Pace Groups: Yes or No by smoffat

Comments (12)

• joeh 'I don't think you will have any problems getting bogged down at that pace. I ran with the 3:10 group in Columbus and had no problem. I also have run the 3:55 group in Cleveland with no problem either. The faster your time, the less likely any problems. At 3:10 you will be probably top 10% and should find it positive. The big bubble comes at the 4:00 mark generally. The pace groups are nice because the leaders lay down pretty even splits. Hope this helps. Good luck.' added 20th Dec 2007

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• scottyakubek 'I agree with joeh that you won't have any crowds. It really thins out after the first mile. Personally, I don't like pace groups because I don't like counting on anyone but myself out there. The only thing I count on during a race is water. Other than that, I carry my own gels and run by myself. Is this your first marathon ever? If you're training in the Burgh, you should cruise through Cleveland. I lived on Mt. Washington for two years and trained on PJ McArdle Roadway and the hills of the city. I have some training loops around the Mt. Washington, downtown and the rest of the city that I used to run, if you're interested. I have run Cleveland 3 times now. 3:20, 3:04 and 4:00. The 3:20 was my first marathon and the 4:00 was with a friend, so I am right around your pace. I am planning to run Cleveland with my goal to break 3:00.' added 28th Dec 2007

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• smoffat 'Wow! Breaking 3 hours would be awesome. I train my neighborhood of Bethel Park; I'm sure you heard of it if you lived in Mt. Washington. I drive past PJ McArdle everyday for work downrown. This will be my first time visiting Cleveland. My wife, 16 month old daughter and I will be coming up there on the Friday before the race to hang out and see what the city is like. My training program starts Jan 14th, but I've been running about 6 miles every day and improving on my time every run. I just never timed my splits, and I was thinking the pace groups might help me with that. My goal is to qualify for Boston, and I might need to depend on the professionals to pace me correctly. Thanks for your comments. I'm bib 355. I'm sure I won't be under 3:05, so I might be finishing shortly after you. Good Luck Scott' added 30th Dec 2007

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• scottyakubek 'What is the farthest you have run? If it's 6 miles you may be underestimating the difficulty of the marathon. Many training coaches recommend that you have at least a ten mile base before starting an 18-week marathon buildup. I realize that some people may be more athletically gifted than others and if you are one of them, then more power to you. However, increasing your mileage too quickly puts you at risk of injury and once you're injured, it will be very difficult to comfortably train as you need to. I ran Cleveland last year with a friend and he didn't pay attention to his splits during his training and I don't feel that he properly prepared for the race. Since I am faster than him and he didn't know what pace to run, we ran the first 18 miles way too fast and he hit the wall around mile 22. He barely made it the last 4 miles. We ended up finishing just over 4 hours. Had we started out slower, we probably would have finished well under 4 hours. I suggest you go to a marked trail or mark your routes so you know where mileage markers are for reference. Two online tools for this are www.mapmyrun.com and www.maps24.com. If you don't know how fast you should be running and what it feels like to run at that pace, you can cause yourself a world of hurt during the race. Its easy to get caught up in the excitement of the race on raceday and go out too fast. Unlike shorter races, you can't "bank" time in the marathon. If you go out too fast, you will pay later and it is not fun. I would be more than happy to provide you with as much advice as you would like. Of course, most of it will be from my experience and I think you will learn that everyone is different and you will learn a lot through your training and first marathon. I offer this advice, because if you have a bad experience during your first marathon, it may turn you off from the sport. I know my friend has no interest in running another marathon. I had a good experience and I am hooked. If you haven't found them already www.halhigdon.com and www.marathontraining.com have some good information. If you have any questions, feel free to ask.' added 3rd Jan 2008

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• smoffat 'I've run 17 miles before non-stop. In November, I was doing one long run a week, from 10 to 17 miles at about an 8:25 pace. Only recently, I've been running only 6 a night until the 18-week plan starts. My pace right now in my 6 milers is about 7:20 - 7:25/mile. I am taking this very seriously and I don't want to under or overtrain. The only thing that concerns me is the pace throughout the race and I'll accept any advice. The pace group seems like the way to go for me. I ran "The Great Race" in Pittsburgh this past September, and finished the 10k in 42:32. My goal was 42:00, but I went out too fast. My halfway split was 20:43, so I lost about a minute over the final 3 miles. I don;t want to do this in cleveland. Thanks for your comments and I appreciate any advice from previous runners. Scott' added 3rd Jan 2008

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• scottyakubek '17 miles starts to push things in terms of stamina. That's good that you have been that far. Speedwork and hills are probably the things that helped me cut 16 minutes off my time in 2005 (3:20) to 2006 (3:04). I would suggest incorporating these into your training if you haven't planned to already. They will make you faster and stronger, especially late in the race. I have been looking for ways to get faster and I am going to try tempo runs and running the second half of my long runs at race pace to try to simulate the tiredness at that end of the race. I did tempo runs for Boston this past year and I felt very prepared. However, my quads cramped up at mile 18 and I had to cut my pace back to over 10:00/mile because I kept cramping. I think this was a result of downhills in the first half and I didn't train properly for those. I ended up coming in at 3:42. It was very disappointing after qualifying at 3:04. There is a good half marathon in Youngstown at the beginning of March. http://members.aol.com/ytownrrc/ This is a very difficult race due the hills of Mill Creek Park. This would be a very good indicator of your progress. I know there's a half in North Park as well, but it is only a couple loops around the lake and is pretty flat. Not a very interesting or challenging course. I will be running the Mill Creek Distance Classic. It is a very popular race for local runners and other runners in the region.' added 3rd Jan 2008

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• smoffat 'I'll look into the Youngstown one. I plan on doing the North Park one because it si close and there is a 30K in south park, very close to my house and the course is part of my long run training route. my nightly runs of 6 miles involve many hills, and its tough but i know its for the better. what is it that you can do for downhill training??? i didn't realize there can be a problem from downhill running.' added 3rd Jan 2008

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• scottyakubek 'I'm not sure about the downhills. I hope I get a chance to figure it out in 2009. I have done some reading about it and they say to run downhill repeats similar to the uphill repeats. You shouldn't worry about it until you're training for Boston. You should have no problems with hills at Cleveland. There is one significant uphill around mile 7 or 8 and then a very small one at mile 23. Besides that its relatively flat. I think its the long stretches of downhills at Boston that hurt me.' added 3rd Jan 2008

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• smoffat 'thanks, I was wondering about the hills in cleveland, like how many and how hard.' added 3rd Jan 2008

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• JD439 'smoffat, I'll be running in the 3:10 pace group along with a buddy of mine. I'm bib 439. Cleveland is relatively flat, but for some reason they have the biggest hill towards the end of the race. Training in P-burgh you should have no problems. I'm actually there once a week for work and I can't believe how you people run in that city. Let alone live in houses that are built into a hill on an 85 degree angle!!' added 31st Jan 2008

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• CampbellRuns 'Hi, i am a veteran boston qualifier and have qualified for 09 as well. in both of my attempts to qualify i did not use the pace team. the reason is that i believe you should run at a pace that you know you feel comfortable and not get stuck to any pace. this does not mean that you should not monitor pace, but if you feel good at a pace that would have you run a 3:05 then so be it. However if your pace only feels comfortable to a 3:15 marathon, then trying to keep up with a pace team will guarantee you do not finish. run comfortably. particularly in a first marathon. i say no to pace teams in first marathons and no in most cases. the only time i use pace teams is when i want to run slower than my normal pace. MIKe from Campbell, ohio' added 24th Apr 2008

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• CampbellRuns 'smofat. i do not want to hurt your feelings but based on your 10k times, you are not a 3:10 marathoner. In fact, you are more like a 3:30 marathoner. take your time, get a couple marathons under you before you go off trying to run a sub 3:10. to run under 3 hours for the marathon, your 5 k times should be about 1730 and your 10 k times around 37 minutes. you are not even close right now. I am a 3:16 marathoner, twice, probably on best day easy course 3:14 and my pr's in 10 k is 41 minutes and 19:40 5 k, 1:32:00 half and 2:24:00 20 miles. you are not in that league yet. slow down and finish. I ran Boston 3:16:23 in 2008. I am 40.' added 24th Apr 2008

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