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[quote=Anonymous]Also, regarding running the full mileage in training - many (most?) groups take you 10 miles in training for a half and 20 miles for a full.  I guess the reasoning is on race day, you will have the mental excitement to carry you through the final miles.  And you don't risk injuring yourself on that last "unneeded" long run prior to the race.

However, my training group is very well known in the running world (they host and provide pace runners for all Disney races and many years Kenyan Olympians joined us for training). They had us run 26 or 27 training miles for the full and 13 for the half.  Their theory was you come into the race with full confidence that you can complete the distance and you can test out all clothing, fuel, etc and know your plan for race day will work for you.

I moved away 7 years ago, so not sure what their current practices are.

I would be fairly comfortable stopping at 10 for a half, as the increase of 3 miles is probably close to what you would have increased in a training run.  But just as I mentioned how the first time you hit 10 miles can be a struggle that last mile, I would hate to have just barely finished 10 miles once and then try for 13 a few weeks later.  At least run 10 miles several weekend before the half, so it's not a "new" distance to your body.

As for the full, I think it is just cruel for training groups to take runners up to 20miles in training and make them think this is adequate for the full 26.  Yes, most will complete the full, the the last 6 miles can be agony (known as "hitting the wall").  They should at least take them up to 23.

There is a saying in full marathons that the first half of the race is 20 miles and the second half is 6 miles.   But because I had run 25+, miles (I cut out just short of 26.2 to make race day my 1st official marathon) it was exhausting but not agony.

I decided to be a "one and done" marathoner, mainly because my kids were young and the weekend runs were taking me away from home duty for too many hours when combined with the long nap I needed after running!

I ran the next  14 years in the half group, which is a very pleasant distance.

On race day, don't let the crowd excitement have you running the first miles faster than you trained for.  This will bite you 8 miles later.  Know your planned pace and adjust as you hit each mile marker.  All those dashers will eventually slow down to their trained ability and in the last few miles, you will pass by some of them, as you run exactly at the pace you planned.

With good training and a good pace for your body and ability, the last mile "should" be able to be run faster than the early miles.  Not saying I did that (as trained pace setters, we ran very consistently mile after mile).  But if you are reallly slowing down for your last mile after you have run that distance many times, you probably should slow up a bit in the early miles.  If it's the first 3 times for that distance, yep you are going to run the last mile slower!

I loved doing 3&1's.  When I ran alone and didn't wear a watch, it worked out to just run until I was a bit winded, then walk quickly till I was breathing easy, then start running again.  Very close to 3 min run, 1 min walk.

We converted SO many runners during big races who were running at our pace (you start grouping by mile 5) but noticed we got to take walk breaks while they had to run the entire time.

And like I said when my pace group started doing run/walk intervals, our overall pace improved.  My club had 500+ runners and I don't think the elite runners did intervals, but those of us in the slower paces did 3&1 intervals and most new runners quickly became converts. 
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