The only time I push myself to run at this pace is either at interval training (once a week) or in races. I would burn out if I regularly ran at this pace. I ran 5:55 pace for 13.1 miles today and based on P&D Advanced Marathoning book, my Lactate-threshold pace is between 5:45 and 5:55 (although I need to lose a couple of kg for the faster end)
Todays race was to see how I am physically and to set a realistic target for London and to set my pace bands for the coming months. I had already estimated my pace bands before Christmas and I am pleased to say they are spot on.
I was a minute faster last year in the same race, but I was also 2kg lighter. Some 
people estimate that for each kg lost, you might run 2 seconds a mile quicker so I am going to happily take that and assume the Christmas excess slowed me down about a minute 🙂 My chip time was 1:17:31 which is my second fastest half marathon to date, I also broke my PB’s for 5 miles and 10 miles as they officially stand. My HR was 5 BPM lower this year compared to last year so I see that as a big positive. I also had a good group to run with last year, not so much this year. I was pleased to feel no injuries or niggles at all, given I have upped the mileage and done lots of races this is good. I took 1 gel at the start today and had a sip at the 3 water stations.
My target time for London is between 2:40:00 and 2:45:00 and to achieve this my training pace bands will be:
| Run type | Pace |
| Threshold | 5:45 to 5:55 |
| Target Marathon Pace | 6:05 |
| Long Steady Run | 6:42 to 7:18 |
| General Aerobic | 7:00 to 7:36 |
| Recovery (Maximum 6 miles) | 7:15 to 7:30 |
I will do a lot of races to keep me race fit and sharp on the road to London, races less than 10 miles I will race flat out. Longer races will be at target marathon pace if the terrain allows.
Excluding Snowdonia which I did not take seriously, my marathon track record follows, my PB’s will end soon over the marathon distance but hoping for another good shot at it this year:
|
9/10/2011 Chester – 2:59:23 |
21/4/2013 London – 2:58:53 |
14/9/2014 Chesterfield – 2:54:53 |
13/9/2015 Hull – 2:53:57 |
24/4/2016 London– 2:51:24 |
23/4/2017 London – 2:44:35 |
Today was also a good opportunity to test my running shoes, I am fairly shore I will run London in the Mizuno Wave Rider, they were great today.
I have written loads of training plans for my club mates at Doncaster AC, based on the P&D Advanced Marathoning book, get a copy from amazon.
Brill Martin x