Free Your personal running journal by Jeff Galloway Page A

predicted finish time or recent finish times are close to or slower than CCT).
    What is the enrollment? Large races are often more fun and engaging, with crowds of spectators. The downside is the weaving between runners can slow you down. Each time you zig or zag, you’ll add to the distance covered. In races with over 30,000 participants, the extra distance is often a mile or more in a marathon/half a mile in a half marathon. Extra distance means a slower finish time.
    What is the projected weather? Temperature has a major effect on finish time. I’ve surveyed this and found that most marathoners slow down 30 seconds a mile for every 5 degree increase above 60F. This means that metric/centigrade runners will slow down 20 sec per kilometer for every 2 degree temperature increase above 14C.
    Sightseeing? I suggest investigating points of interest in the area: museums, national parks, etc. The Disney events, for example, offer activities for family members and reward them for enduring your absence during long runs.
    Terrain, elevation change, and past participants’ comments.
    Visit www.marathonguide.com for lots of good information.

5 The “Magic Mile”
    The “Magic Mile” time trials (MM) are reality checks on your pacing. These should be done on the weeks noted on the schedules (starting see here ). The MM has been the best predictor of current potential and helps us set a realistic training pace. With this information, you can decide how hard to run during various situations. (If you have any injuries you should not do the MM)
Warm up for these with about 10 minutes of very easy running with liberal walk breaks
Do 4-6 accelerations as see here – no sprinting
Run around a track if at all possible (or a very accurately measured segment)
Time yourself for 4 laps (1,600 meters). Start the watch at the beginning, and keep it running until you cross the finish of the 4th lap. Note this time in your journal.
On the first MM, don’t run all-out: run at a pace that is slightly faster than your current 5K or 10K pace.
Only one MM is done on each day it is assigned
On each successive MM (usually 3 weeks later), your mission is to beat the previous best time. Be sure to record each MM time in the journal.
Don’t ever push so much that you hurt your feet, knees, etc.
Jog slowly for the rest of the distance assigned on that day taking as many walk breaks as you wish.
At the end of the program we will use the fastest MM time to set a realistic pace in your race.

6 Setting the Pace for Long Runs
You may use current pace per mile or kilometer from a marathon, and add 2 minutes per mile or 1:30 per kilometer.
OR
The “Magic Mile” (MM) can also help you set this pace. During the beginning of your program, you can run the magic mile once a week. The first MM should not be run very fast – just write down your time in the journal as a reference. Follow the instructions in the MM section, above. Use the MMs on the schedules at the end of the program to set a realistic goal for the race itself.
Take your fastest time of the three and multiply by 1.3. This will tell you current potential per mile in a marathon if everything was perfect.
Add two more minutes to this potential time for a safe long run pace.
Add 30 sec/mi for every 5F degrees above 60F. Centigrade/metric runners should add 20 sec per kilometer for every 2C above 14C.
Remember to convert minutes and seconds into minutes and hundredths of a minute
    Example: 10:15 MM time for 1,600 meters:
    10.25 X 1.3 = 13.325 minutes or 13:20 per mile in minutes and seconds
    Then, add two minutes to slow down the pace for long runs
    13:20 + 2:00 = 15:20 per mile pace at 60F/14C
    To convert per mile pace to per kilometer pace, convert the mile time into minutes and hundredths of a minute and multiply by .62 (Example: 10 min/mi = 6.2 min/km or 6:12 per kilometer.
    To convert a per kilometer pace to a per mile pace, multiply the kilometer pace by