Berlin Marathon, Germany

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eL Bee! Sep 2007 11:12pm, 18 Sep 2007 1,131 posts	Quote Pin eL Bee! From your ½marathon pb and the big difference with your marathon, (depending on how your training has gone) I'd be tempted to aim for the 8:30's to conserve energy for the last 10K, and then pick it up from there if you can> If not - you'll pb by 15 minutes - If you can, you'll pb by more Just my two penn'eth
Sep 2007 11:14pm, 18 Sep 2007 220 posts	Quote Pin ... go as slow as I dare for as long as I can: aiming for completely even pacing... but expect to lose 2-3 mins in the second half over the first.
Sep 2007 11:17pm, 18 Sep 2007 221 posts	Quote Pin i'm with eL Bee Kieren. slow start is best - at least for the first 10k. the adrenaline will drive you to a faster pace on the day, so target the lower range, speed up if you can, and enjoy the race!
Kieren Sep 2007 11:21pm, 18 Sep 2007 1,976 posts	Quote Pin Kieren Sounds sensible. I just hope I can stick to that on the day I haven't really done much training - I was lazy for various reasons the first half of the year and then injured myself in May which wiped me out for June & July. I was scared of the injury flaring up again so tried to just concentrate on long runs through August. I had been well off the form but it suddenly seems to be back for the shorter distances. I'm improved by a over a minute over 5km in 2 weeks and am only 28 seconds outside my PB. 8:30 sounds like the best idea. I think I'll stick to that with a mind to perhaps wind it up a bit from 16 onwards. I'm hoping those nuun tablets will help with any cramping too
SarahL Sep 2007 11:42pm, 18 Sep 2007 76 posts	Quote Pin SarahL kieren you'll be great - and by the sounds of your times you'll be showered, massaged and proudly displaying your medal before I'm even half way!! BTW - I'm going for even pacing - but i've never ever run more than 18 miles, so I'm seriously underprepared!! Going into unknown territory is a bit frightening!
flanker Sep 2007 9:10am, 19 Sep 2007 6,268 posts	Quote Pin flanker Kieren, you may also want to check out the succeed tablets to help with cramping and maintaining electrolyte levels. I've started using them this year on ultras and maras and they have got rid of cramping and I think improved my performance through maintaining electrolyte levels. Being a sweaty git, I find that the electrolyte content of energy drinks aren't enough and these tablets seem to make a real difference. I got them from wayside-kinetics.co.uk
Kieren Sep 2007 9:15am, 19 Sep 2007 1,978 posts	Quote Pin Kieren They look good too. I'm heading to sweatshop on the weekend and will buy what ever they have on offer
flanker Sep 2007 9:22am, 19 Sep 2007 6,270 posts	Quote Pin flanker you might come back with a kilo of table salt and some salted peanuts
B.B. Sep 2007 9:51am, 19 Sep 2007 9,975 posts	Quote Pin B.B. My 2p on all of this... I am aiming for even pacing. My goal is sub-3, and I know I am capable of this. I should be capable of something a lot better, but there's just something about the marathon distance that comes along and bites you on the ass. Having said that, it is always likely to see a little bit of fade in the second half, so my pacing will be 1:28-1:29 in the first half (6:45/mile pace), and fingers crossed I can hang onto this pace in the second half. The last 3 or 4 miles pacing goes out of the window and it's just do what you can to get yourself home as quickly as possible. The only marathon I've hit my target on saw a second half 1 minute slower than the second. The others have been a little different! For people doing their first marathons all I would say is be conservative in your pacing. Please!! You should feel like it's very easy for the first 16+ miles. If at any point in the first 16 miles you feel like you're working, then you HAVE to slow down. Otherwise you hit the wall, and that's not that much fun. Everything happens in slow mo, and everyone else comes streaming past you. Oh, and be aware that we're not going to have mile markers other than maybe 5m, 10m, halfway etc. It's K markers, so whatever your mile pacing divide it by 1.609 to get the KM pace. On the tablets stuff, I've never taken them, but have found gels to be great. I will be there with 6 gels - one for before the start and five when running - every half hour or so. By the way... should we book somewhere for dinner the night before the race?
Kieren Sep 2007 10:02am, 19 Sep 2007 1,979 posts	Quote Pin Kieren KM markers - I totally didn't consider that! As if my math wasn't bad enough on the run already. Dinner sounds great BB- anyone have any ideas?