~7:25 effort. I also needed to gauge my exertion levels, and how that corresponded to my heart rate. Here are my results:

Lap

Time

Distance

Avg Pace

Avg HR

Calories

1	00:08:50	1.00 mi	08:50	114 bpm		100 C
2	00:07:27	1.00 mi	07:27	153 bpm		107 C
3	00:07:29	1.00 mi	07:29	156 bpm		105 C
4	00:07:07	1.00 mi	07:07	157 bpm		106 C
5	00:07:32	1.00 mi	07:32	162 bpm		106 C
6	00:07:15	1.00 mi	07:15	158 bpm		106 C
7	00:07:16	1.00 mi	07:16	158 bpm		106 C
8	00:08:43	1.00 mi	08:43	131 bpm		108 C
9	00:00:12	0.02 mi	12:36	131 bpm		1 C

Laps 1,8 and 9 were warmups and cooldowns. I wasn't exactly sure what a consistent 7:25 feels like, and the hills at Central Park did not make it easier to feel the pace. Consequently, I just tried to keep the same effort level after my first mile at 7:27. The good news is that I felt my effort was fairly even throughout, and it didn't feel so difficult. The bad news is that my pace fluctuated according to the the park elevations. I think come marathon time, I'll have to use the downhills to bank some precious seconds.

The other thing about my run tonight is that my lower calf muscles felt like there were on fire. My legs aren't fully recovered yet from the urbanathlon and the 20+ miles the following day. This goes to emphasize how important it is to approach the start feeling physically fresh. I can't wait.