What Is A Marathon?

2014 Mercedes Marathon – February 16, 2014 – Birmingham, AL  – 4:56:18

Atlanta Marathon – October 27, 2013 – 5:26:11

Simple question right!? Aside from an activity crazy runners like myself live and breath for, a marathon in it’s simplest form is an accumulation of all other road races combined:

2 – Half Marathons

Atlanta, GA – Georgia Publix Half Marathon – March 17, 2013 – 2:42:41

Atlanta Half Marathon – Thanksgiving Day 2013 – 2:16:21

2.6 – 10-Milers

 From my Nike + App: 10.0 MI Total Distance 1:51:27 Total Time 11’06″/MI Avg Pace 1,005 Total Calories

 4.2 – 10K’s

Atlanta, GA – AJC Peachtree Road Race 2013 – 1:06:26

8.4  – 5K’s  

2007 Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure – Birmingham, AL

2009 Jefferson County Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Fitness N’ Motion 5K  – Birmingham, AL

3 – Mile YMCA Fun Run – July 3, 2013

                                                                             13.1 – 2-Mile Fun Runs                                                                                          

2013 Tuscaloosa Track Club Membership 2-Mile Fun Run – 3rd Place Age Group – 15:27

The beauty of knowing where you are in your short distances is the key to a successful marathon experience. When you hit a mile marker on the race route, instead of daunting on how many more total miles you have left, break it down to each of the increments described above Example, at the start I focus solely on the 1st 5K leg of the race, because I know my average 5K pace, next I shift my focus to the 10K because I also know my average 10K pace, and lastly by the time you hit that point you have just above another 5K left to knock out the first half of the race. Also in initially thinking about that initial 5K stretch of pavement, I also think about my half marathon pace, as I’ve run a few to date, so like my 5K pace and my 10K pace, I know how to pace myself for the first 13.1 miles of the marathon and how long it will typically take me to complete it.

All in all, when you break apart your miles in a marathon, it makes it bearable, you can gauge how much time you have left to finish based on how long it typically takes you to complete certain mileage milestones as I prefer to call them! To date due to the races I have completed I have a general idea of my mileage milestones and how long it takes me to reach each one, which helps me estimate when and how hard to push or pull back and pace myself to get to the finish line in the time frame goal I set for myself at the start of a race. So throughout a long race, I remind myself of the following the whole time:

On average I can finish 2 miles in 15 minutes, 5K in 30 minutes, 10K in an hour, and 13.1 miles in 2:15. 

The beauty of my most recent marathon, was the mile marker text alerts. It gives me a track record of how I paced through out the entire race. Essentially, the way I was tracking mileage milestones in my head, the race coordinators were recording them for me in plain text…lol, theirs are all by kilometers, but still serves the same purpose. Here is a synopsis of what they came up with below:

Candice Hubbard crossed the 10K at 8:01:26 am with a time of 00:56:31 and pace of 09:21 min/mile. Est. Finish at 11:09am.

Candice Hubbard crossed the 15K at 8:31:58 am with a time of 01:27:03 and pace of 10:21 min/mile. Est. Finish at 11:29am.

Candice Hubbard crossed the 25K at 9:36:58 am with a time of 02:32:03 and pace of 10:45 min/mile. Est. Finish at 11:36am.

Candice Hubbard crossed the 30K at 10:11:36 am with a time of 03:06:41 and pace of 16:54 min/mile. Est. Finish at 12:45pm.

Candice Hubbard crossed the 35K at 11:10:11 am with a time of 04:05:16 and pace of 11:44 min/mile. Est. Finish at 11:58am.

Candice Hubbard completed the Mercedes-Benz Marathon at 12:01:13 pm with a time of 04:56:18 and 11:19 min/mile avg pace. (UNOFFICIAL)

Until Next Time

~ On the Run ~

~ I AM Candice Maria ~