I need some advice on a goal marathon time. I have entered the Cape Town Marathon, which will be my first stand alone marathon. The ultimate goal is the 2 Oceans and maybe Comrades, depending on how the training progresses. I have been doing triathlon for the past 6 years (sprint, olympic, half and full). I am finding it difficult to decide on a realistic goal time and therefore the pacing for my training program. Current times for 21k: 1:40 and Ironman 42.2k: 4:30. I currently run 4 times a week and also do some bike/swim sessions. Runs include easy, threshold, interval and LSD's. According to the race prediction time calculators on the web my goal time would be +-3:35, which in my mind seems optimistic, which would mean that I would run about an hour faster than my IM marathon time. I have heard a lot of stories of people underestimating their first marathon and ending up with a horrible first experience.
