Ignoramus24281 said:I am curious what do you esteemed experts think. I will likely
participate in the March Madness half marathon, fully expecting to
finish, on March 20.On April 2, there is going to be a 50 k race. It will be relatively
inexpensive, only $35. I am considering participating in it, not
necessarily with the intent to finish -- although it is remotely
possible that I would be able to finish -- but with the intent to see
how far can I jog before I am compelled to stop.
It's bad, but not because you're DNFing. It's bad because you don't have
a clear goal. It's probably also bad from a practical standpoint, because
if you don't have a designated finishing spot, it's going to be hard to
work out the details of getting from your stopping point to the finish.
You should have a plan, and the plan needs to be based on where your training
is when you do the race.
I'd suggest that you take the longest run you've completed prior to the
race and add about 30% to the distance. So if you can complete an 18 mile
training run before the race, then aim to do the first 23 miles of the
race. (but you should aim to do at least 20 regardless, based on the fact
that you've had a half marathon under your belt for some time)
You may need to look carefully at the course map to make sure that your
planned stopping point is practical as a bail-out (I say that because if
it's a wilderness trail or something, you probably can't just have someone
pick you up anywhere on the course)
In terms of your training, the more you can build up your long run, the
more ambitious a goal you'll be able to set.
Cheers,
--
Donovan Rebbechi
http://pegasus.rutgers.edu/~elflord/