Posted by Victor Birch on December 28, 2010 at 13:50:20:
In Reply to: Re: Krispy Kreme locations posted by Michael Harwell on December 28, 2010 at 12:28:26:
should be doable, PROVIDED you have done the proper training for a marathon. That would mean that a 3:15 is not out of the question for you on a course similar to the Holiday Half. The First Light course is not similar to the Holiday Half.
I would shoot for 3:20 at the First Light since it is your first marathon. That's a 7:38 pace. In most marathons, I would suggest starting 10 to 20 seconds slower than that and building up speed after mile 10 eventually exceeding your average pace. In First Light, I recommend starting close to but no faster than your average pace. That is due to the fact that the second 10 miles require a lot more work than the first 10 miles so maintaining that average is like speeding up in most other marathons. The final 10k in Mobile is easy. If you are properly trained you will feel very strong in the final 10k.
Most of all do not try to "bank" time in the first 10 miles. Do not do that first portion faster than your average "goal" pace. Enjoy the first 10, work the second 10 and race that last 10k.
Check out this link to McMillan Running Calculator to see if your training pace has prepared you for that race pace.
http://www.mcmillanrunning.com/cgi-bin/calc.pl