Half Marathon Pacing

I am currently training towards the Edinburgh Half Marathon and am feeling reasonably comfortable at the moment. When I first set my targets I wanted to run it in around 1.45 pace which averages out at around 8min/mile pace. My training runs at the moment are up to about 6/7 miles which I can run in around 7.15/30 pace. Should I be aiming to slow my pace down to 8.00 mile pace or should I take the plunge and try and reduce my goal time. I am finding it very difficult to run at 8.00 mile pace over the distance that I am doing at the moment and if I do achieve anywhere near that pace I feel very comfortable come the end of the run with very quick (whats needed) recovery. How much more will the extra 6 miles take out of me and am I going to find it a major shock if I try and keep the pace up?? Apologies if this is a jumbled message but hopefully somebody will be able to offer advice.

I reckon you do some longer slower runs, keep your 6 mile runs about the same and keep your target at 1:45

Basically the difference between 6m and a half mara is that you have to do the 6 all over again then another bit so you will slow. You want to be able to run the half: not blow up and shuffle the balance of the race.

If you can comfortably keep your pace at around 7:15/30 as you gradually increase the distance of your long runs then reduce your goal time. If you find you can't run much more than 6-7 miles at that pace without being exhausted afterwards then reduce the pace a bit for your long run. I did my first half in November last year and set myself a target time of 1:45 too, ended up finishing in 1:34. I ran my long runs at 7:30-8:00 m/m and did tempo runs of about 6-7m at 7:00 m/m.

I reckon work on your stamina, don't get obsessed by pace and don't be shy of reducing your target time.