EDIT 2012.05.15: I added a half marathon time from a 70.3 I did in 2011 as well as a new training run I recently did.
I've found a great triathlon community in Google+. We post workout information, questions get asked and answered, and I'm feeling more and more like I'm in a large, virtual training community. Besides my own (Google Docs) spreadsheet that I use to track all of my workout information, last Fall I started to use DailyMile.com to post my workout information. It auto-magically sends a post to my Facebook and Twitter accounts as well. Since they left out Google+, I do a quick post by-hand.
After posting a running workout this morning, one of my G+ followers ask: "Just curious, what is your normal race pace for say a 13.1 or a 26.2?" I actually had to think long and hard about that one. After posting my answer, I realized it might make a good blog post, so here's what I said:
Well, that's an interesting question that has a long, convoluted answer. The short answer is ~7:45 - 8:00 pace (per mile). The long answer follows, if you really have that much time to read it. :)
I ran the Jacksonville Marathon in 2002. To date, that's my only official marathon run. I was running with a friend, who'd done many previous marathons, and her brother, who was doing his first and hadn't properly trained. The long of it is, I ran a 5:05:?? (11:38 pace!). Slow! I'd committed to running with them and it wasn't until the last 4-5 miles that she said I could take off on my own. I finished 20 minutes ahead of them.
Then, in 2009, when I started doing triathlon, I did a local half marathon with my partner. Again, I'd committed to running with her, so we finished in 2:18:36 (10:35 pace).
I've never really considered myself a runner, but in my training runs and triathlon events, I could usually run a 9:00 pace, sometimes as "fast" as an 8:30-ish.
Last year, 2011, literally the evening before the event, my brother and sisters in-law, who were running the Madison full and half marathon (respectively), convinced me to run with them. I did the half, running with my sisters in-law, and we ran one of them to a PR of 2:05:38 (9:35 pace), which was also a PR for me. Later that same year, in a 70.3 event, I managed to run a 2:01:27 (9:16 pace), another new PR.
I've never run a half, or even a full, marathon by myself for my own time. However, given some strong finishes at the end of last year's triathlon season (I placed 4th in my AG in my second to last event and then finally managed an AG "Podium" finish with a 3rd place in my last event), I decided to really start working my run, which is my _*weakest*_ event in a triathlon.
Last fall, during a training run of 15 miles, my running partner with a GPS watch hit our half marathon split and it was a 1:49:11 (8:20 pace). A couple of weeks later I managed to run the same course on my own and took a half marathon split of 1:48:19 (8:16 pace), which was a huge confidence booster for me as I learned I could run that pace on my own. Based on that, I signed up for the Madison Marathon this coming Memorial Day weekend and plan on running a 3:30 (8:00 pace).
I did a long training run of 20 miles just a week ago. The overall time was 2:34:41 (7:44 pace). My running partner had his Garmin GPS and shared the per mile split data. If I look at the first 13 miles and add up the cumulative time, then take a tenth of the next mile's time, I get a 1:41:40 half marathon time (7:45 pace). Most recently (2012.05.14), I ran 13.21 miles in 1:38:54 (7:29 pace) during a training run. I started the watch, didn't look at it the whole run, and then stopped it at the end. That run was really great!
For my Madison Marathon, coming up in just less than six weeks, I should be fine for my goal of a 3:30 time (8:00 pace). I feel like I could have held the pace we were running at during that 20 mile training run, which would be a 3:23 finishing time.
So, to wrap up, here's what I have:
2002 11:38 pace for an official marathon
2009 10:35 pace for an official half marathon
2011 9:35 pace for an official half marathon
2011 9:16 pace for an official half marathon (in a 70.3)
2011 8:16 pace for an unofficial half marathon (training run)
2012 7:45 pace for an unofficial half marathon (training run)
2012 7:29 pace (1:38) for an unofficial half marathon (training run)
I'll let everyone know how my Madison Marathon goes and we'll see what I can add for an official marathon time and pace. :)
