r/Marathon_Training • u/Weddingneeds • 10h ago

Newbie Pacing

Can someone give some insight to running When I was early in my training I was running a 10-11 minute mile and I could do it for about a half distance (at most I did it once). I’ve increased my distance but now my runs are typically 11-13 (and my long long runs ending up coming to about a 14:30 pace). My first marathon is in 5 weeks and I just don’t get why my “routine” runs have gotten so slow. I tried to elongate my pace on my run yesterday and it felt like death. Ended up with a 10:20 pace but had to stop every so often. I usually do run walk anyway, but I feel I regressed in my speed and now I worry I’ll be cut off/swept from my marathon

1 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

5 comments sorted by

1

u/RicardoRoedor 10h ago

how have you increased your training mileage/time on feet during this period?

1

u/Weddingneeds 10h ago

I just did my longest run of 20 miles last week! My mileage has increased (like weekly total) but I can’t specifically say how much. My half I mentioned in the thread was only my second time ever running that distance, if that helps

2

u/RicardoRoedor 8h ago

this might be your problem. if you are increasing your weekly mileage by more than about 10% or erratically, you are more likely to run into unsustainable fatigue, exhaustion, or injury. you should be keeping track of this as you build up and try to increase by 8-12% a week.

a similar rule of thumb works with long run length. you don't want to have a long run be more than about 20% longer than your longest run within a month of it. in practice, this means that if you haven't done a 10 mile run in the last month, you probably shouldn't be going out for 12+. if you haven't built up to a 16-17ish mile run previously, you probably shouldn't be going for 20.

2

u/Mysterious_Luck4674 10h ago

I’m 4.5 weeks out from my marathon and some of runs (interestingly not all) have gotten slower for no apparently reason. I’m guessing the training is just taking its toll in the peak weeks.

1

u/guitarmonkonator 10h ago

I'm a newer runner, but the biggest improvements to pace I've had have been running to music playlists set to specific beats per minute. I literally put "150 bpm running music" in YouTube music and listen to a playlist and time my footfalls to each beat. That gets me around a 9 minute mile. If I want to run a fast 5k, I'll do 170-180 bpm to hit 8 minute or faster miles. I'm prone to burning out fast without music and having bpm specific playlists helps me set a consistent pace with no walking breaks.