When I say "Equivalent Performance", I mean what would be an equivalent race time at one race distance based on your recent race time at another distance. For example, if you run 31:24 for 10K, you might wonder what you could run for a 5K or for the marathon or for a 30K or 15K. Using my Running Calculator, you'll now know. Of course, I must say that these are "estimates" of what you can run. Actual results will vary depending on the course, the weather, if it's your day or not and a myriad of other factors. However, I think you'll find that within a small variation, these estimates are accurate. (Do keep in mind that a 5K runner is unlikely to run the equivalent time in the marathon off of 5K training. The runner would obviously need to train for the marathon to accomplish this equivalent time.)
Anyway, besides HIGHLY recommending this site to anyone that has questions about pacing, training paces, etc., I had something interesting happen this morning. I found a PDF on my laptop that I had created (via printing) on 3/17 after I set my PR in a 5k (from the hotel in Minneapolis). I never actually opened it, read it, or printed it when I got home. I decided to look at what it "projected" for last weekend's half-marathon. The darn thing was wrong: it predicted 2:33:23 and I ran 2:33:05. It was closer than I was, by about 7 minutes!!!! Amazing.
Now, it is predicting a 5:22:51 for my full marathon. I will say clearly up front that given the impact of my health problems on training, my weight, and the open questions of in-race nutrition to avoid hitting the wall early, I don't think I will be as close on that number. But it does give me hope for sub-5 hour marathons in the future. Stay tuned!
1 comment:
Marc, great post and you are very smart to use whatever tools are available to gauge your progress. As a veteran of 16 marathons, I can tell you that all 16 of them have been wonderful, difficult and unique in their own way. There were those where I stepped to the starting line knowing I was capable of a PR, and walked away withou a good time at all, and vice versa. Be flexible in your training and expectations. After all, no matter what time you finish in your first marathon, it will be a PR!
If you get a chance, I would like for you to please visit my running web site, Faithful Soles. I have a categorized and searchable Running Blog Database on there and would appreciate it if you would link your blog to it (We have bloggers from 38 states on there, and you would be our first blogger from North Dakota).
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