Once you run a half marathon...

Do you find you do better for your shorter runs?

After experiencing the half, the thought of doing a 5K and 10K sounds like a breeze - I feel I can do better now that I went the longer distance...

Is this a common delusion or is this a possibility for me?

Also - for my next half - I want to do the Diva - what would be a good goal for me to aim for? I ran the LI at 2:35.

What would be realistic? 2:15 as a goal?

Re: Once you run a half marathon...

I felt the same way after running the kings park 15k - I felt like any race after that would be easy. Unfortunalty I never got to find out due to my knee injury.

I would think a good goal would be 30 sec faster per mile... so 6-7 minutes faster overall. But then again I like to set very realistic "baby-step" goals.

Re: Once you run a half marathon...

Re: Once you run a half marathon...

I defintely got faster while training for a half! My 5k and 10k times improved.

I've run 2 halfs so far. For my first I wanted to run it in under 2:15- I came in 2:09. For the second, I really didn't have a time goal and ended up coming in 2:07. My next was supposed to be to finish in under 2 hours and then I got hurt....I'm still hoping though!

For your second, I would just aim to beat your first time! Think about it- to beat your first time if all your splits are the same, except for say you run a few of the miles faster- you can still beat your time!

Re: Once you run a half marathon...

My goals for each half has always been to beat the last race's time.

I am able to run shorter races a little bit faster, but my pace is more or less the same. I ran my last half at 9:14 and 2 weeks later I ran my best 4miler at 8:50.

Message edited 5/4/2011 8:55:41 AM.

Re: Once you run a half marathon...

I think the Diva would be a great second race. The longer you go definitely helps! I never ran X-Country in college, b/c the thought of a 10K made me sick (I ran 800m), but now after half and full marathons 10Ks seem like a breeze.


As for pace, you really have to play with it in your training. What pace can you sustain for 5-8 miles on a training run (only do this once a week).

You could also run a few 5Ks or 10Ks and plug your time into a calculator.

Mcmillan is pretty conservative, so i like it as a resource.

Re: Once you run a half marathon...