How do I pace my first marathon? It's simpler than you think.

Do you know someone running their first marathon soon? Maybe this could help them settle their nerves around pacing.

Your DEBUT marathon is like nothing else. It's a celebration of months and months of training and dedication. For first marathons the ‘A Goal’ is to cross that finish line in one piece.

The training has been to build your physical and mental endurance and strength to hold it together that last 12 or so kilometers. It is your longest long run. And it will be an experience like no other.

So pacing looks like heading out on your long run - not faster or slower, and then continuing on as you would - in that same rhythm - to the finish.

Because you're heading into unknown territory, you cannot have a pacing plan that is faster than your usual long run, that is a recipe for disaster! No matter how good you feel - just keep running along at your long run pace/effort for this one, trust me.

Based on your half marathon time, you may have the potential to run a certain time that is faster. Once you've experienced that backend of the marathon, then we start setting goal times and doing marathon pacing. But that is for the future.

This one is for the experience.