San Francisco Marathon Race Plan

I am thinking of this race as 3 races: Miles 1 - 8, Miles 8 - 16.5, and Miles 16.5 - 26.2.

Miles 1 - 8 are primarily flat, pretty constant pace should be achieveable. Miles 8 - 16.5 are a slow upward slope, and miles 16.5 to 26.2 are a slow downward slope, for the most part. So here we go:

Miles 1 - 8 : Maintain 11 min per mile pace using a 5:1 interval.

Mile 9 : Vanilla Bean Gu!

That should bring me off the bridge, and then we start to hit the hills of the city and the park.

Miles 8 through to Mile 16.5 is going to be a bit difficult. I am not looking forward to the hills, and think that I will have to give some there. I am hoping for 11 min per mile, but might have to be happy with 11:30 or 11:40.

Miles 16 : Vanilla Bean Gu!

Ok, after hitting mile 16.5, the course is a pretty consistant downward slope. I hope to be able to recover to an 11:00 min per mile. Best case, I will be able to use the hills to my advantage, and hit something greater.

4:45 is my target. Depending on my performance on the hills, I hope to be under 5.