Pacing is cruicial to a solid finish. This weekend my girlfriend and I went running Saturday morning. I went 2.5 before she arrrived and we went about 7.25. She's a fit gal but currently not an endurance runner. She's a SPEEDY gonzales, though. I explained to her how important it was to pace so she could run all 7.25 miles. And she did.
Pacing for me is listening to what my body is trying to say: ie: STOP, go a little faster, need water, need protein, ouch the knee is about to rip in half. I've heard all these things during the course of training.
Bob Marley once said, "When the race gets too hard to run, it means you can't take the pace."
My response to that? SLOW down and finish...tis better than to STOP all together and quit!