Not the fastest of times, but my goal pace was 6.50 so at least I was consistent 😂 raise €2500 for Pieta House (Suicide Prevention) in the process, a charity that’s close to my heart so it was worth every second 🙏🏼

Last weekend I ran a new Marathon PB at 3:33 at the Marine Corps Marathon. I had a few hiccups in the race like being slightly late to the start and missing my pace group. Also the last few miles on essentially a highway in the full sun was especially demoralizing. But overall I think I ran pretty close to my potential which ultimately was the goal.

I had posted some data from my training here and gave some specific and accurate context for that data to see if people thought 3:30 was achievable. What I was surprised to see though was a lot of comments completely dismissing the idea that I would be in the ballpark of my goal.

Don't get me wrong I recognize I didn't hit 3:30. But I was definitely in the ballpark and maybe it could have been acheivable if everything went perfectly.

At the end of the day, I pretty much nailed what I thought my heart rate would be and how long I could sustain it and roughtly what my pace would look like.

This isn't meant to be an "I told you so" but more of just a guidance to take suggestions here with a grain of salt. You don't really know who is commenting or what their experience is or how well they tried to understand your post. At the end of the day you know yourself and need to trust your own instinct.

As the title says, I (f25) recently finished my first marathon (MCM) while significantly undertrained. I completed the race in 3:49:24 after my training block effectively ended after week 12 of 18, and I wanted to share my experience in case it’s helpful for others who are considering deferring in the wake of injury/messy training blocks, etc.

My block was going flawlessly and I hadn’t missed or cut a single run, until a reckless half PR and speed work on old shoes gave me shin splints around 6 weeks out. After that, i was only able to run a grand total of 14 miles leading up to the race, and my longest ever run in training was also only 17 miles, 7 weeks out. Needless to say I was pretty terrified, and also super disappointed about having to let go of the time goals I had set for myself when my training was going to plan, but I promised myself I would cross the finish line one way or another.

While my time wasn’t quite what I hoped it would be when I was at peak fitness (I was originally shooting for sub 3:40) I’m really proud of the race I managed given the circumstances, and more than that, am incredibly happy to say that despite how hard it was, I also had fun!!

A few things that I think set me up for success despite the set backs:

- I maintained my cardiovascular fitness as best I could even though I couldn’t run. The elliptical was my saving grace, and I swapped all of my missed long runs for extended workouts (i.e 3 straight hours on the machine in place of my 20 mile long run)

- I prioritized fueling. I took my 3-day carb load seriously and had a gel every 30 minutes during the race despite how I was feeling. I also practiced my gel intake during my long elliptical sessions, and as a result I had zero cramps, stomach issues, or bathroom breaks during the race.

- I had an amazing support system. The crowds at MCM were unreal and I did my best to smile and let them carry me. I put my name on my bib and those extra personal cheers from strangers really made all the difference! My friends and family were also the world’s greatest spectators, they managed to catch me at 5 different points on the course and each time felt like an instant boost.

- This is obviously an uncontrollable factor, but my race day was blessed with the most perfect weather I could’ve imagined.

All this to say that if you’re doubting yourself because of the way your training block went and are afraid of falling short of your own expectations, give yourself some grace and let your body surprise you! You truly never know what you’re capable of and I wouldn’t trade any aspect of this experience for the world. Next up, NYCM 2027 😊

I am a 55 yr old male who just ran his first marathon. I ran X-country and track in HS but had not run seriously/consistently since my mid 20's. I started running regularly again in late 2023. For most of 2025 I battled cancer which really limited my ability to run. I ran when I felt well enough to up until Oct 2025 when I had major abdominal surgery to remove my tumor. The surgery stopped my running for the rest of 2025 while I healed.

Got cleared to begin running again in February 2026. Decided that I wanted to run the MCM. From February to June I focused on getting my legs back. Ran a couple of 5K and 10K races. In June I started a training program. My 5K and 10K times and a prior half (before I got sick) suggested that a sub-4 hour marathon was possible, so that's what I trained for.

Training block went very well. Hit all my runs and speed workouts. Practiced my hydration and nutrition. Felt very confident going into race day.

Race day came and I still felt very confident. Took in 80 grams of carbs per hour. Was on pace for a sub 4-hour marathon through mile 20, but then I hit the wall very hard and had to slow way down in order to finish. I finished with a 4:37 marathon. Not what I wanted or trained for but I did it and when I put it into perspective of what the last 18 months had been for me I view it as a huge success.

Here are a few things that I learned:

1. I didn't respect the distance as much as I should have. I won't make that mistake again (yes there will be more marathons for me, I am hooked.
2. While I nailed the in-race nutrition, I severely underestimated my hydration needs. While not the only reason I hit the wall, it was certainly a major factor.
3. My peak weeks were 50+ miles and I thought that made me pretty fit. As fit as I thought I was, I could benefit from more volume for sure. In other words, my level of fitness did not support my goal despite what my workouts told me.
4. Marathon training is far more fun when you do it with a group of friends. I had a great group to train with.

Like I said above, 4:37 for a first marathon at the age of 55 post stage 3 cancer is a huge win for me. Can't wait to see how much I can approve moving forward.

I am taking this week to recover and then will be back at training. I am going to follow Pfitz's reverse taper plan. I haven't decided on the next marathon yet so I have a question for all you folks (who are much more knowledgeable than me) how would you suggest I structure training in-between training blocks with the goal of building more volume into my training?

Thanks so much for the help I've received from this forum in the past and for any guidance you can provide on the question above.

I improved my personal best from 2:56 (set back in 2013) to 2:48 at the Jersey City Marathon in April 2026, and now down to 2:45 on the Marine Corps Marathon. The key was following a training approach based on careful exercise planning, recovery, and fatigue management. Balancing training with the high-workload professional schedule can be challenging, but it is completely possible!

Started 2026 in the worst shape of my life, could barely run a 5k and was happy with a single mile under an 8:30 pace. Signed up for the Marine Corps Marathon with a goal of being sub 4:30. Dedicated fully to training. Did some form of cardio every day for 6 straight months and totally changed my diet. Lost 60+ pounds and went into the race feeling really good, thinking that 3:30 might be possible if everything went perfectly. Finished with a 3:21! Still shocked by how well it went

Ran the MCM on 10/25, my first marathon. Great event and an insane crowd. Before this I'd run a few local 5Ks (22:42 PB) and the Austin Half (2:02). I've been running about 1.5 years.

Split:
3 runs a week (easy, easy/speed, long run)
2 bodybuilding-style strength sessions (upper/lower)
1-hour zone 1 bike
30 min Mobility/plyometrics

Peak mileage was 33 miles/week and my longest run was 21 miles. My 19-miler at MP felt fine.
The plan was to start 2 miles slightly slower, then settle into 8:30 pace.

Everything went well until mile 18, when my pace started to drift. I took in about 70g of carbs an hour but fell badly behind on hydration. In training I barely drank on my 19 and 21 milers (maybe one cup of water total) and felt fine, so in the race I only took half a cup around mile 5 and again around mile 13.

By the bridge I was severely dehydrated, and there were no water stations for what felt like 10 miles (realistically 2-3). At the next one I stopped and drank 6 cups, but couldn't get back to pace. I kept grabbing all liquids in sight, in total about 6 small cups and 4 bottles in 15 minutes, and eventually got running again, but still felt the effects and settled into a 10:00 pace to finish.

TLDR: grab water at every station, even if not thirsty.

Wasn’t sure what to expect in my first marathon. I did some training in my 20s but never did a race bc they always scared me. This year I decided it’s now or never.

Training block went great until the taper and it felt like the wheels were falling off - Achilles started acting up, hamstring got angry, etc. One week before the race I thought the jig was up and I’d have to DNS. WRONG.

Had a great time out there - crowds were crazy - and got to dig deep in the final stretch. What a privilege to get to move our bodies like this. Filled with gratitude.

Hello friends!
I am a newer runner (just began running last year), and want to train for a sub-4 LA Marathon next year. I ran LA last year in 4:30 and felt really good after - I feel like I can definitley push myself harder this year.

My race stats thus far are as follows:
Rose Bowl Half 2026: 1:56
LAM: 4:30
Yosemite Half: 1:47
Lotus 5k: 22:49
Santa Monica Classic 10k: 50:00

Does sub-4 seem like an attainable goal with these stats? If so, what running plans or programs do folks reccomend for this kind of goal? I honestly just winged it last year and only trained about 6 weeks leading up to the race (which was not safe or smart). Would like to be more regimented and safe this training cycle. Any advice on how to approach this training block would be greatly appreciated :)

I have run a lot of marathons and generally my carb loading has consisted of a curry and rice or a pizza or a bowl of pasta the day before.
However for my latest I decide to carb load properly - I was taking in 650-750g of carbs per day the 2 days before my race , no / very little protein or fats and oils just good carbs. It was quite tough going at times especially eating bags full of plain rice mixed with golden syrup but I used carb drinks and Haribo for easy carbs to help build up the total.

Anyway race day felt so much better - none of that starting to hit the wall feeling , felt stronger throughout , I fuelled well on the day , I use carb pastilles and drink rather than gels , and had breakfast 3 hours before race.

No upset stomach or multiple pre race bowel movements.

It really made so much difference and I finally achieved my sub 4 goal.

Bagels and Jam , rice , breakfast pancakes , Haribo , FTP pastilles , crumpets and cornflakes were the things I concentrated on but there's lots of other options.

Hi!! I am looking to sign up for a Spring marathon and looking for recs and experiences if anyone has. Unfortunately my most local marathon is the boston marathon (cry), so I am looking for something in the New England area (I'm not opposed to traveling further but would have to make sense). I am hoping to near-BQ so a 3:25 ish time

Races I have considered:

Martha's Vineyard- seems flat and well reviewed, small field but I think that is ok with me? Have a place to stay on the cape so convenient as well
Vermont City - would be ideal but have a wedding this weekend
Sugarloaf - not too sure if logistics would be annoying location-wise
Newport - seems like the most well attended but worried about hills if I really want to BQ or just PR
Maine Coast - have heard conflicting things about, seems like some people were not fans and some were

I always thought I'd sleep better after a long run during marathon training, but sometimes it's the complete opposite.

My legs are tired, I'm exhausted, but when I finally get into bed I just can't fall asleep. It's worse after my longer weekend runs, even when I finish hours before bedtime. I've tried eating earlier and giving myself more time to wind down, but it still happens sometimes.

Does this happen to anyone else after long runs? What actually helps?

8 months ago I set my goal to 3:50 and after weeks of training my goal shifted to 3:30 and then day of i decided to put it all out there and couldn’t have been more proud of a sub 3:15 at the Marine Corps Marathon! Anyone who’s considering doing a marathon absolutely should, such a thrilling and inspiring event seeing thousands of people pushing their limits!!

Intro and Race Prep:

Super proud of my first Marathon. I only started training last Christmas after getting a Coros Pace 3.

I didn't necessarily follow a training block. I progressively built weekly mileage. Starting from about 20 a week in January, and capping at 70 a week in August. (approximately 1520 total miles of training from January to marathon start line). I started weekly 20 mile long runs in June and did those every Sunday from June to October.

I did religiously follow the 80-20 rule, and ran nearly all of my mileage according to heart rate, rather than perceived effort.

In May I was able to run a 1:39:40 HM at the Flying pig, and decided to set an extremely aggressive marathon goal of sub 3:20.

Race Plan:

Going into race day, I was quite confident. Despite my best long run only being 20 miles at 7:59 Pace, I had trained in an area about 3.8x hillier than the Columbus course, and was praying the hills were covering up my pace.

I wrote the nutrition plan on my arm. 4 Gus, 2 Caffeinated, 2 non-caffeinated, as well as 2 homemade 60g carb flask (30g Maltodextrin + 30g maple syrup, water to fill). I only planned to stop at hydration stations when consuming the Gus, as the weather meant sweat would be hopefully minimal (predicted start temp of 30 degrees Fahrenheit)

For the race strategy itself; since it was my first marathon, I didn't do too much, I was aiming for a negative split, but really had no clue how miles 21-26 would feel, since my longest run was only 21 miles. I did drive the last 13 miles of the course as mental preparation.

The Race:

There isn't a whole lot to say other than it went perfectly.

I started out a little farther back in the corral than I had originally hoped, so had to claw my way through traffic, but managed to keep myself within my expected pace and heart rate zones. I ended up chatting with a stranger from about mile 9-21, who was on his 42nd marathon, and his experience was great in motivating me to both keep up and pace myself at different points in the race.

Nearly hit the wall at mile 18, going up a hill, but pushed through. At mile 21ish, I had stationed my dad on the course to cheer me on, and tell me to push if I was near my goal, and I credit him with giving me a lot of the encouragement to push to break my goal.

Last 3.1 miles I pushed hard, and felt absolutely phenomenal. I managed to absolutely crush my goal of 3:20. Crossing at 3:14:57.

Additional Data

Overall I was super happy with what I think was an extremely well disciplined and well ran race. Looking forward to seeing what I can do in my next

Just ran my first marathon (3:39) and enjoyed it. Because the training takes up a lot of family time and my child has early wakings (I can’t run before work or early on weekends) I want to switch back to half marathons. They take up less time for me given I’ll be doing 30-35 miles per week in 3 days. I also want to get back into the gym as well. My plan is to run my second marathon in spring 2028. Thinking of doing 3-4 half marathons in 2027.

Has anyone done this type of break between marathons and if so what improvements did you see in your overall fitness and did it help your second go at a marathon?

I'm a 55M running the Richmond Marathon on November 14. I think I might have a chance at qualifying for Boston in 2028, maybe even with enough buffer to get in. Wondering whether other folks agree and whether anyone has advice on what pace I should start at.

BQ for my age is 3:30. 2028 buffer is obviously unknown but it's been 5 minutes +/- a little bit the last 2 years. Who knows for sure, but maybe I'd need to run roughly 3:25:00 or 3:24:30 to get in without the help of the lottery.

I'm in week 16 of an 18 week block. I've averaged 45 miles (72 km) per week. Peaked at 52 miles (84 km), 5 weeks >= 50 miles. Haven't missed a single week. My body feels great. No aches or pains. Strength training has helped there. I've kept it simple- one day of speedwork, long run is moderate effort or sometimes a bit more than than, otherwise easy miles.

Apologies if I'm looking for overly precise pacing advice, but small differences in strategy could make a big difference in outcome. I don't want to throw away a chance at 3:29 by foolishly going for 3:24:30. Just barely getting a BQ would still feel great, particularly given that a lottery has been added. More optimistically, I don't want to throw away a chance at 3:24:30 (a decent buffer) by getting greedy and going for 3:23:00 (a great buffer).

Attached is info from my last two long runs on Oct 24 and Oct 18 as well as from when I ran the Staten Island Half on Oct 11. I was mildly disappointed after my 1:38 at the Staten Half and was thinking 3:25 is unlikely and I should focus on sub-3:30. However, I was more encouraged after doing my last 2 long runs (20 miles at 8:13/mile, avg HR 163, 19 at 8:15, avg HR 159). Both those long runs were culminations of 50 mile weeks- not exactly fresh legs.

Max HR is ~195 judging from where it's hit at the end of an all-out 5k. 5k PR is 21:53 on a hot day last May. I'm pretty sure I could beat that by a decent amount on fresh legs on a cool day now, though.

I realize some might consider my recent long runs to be harder than is wise. A common rule of thumb seems to be that LRs should not be faster than 90% of race pace. It just...felt right to run them this hard, though. I didn't feel totally wiped out or particularly sore afterwards. Some might also think it was unwise to do 2 of them this hard within 6 days. I think I got away with it, though. I feel good. I wanted to build some muscular endurance and late-race toughness.

My taper is starting now and I promise I will cut back a lot and be sure to arrive at race day rested and fresh.

Another factor is that I did the long runs in stability shoes. It's hard to know for sure how much difference the carbon platers make but I would guess it's 10 to 15 seconds per mile for me (6 to 9 seconds per km). The mildly disappointing Staten Half was in the carbon platers, though.

It was 62F (17C) at the Staten Half with intermittent light rain. Some folks thought the conditions were very good, but I suspect I benefit more than the average person from cool, dry weather. My shoes got soaked and felt heavy at Staten. The weather was perfect for the long runs (around 40F or 5C and dry) so I wonder whether that's partly why they went well.

My long run route simulates the rolling hills of Richmond fairly well, around 500 feet of elevation gain and drop.

My current thinking for Richmond is to hold a 7:50/mile pace (4:52/km) for the first 20 miles. If I feel good, I'll try to do the last 10k at 7:40 or maybe even 7:30 pace and see if I can get a good buffer. If I'm fading, I'm hoping I won't totally bonk and that I'd be able to gut out 8:30s and hold on for sub 3:30.

Does that sound reasonable ?

I've done 3 marathons but haven't done one since 2009 and my best was 3:59, so I'm not very experienced. I'm in far better shape now than back then, though.

Thanks in advance for any thoughts !

Summary

I won't say the race was a failure for me, because at the end of the day I ended up running a race in another state for the first time in my life... but my race performance and strategy execution were both shitty.

My goal was a sub-3:30. Ended up finishing in 3:43 again. Stuck with a bad pacer for too long, slowed down at mile 10. Over-hydrated and lacked gut training for 60-80g/hr carb intake, so was nauseous at mile 15. Hit the wall at mile 19.

Training, Conditioning, and Injuries

At the time of the race:
5'7", 28M. 175-180 lbs @ 19% BF.

Ideally, I wanted to start the Higdon Intermediate 2 plan back in the Spring. Immediately, after a vacation, I got a bad IT Band injury and was almost unable to run. A few minutes of running would immediately cause painful flaring. This caused me to fall behind and make up a schedule on the fly.

I'd aim for a long run, a speed run every other week or so, and making up easy miles in between.

One thing I did this year was ditch heart rate based easy runs and focused entirely on being able to nose breath. I take Adderall XR and that bumps my HR up when I run. So 160-165 BPM was comfortable-ish nose breathing.

Pace Distribution

I had to actually take walking breaks every mile after mile 20. Last year, I never needed a walking break. I slowed down a lot at mile 21-22, but I never walked.

What Went Wrong

Ultimately it was my fault for not pacing myself by watch, but my pacer was really bad and I stuck it out with him for 10 miles. Realized too late that he was off by a lot, and by then I was already way more drained than reasonable for the first half of the race.

• As a 3:30 pacer, his average should've been 8:00/mi. He finished with a 3:25, and his pace was all over the place. He averaged 7:27 through mile 13. His splits:

• I had a gut feeling he was going very fast and I felt confused for a lot of the first 10 miles. Felt myself getting more tired and exerting more effort than I ever had doing 7:50-8 pace work. Kept seeing those sub 7:30 miles, and despite all that I kept sticking to him thinking it would work out in the end.

I also really fucked up my fueling and hydration, so I felt nauseous and bloated from the mile 15 point all the way to the end.

• Last year, I was averaging 30-40g carbs an hour during my first marathon when I hit 3:43. I realized this a few weeks out from this race, so in a last ditch effort I started taking SiS 40g gels at a frequency of a gel every 35-40 min
  • I was only able to try this for a 17 mile run and it felt OK so I assumed it would be fine for this race
• I over-hydrated and drank way more than last year. Then, I stuck to my 500ml bottle of an electrolyte mix until the last quarter of the race, and then just took sips at water stations
  • This race, I was drinking a lot, taking multiple cups at stations sometimes. Not only was my stomach feeling crappy but I also had to take actual bathroom breaks to pee.

Takeaways and 2027 Goals

Before this race, my plan was that if I hit a 3:30, I'd aim for a 3:10 or faster time. I've entered the lotteries for the Berlin and Sydney marathons for August-September. Now, I am feeling doubtful but on the other hand, I think my mistakes were primarily race day tactics and getting injured in the first place.

For my next marathon I think I will:

• I don't feel comfortable trusting a pacer again to be honest, so I might just stick to watch pace from the get-go. Unless I explicitly have a convo with them, understand what their tactic will be, and if my watch says they're on track.
• Proper gut training, not just having 1 17 mile run as an experiment for 60-80g/hr carb intake.
• Actually stick to a strict hydration frequency, not just operating on vibes.
• Shift my schedule up to a 60-65 mi/wk peak, and be healthy enough to actually see it through from start to end without pivoting into an improvised plan.

Maybe it's cope, but I seriously think I could've hit 3:30 this race.

Hi guys,

I'm looking for some waterproof and breathable jacket. I know both are kind of the opposite, but some are still kinda breathable while others are straight up some portable saunas lol. I'm usually running pretty hot, but there was a huge rain some days ago that drenched me totally, and I never want to experience something like that ever again. I'm in a part of France where it can rain pretty much every time of the year, so I really need something breathable, warmth will come from layering.

I just ran my first full marathon sunday, and I'll very likely run some more, that's why i'm looking for something in case it rains almost all week long, and that I need to do some long run under the rain, whether it's early october or in the middle of january !

I've looked a lot of jackets, and to be honest, most of the time i read everything and its opposite.

These two models have some numerous feedback on asics website, that are really good, and some reviews outside that are pretty good too. That's why I'm thinking about these two more than other models, because of the lack of (non contradictory) feedbacks.

Do some people here have one of these models, and what's your opinion? Are they pretty breathable? Doesn't have any weird things about them?

If you have some other recommandation, I'm down to read them ! Just please don't suggest me to take a windproof jacket and accept to be drenched by the rain, I hated the feeling of running like this.

Thanks for reading my message!

First marathon was Honolulu where I completely fell apart due to heat/humidity, bad training, bad fueling, bad everything... Came better prepared for the MCM and missed my goal by 1:30 mm:ss chip time (4:30) but still happy with my performance! Had to dig deeper than ever before for the final 6 miles and I'm proud of that. Was following the 4:30 pacers from the very start and they seemed to be very very fast... is that typical?

I’m running my first marathon in a few weeks. I’m following the Hal Higdon novice 1 plan and am on the last week before taper (20 mile long run this weekend). Yesterday, I started feeling some tingling in my right knee. It’s not really painful, but more of just a consistent ache. I’m not sure how I should modify my training being so close to race day. I’ve already decided to take the next few runs off, so I would do the 20 miler at the end of the week if I feel okay.

The main reason I’m concerned is because I tried training for a marathon two years ago and had to withdraw due to consistent knee pain in the same knee during the training block. Last time I didn’t properly try to manage the pain (I just took Advil and continued to run), but I’m so close this time that I want to make sure I finish.

How should I adjust to get myself to race day? I’m not concerned about time, my only goal is to finish. Also, is it advisable to start using a compression sleeve while running? I did that last time, but I feel like that was just masking the pain until later.

Blew up absurdly hard during the last 5-6 miles. Definitely think I didn’t incorporate enough mileage (particularly easy runs) into my training, also did not have enough marathon pace blocks in my long runs. Still very happy I got through it though! Onto the next!