The Plan

Start around 8:00-8:05 pace and cruise for a few miles to warm up
Plug into 7:55-7:58 pace, stay there until mile 18
Reevaluate knowing the hardest part is yet to come

How It Went

My goal: run a sub-3:30 marathon, target 7:55 average pace. I had a relatively flat path to run, a coned off lane on the road set aside for bikers and runners. A 6.5 mile out and back. Nice weather, starting in the mid-40s, warming to low-50s. A cooler in the trunk of my car to replenish fluids and fuel.
Went out hot (not unexpected), 6:30 pace for the first 400m, kept cool and slowly adjusted pace, settled into 8 minute pace over the next 400m. First mile came in at 7:47, a good recovery.
Plan for the warm up solidified at 3 miles, then transition to goal pace. Next two miles came in at 7:56 and 8:02, after hitting the planned pace in mile 3, I was happy to move on to goal pace.
Mantra for this race: Run the mile you are in. Don’t get hung up on the speed of the mile I just ran, but target my current mile to goal pace.
Felt really strong settling into race pace, heart rate steady in the low to mid 160s, somewhere I feel comfortable running at all day. Mile 4 came in right on pace at 7:55.
Over the next 14 miles, continued feeling strong. Pace was a little faster than plan, hovering nearer 7:50 pace on average, but it wasn’t affecting my heart rate at all, so kept on chugging.
At this point, I’m thinking about increasing my pace a bit to 7:45 until Mile 21, then reevaluate for the final 10K.
Swapped water bottles just after mile 18, and came in a little hot over the next mile in 7:35.
Next mile was on pace at 7:43, then sped up again to 7:34 at mile 21. Still feeling good, but more cautious about over doing it with 10K to go.
New plan was to hang in at current pace and reevaluate at 5K.
Crossing mile 23 near the 3 hour mark is where I started to feel the miles. I knew I had the strength to finish, but the mental and physical effort were going to increase.
Thoughts now went to the hill workouts in the build up: if I can survive 5x 3 minute hills, I can power through the final 5K.
I was able to keep the speed up and finish that 5K in 7:25 pace. After the last turnaround, it was just racing back to my car where a nice cold bottle of water and pack of strawberries were waiting for me - 7:16 pace for that final 800m kick 😄

Overall, I was really happy with my performance. 3:23:18 came in well under my goal time and crushed my PR by 20 minutes. I felt strong and confident the entire run, and looking forward to seeing how far I can take my fitness.