Race Information

• Name: Toronto Waterfront Marathon
• Date: October 18, 2026
• Distance: 42.2 km
• Location: Toronto, Canada
• Website: https://www.torontowaterfrontmarathon.com/
• Time: 3:04:XX

Goals

Splits

Background

25M, second marathon.

First marathon was the 2023 Toronto Waterfront Marathon, 3:47.

It was a really rough first marathon. I split 1:31/2:16, all due to fuelling. I learned that I have a VERY low tolerance for digesting things while running, which has impacted my training and and racing at distances where I need to fuel.

Have been running on and off for ~10 years, most recently resuming after graduating from university in June 2025.

PBs

Training

I had been running very casually from June 2025 to May 2026. Only 3-4 runs a week, around 30km/week. All easy runs, zero speed work.

Since May, I've been working with a coach. I've been running 6x a week, with 3 workouts a week.

May-June was a lot of base building, gradually increasing to 50km/week towards the end of June. Hard to report on the workouts since having a coach means I don't need to think about them anymore lol. For the most part they weren't long, huge workouts. Lots of threshold work (HM, 10K ladder drills: 7,6,5,4x400m @HM, 3,2,1x400m @10k, etc. ) on a track, lots of hill workouts (e.g. 3x3k of a hilly loop), etc.

July and August was mostly the same, just bigger/longer workouts. More of a focus on HM pace during this time.

I trained in short cycles: two "push" weeks followed by one "down" week, so my mileage bounced between 60-80km/week, peaking at 85km/week.

September brought MP workouts, but still a large focus on threshold work towards the end.

Long runs peaked at 3h15m, which ended up being ~38km. I did very little MP work during my long runs, at most ~30 minutes somewhere towards the end of a LR.

My last marathon has been a thorn in my side for a long time, as I've known that I am fit enough for a much faster marathon than 3:45. The lingering question all summer was what my stomach could handle.

Over the past 3 years I've been trying MANY different gels, rates, and amount of fluid intake. I've learned that I low tolerance to digesting things when running, and it gets MUCH worse the harder I work.

I learned that:

• Liquids were much easier than solids
• Minimizing volume was key

I settled on Brix maple syrup gels every 45 mins, despite their low carb content. They are less viscous than Gu, and much lower volume than Maurten (yes I have tried others). Their high osmolality was a bit of a concern, as I was very thirsty when using them in hot weather. Didn't really have a backup plan for this.

LRs on days after birthday parties also revealed that I perform WAY better after pigging out on sugary food. I could extend the time between gels, and my stomach would be far less bloated as a result. This showed me that carb loading would likely make or break my race.

My MP was also dictated by my ability to digest gels. Anything faster than 4:35/km/HR over 160BPM and I would get bloated and suffer from awful acid reflux, even if I slowed down my rate of fueling.

As a result, I decided to set my MP around 4:40/km: a 3:16:55 marathon. My coach wanted me to go much faster, but I pushed back, as I didn't want a repeat of my first marathon. I'd much rather have a slow marathon and not have to stop and walk, over a faster marathon where I blow up from fuelling issues again.

I planned to run most of my race with the 3:15 pacer a bit in front of me, knowing that I planned to be a bit slower. That said, I also planned to gun it sometime after 30k if my stomach was feeling good. If I wasn't bloating and didn't feel like I would bonk, I knew I could hold a very solid pace for 10-12k. I didn't plan on anything specific, but I was really hoping for somewhere around 4:00/km or faster since I can run a 3:45/km 10k - but I also knew this was very optimistic for the last 10k of a marathon.

Pre-race

Nothing terribly eventful leading up to the race. I almost forgot to pick up my bib, if that tells you how much I wasn't thinking about the race lol.

I started carb loading 3 days before the race, targeting 8g/kg of body weight. I ate about 6 plain white bagels, 1L of fruit punch juice, 1L of Gatorade, and about 125g of pasta (uncooked weight) per day.

The morning of the race was very uneventful as well. Took a Brix gel 20 mins before starting. I met up with a teammate (same coach) in my corral who had a similar, albeit slightly faster race plan. We had agreed before the race to start together, around 4:40 or slightly slower, and diverge when needed.

Race

I started the race very slowly, trying to stay relaxed. The irst 1-2km went by in ~4:50/km, after which we sped up to ~4:40/km. I didn't bother looking at my pace, and instead relied on how I felt and what my teammate was doing. This helped ease my mind a lot - we were chatting and taking in the sights for the majority of the race.

We held ~4:40/km until I took my first gel at ~45 minutes in, roughly 9km. Shortly afterwards, some KT tape I used to avoid blistering on my toe came off and rolled up into a ball under my toes. I tried to tough it out but it kept rolling around my sock and getting stuck under my foot, so I realized I'd have to stop and take it out.

I stopped somewhere between 9-10km to untie and take off my socks and shoes to fish the tape out, which cost a bit of time. My teammate went up ahead of me. I was determined to catch back up so that we could stick together for the rest of the race, so I burned some matches to catch up. Thankfully, this occurred at Lakeshore Blvd W & Jameson Ave, which is right before a ~500m steep downhill and subsequent flat or slightly downhill grade, so I wasn't impacted too badly.

We caught up at around 16k, as it turned out he had to stop to use the washroom and I had accidentally passed him (because I couldn't see him) so I had been pushing for a lot longer than I needed to. I averaged 4:18/km from 10k-15k, which was way faster than planned.

Despite this, the long surge actually had a great outcome, because my HR wasn't getting too high and it seemed more sustainable than expected. From then on, we stayed at around 4:20-4:25/km.

I took another gel around 20km and took off my long sleeve (was wearing it under my singlet) as it was getting hot. Gave my long sleeve to, and took 3 more gels from my fiancée at the halfway point, and continued on.

I started debating when and how fast I should push at around 23km. I asked my teammate for advice, as I wasn't feeling sore, tired, or having any stomach issues at that point. I asked about pushing at 28k, noting that it still felt too early as pushing for 14k is a lot in a marathon.

My teammate advised against it as he had been burned by similar moves before (7 marathons under his belt), and noted that he would likely not follow if I pushed much harder.

I followed his advice and held out until 28k, which followed a big uphill on an on-ramp and the start of the last out-and-back section of the course. I had started feeling soreness in my quads around 26k, so decided that I would probably not be able to push for much more than 10km. However, I decided to push to ~4:15/km for 1km to see how I felt, which went well.

I rejoined my teammate in a small pack at 29km, and entered a long exposed section for the out-and-back. This section had some wind, so I decided to stay in the pack and hold until around 31 or 32km, which is where the course became more sheltered and we would have <10km to go. I took my last gel at around 29km, so I wanted the extra 1-3km of slower running at 4:20 would also help me digest a bit before I pushed hard.

Unbeknownst to me, I had actually started pushing a bit and was very slowly pulling away from my teammate. I wasn't looking at my watch very often, and I ended up pulling 4:15-4:10/km splits from 30-32km.

Just after 33km is when the course turns around for the last time, with ~3km of exposed, windy roads, a steep uphill for 1km, and a ~1km uphill to the finish.

Despite some moderately sore quads I was feeling very good - not fatigued at all. I decided to gun it almost as hard as I could to the finish, targeting around 4:00/km for the last 10k. I ended up doing ~4:05-4:15/km for the most part, with the slower pace in the windy and hilly bits.

At 40km I realized I was VERY close to making it under 3:05, and I could make it if I dug in and picked up the pace. I ended up doing my last 2.2km in low 3:50s/km and just barely making it under 3:05.

Post-race

I'm really proud of this result, as I wasn't expecting 3:04 at all. 3:20 was my safe goal, and I would've been happy with 3:15.

My legs are sore but I'm still functional, which is a stark difference from my last marathon. I feel like I could've pushed around 1-2km earlier, but I'm not sure how well that would've gone since 30-33km is somewhat uphill.

I also didn't feel like I hit a wall at any point. If anything, I was holding myself back from pushing for the vast majority of the race. I think that was wise in the end, but it leaves me wondering how much more I left on the table.

I'll be taking 2-3 weeks off to recover, and may focus on a HM in the spring as I have never raced one. This result leaves a lot to think about with regards to next year's marathon goals, and I think a HM result would add some good data on what I should target.

Made with a new race report generator created by /u/herumph.

UPDATE: Amsterdam Marathon 2026, and what I learned about overcooking

Race Information

• Name: TCS Amsterdam Marathon
• Date: October 18, 2026
• Distance: 26.2 miles (42.2 km)
• Location: Amsterdam, Netherlands
• Website: https://www.tcsamsterdammarathon.eu/
• Strava: You may ask in DMs
• Time: 2:55:02 (official), Garmin 2:53:17

Goals

Splits

Splits are Garmin auto-laps. The watch measured 42.6 km, so they read a few seconds per km faster than the real pace. Halves (scaled to the real distance) were 1:28:37 / 1:26:29, so a 2-minute negative split. 80 m of total ascent.

Training

DISCLAIMER: I used AI to analyse my Garmin data (including a full export of every activity since December) and to help draft this report.

The last four weeks. After Copenhagen I went all in on marathon-specific work. I cut the ST sessions to 2 a week and put quality into the long runs.

As I wrote in a (now deleted) thread here last week, my fitness seemed to fall off a cliff about 3 weeks out after racing Copenhagen Half Marathon 2026 (report HERE):

• Easy paces went up 20–25 s/km at the same HR.
• VO2max dropped 2 points on both Garmin and Runalyze.
• My throat was sore and thick on and off, plus a general weariness.
• I wasn't really sick, but I wasn't well either.

Thanks to everyone who replied with advice on reframing goals. I took it to heart.

So what happened? I dug into the data in the days after the race, and it was an eye-opener. In the moment, it's easy to lose track of the bigger trends and miss that you're overcooking, albeit not by "large amounts". But I guess it all adds up in the end.

In May I did a (second) lab test: LT1 at 161 bpm, LT2 at 175 bpm (4 mmol), to follow up on the one I did in November 2025. On that curve, the NSM range of 2–3.5 mmol sits at about 164–173 bpm. In hindsight I should have capped my reps at 172 bpm for 1 km reps, 171 for 2 km reps and 169 for 3 km reps. That's all at or below 88% of my estimated max of 195, just under the NSM rule of 89%. The 3 km cap is lowest because 10+ minutes near 174 puts me at about 4 mmol. AI counted 75 NSM sessions since December. I think a few are missing, because I never renamed some of the treadmill workouts.

• Only 13 of 75 sessions (17%) stayed within the caps. By "within" I mean under 10% of rep time above the cap outlined above, and never more than 30 s in a row above LT2.
• 41% of all my sub-threshold time was above the cap: 1,070 of 2,615 minutes of reps. The median session spent about 14.5 minutes above the cap.
• 13% of my rep time was above LT2 (335 minutes), and 41 of the 75 sessions spent more than a minute there.

The 3 km reps rarely went past LT2, but they spent the most time just under it (170–174). That's most likely threshold work, not sub-threshold. The 1 km reps were the ones that most often went past LT2. Even using the plain NSM rule (89% of max = 174 for all reps), only 34 of 75 sessions pass.

• It got worse after the summer. Remember how I wrote in the Copenhagen report that I consciously pushed my ST paces up after the vacation? The rep paces show it clearly. These are my outdoor sessions only (GPS); I left out the treadmill sessions, because the watch's pace there is unreliable, so multiple treadmill sessions are missing:

So I got 5–6 s/km faster on every rep type, but HR at the end of the last rep went up by 3–8 bpm. On the 3 km reps I went from finishing at 169 in winter to 178 in the autumn, which is above my LT2. I guess my fitness and recovery weren't keeping up with the paces. it should be noted that this is top hr on last rep. not average hr during last rep.

• Recovery markers. HRV and resting HR stayed within my normal range the whole time, so there was nothing alarming there. But Garmin's training readiness sat at 10–30 most days from mid-July to early October. Not sure it says much, though, since it's only a watch and can't really tell how I was feeling.
• The easy running was fine. Easy pace improved from about 5:30 to 5:00–5:05/km at the same HR (136–142) over the year.

My takeaway: I was running threshold three times a week while calling it sub-threshold, pushed the volume to 120 km and stacked three marathons and two hard halves into one year. The method works (I'm faster than ever), but I ran it too hot for too long and flew too close to the sun in my final prep. In the end the body most likely said stop. In hindsight, the mental burnout I mentioned in the Copenhagen report was probably part of the same picture. I know from a stress fracture a few years ago that mental burnout, at least for me, is the canary in the coal mine that I'm overstretching and risking injury. But I guess hindsight is 20/20.

Pre-race

Given everything above, a PB attempt was off the table. I decided to run on vibes: no time goal, no PacePro, just feel. That was hard to accept beforehand, because I've always gone into races with some kind of performance goal, and I wasn't exactly stoked about the race. But it turned out to be exactly the right call.

It also gave me the opportunity to fully experience Amsterdam, a city I had never been to before. Neither friends nor my partner joined me on this trip, so it was a lovely solo travel experience. I didn't feel any anxiety putting down 25k+ steps the day before the marathon, walking around the city, enjoying the sights and the local food and just having a really good time (the only thing missing was a beer or two…).

On race day I woke up at my usual marathon time, 3 hours before the gun. I downed my Nomio shot, sipped some coffee and a caffeinated Maurten drink mix, and ate a light breakfast at the hotel. My left hip has felt quite tight over the last few weeks, and some deep hip flexors have felt a bit locked up, which I've noticed especially when doing strides. So I spent some extra time that morning on very light strength and mobility activation. I then took the subway to the start area, arrived around 1.5 hours before the gun and handed in my bag. Unfortunately I had trouble finding a good place to warm up. There were people everywhere and it was my first time there, so the warm-up left a lot to be desired: 500 m of jogging and some strides.

Anyway, I found my place in the corral. 3 minutes before the gun went off, the heavens opened and it started pouring. With 9 °C, conditions were almost perfect temperature-wise, albeit a bit gnarly because of the heavy rain. And then the gun went off!

Race

For the first 15 km my feelings about the race were mixed. The mobility routine had paid off: for the first time in a while, I could move without any major restrictions in my hip flexors. Amsterdam was out in droves despite the weather, cheering the runners on. Otherwise those first 15 km were a mix of boredom and a feeling of working decently, but not too hard. Everywhere the crowd was screaming my name, and I made sure to scream back at them. I was finally starting to enjoy the race!

When we started running along the river heading south, I finally hit my groove. I kept a close eye on the watch, especially my HR. It was glued to 168–170 bpm, and I was passing people the whole time while still feeling good. Shoutout to the drum band around the 21–22 km mark: you gave me goosebumps all over, running in the same cadence as the beat.

In the second half I started squeezing a bit. Every 5 km from 25 km onwards was faster than the one before (4:07 → 4:06 → 4:05). I especially remember 25 km as the point where I started feeling stronger and stronger the longer the race went on. Basically from start to finish I was passing people. I was screaming back at the crowds and trying to cheer my fellow runners on. At 35 km I caught the first sub-3 pacer group, which had started way ahead of me. Unfortunately I got stuck behind them for a while, which cost me some time (km 36 was my slowest of the second half at 4:13). Over the last 2 km I put the pedal to the metal and finished at about 4:00/km with plenty of energy left in the tank. It's a very good feeling to finish a marathon strong, and it hasn't happened that often, at least for me. In the last 200 meters to the finish I was screaming out of hype and waving my arms all over the place, out of pure joy over a race effort I was really proud of.

Post-race

Season over. No Amsterdam PB, but I got a strong, controlled marathon out of a body that had felt like crap for three weeks. I'll take that. Overall it felt good to get at least some confirmation in this race that the engine was still somewhat intact, despite being off in terms of paces and effort for weeks. The heartrate more or less being glued to exactly the same numbers for the whole race without any drift at all anywhere is also a testiment I think to the fact that I was definately well bellow my limit for most of the race. And since the race ended early in the day and my flight wasn't until 9 PM, I had plenty of time to freshen up and go out for beers and food in the city. Which I of course gladly did.

The plan for the winter changes slightly from what I wrote in the Copenhagen report. Still bike- and strength-heavy, but probably with a structured NSM base phase built to fix the mistakes above. Very high level:

• HR caps instead of pace targets. Time-based reps (3 min, 6–8 min, 10–12 min) with caps of 172, 171 and 169 bpm. I'll really try to put my ego back in the closet and intentionally undercook sessions. Starting speeds are set from my own sessions that actually stayed under the caps, which means 0.3–0.6 km/h slower than this summer. The speeds only go up when the HR comes down. For the first time ever, I'll also train by time instead of pace.
• Lower volume. About 85–95 km a week (my average this year is 97 km/week), with a deload every 4th week and a fixed-speed treadmill benchmark (compare HR) to track progress without racing workouts.
• More bike. I want to transition more into biking next year. The plan is easy rides 1–2 times a week at first, then gradually some quality bike sessions on the trainer after a couple of cycles. I also have plans to try some gravel racing next year during summer.
• Truly easy days (I already stuck to this, always running them on HR), Sunday off running as I've done these past years, and easy Zwift for extra aerobic volume.
• Recovery first. Proper recovery weeks now (every 4th one), and an extra one if I'm still flat. If the weariness doesn't go away, I'll get blood work done.

Then we'll see about Boston next spring, as a victory lap or a proper prep. I've said it before in other threads and to the people around me irl: no more marathons for me. I want to focus on shorter races and broaden my horizons in running. Marathons take up a bit too much time in training, and for me personally they become a bigger emotional investment in the result. You have to train so much more intently for the distance, and they often turn into the season highlight, both in money and time invested. Afterwards they wreck my body, and I have to spend quite a lot of time regaining my will to train, my fitness and my physical recovery (my body is really sore right now). Shorter distances are much more forgiving in terms of time-investment and recovery.

As a personal side note, I'll also try to cleanse my social media algorithms a bit. They're currently infested with runfluencers. I know comparison is the thief of joy, but I can never resist the urge to try to "beat" these imaginary people on the internet in results and progress. I guess I'm a bit competitive at heart, which doesn't help with my obvious tendency to reach a bit too high.

Thank you for reading this far!

Made with a new race report generator created by u/herumph.

Race Information

• Name: Toronto Waterfront Marathon
• Date: October 19, 2026
• Distance: 42.2 km
• Location: Toronto, Canada
• Website: https://www.torontowaterfrontmarathon.com/
• Time: 3:02:21

Goals

Background

31M. This is my second marathon, with the first being last year's Toronto Waterfront Marathon.

Last year, my target was 3:15 and I ended up finishing at 3:22:37 after a rough last ~7 km or so. I didn't write a report last year, but basically it just ended up coming down to knee pain (patellar tendon?) ~35 km and then my quads cramping up after I slowed down to nurse my knee. I was originally 2 min ahead of pace, but lost ~10 min in the struggle.

I decided to sign up for this year's marathon as a sort of revenge match and threw myself into training for this marathon block.

My current PBs:

5K - 17:55 (2024) - I'm pretty confident I could get this under 17:30

10K - 36:11 (2026, very fast downhill course)

Half - 1:33:54 (2022)

Marathon: 3:22:37 (2025)

Training

I've been running on and off since ~2008, but it's only recently that I've done actual high mileage. I took a few of years off running ~2015 due to some IT band issues (opting for the gym instead), but started running again shortly before COVID. During/after COVID I was usually running ~40 km a week. In 2024, my friends and I signed up for a 30K race in 2025, and I increased my mileage to ~60 km a week.

I used that as a springboard to sign up for a marathon, where I used the Pfitz 18/55 plan (~91 km peak) with a goal of ~3:15 (MP of ~4:37). This year, I decided "the more the better" and ended up running the 18/70 (~114 km peak), with an original MP of ~4:30.

For most of the plan, I was able to hold to the plan exactly. For the first half, I had missed/adjusted one run in total (due to weather). During my mid-week 24 km run in week 11, my right hamstring started hurting, which ended up constantly on my mind for the rest of the plan. With one skipped run and slightly easier pacing, I was able to get through the 35 km long run that weekend and I didn't have too much actual pain for the remainder of the plan.

3 weeks out, I stepped poorly on a rock and wrenched my right ankle and then 2 weeks out my left patellar tendon started acting up (around where the collar of my shoe meets my ankle). I tapered much more dramatically than planned and by race day they mostly faded to niggles that I could attribute to taper tantrums.

The plan was really tough. Prior to starting the plan, my highest mileage week was ~91 km during my first Pfitz 18/55 cycle. I cranked up my mileage to low-mid 90s for a month before starting the 18/70 just to check if I could handle it. My quads were basically always tired, and they almost always felt weak for the last 2 months or so.

The plan had me running 6 days a week, and I did an extra workout twice a week, involving my physio exercises for patellar tendon issues and hamstring (starting after week 11); ~25 min of core work; and some light upper body work. I didn't really do many compound exercises, although my physio exercises included single-legged sit stands (which I changed to single-legged squats for a while). My quads were just too dead for me to want to do heavier squats.

Reflecting on my plan, I think I probably went too hard on some of the workouts (particularly the LT and race simulations). I aggressively went for the high end of the range for every workout (e.g. I would do 15K for the 8-15K tune-up) and - although I felt decent right afterwards - I would have a lingering tiredness after the fact. I didn't run any actual tune-up races, since it's impossible to find a Friday morning race, so I did them all as time trials/simulations.

As far as goals went, my initial goal of <3:10 was pretty conservative. Partway through the block, I adjusted my goal to 3:05. In the last few weeks, I felt really strong during my last MP run, so I thought maybe I could shoot for sub-3. Notably, I didn't do any of my MP runs fully at <4:15/km, although I hit that pace for a decent distance during my last MP.

Pre-race

As mentioned, I tapered much more aggressively than planned for the last 2 weeks. They ended up being ~42 km and ~30 km instead of ~74 km and ~44 km, respectively. My 3K shakeout run the day before the race felt pretty awful. My quads felt super beat and my right hamstring was twinging after the run. I did a bit of theragun-ing that day and felt somewhat better afterwards.

I ate a significant amount of carbs over the last two days, although I didn't actually calculate how much it amounted to. Suffice to say, there was a lot of bread and noodles being consumed (although I don't think I hit the ~5.5g/lb that's sometimes referenced).

The morning of the race, I was able to get the bathroom situation in order (to my relief, since I frequently have stomach issues during training). For breakfast, I had a PB&J sandwich, a banana, and a cup of orange juice.

Race

My race-day shoes were the Adios Pro 4s. I had actually bought them last year for the marathon, but something felt off the morning of and I switched to my Supercomp Elite v4s in 2025. This year, I felt better about it since I had no issues during my longest MP run.

For fuel, I brought 4 Maurten 100s, 1 Maurten Caf 100, and a 500 mL soft flask containing Maurten 320. I don't train with Maurten since it's so pricey, but I feel pretty comfortable with them for race day (the caf tastes awful though). The plan was to sip the Maurten 320 for the first half to 2/3rds of the race and supplement with 1 Maurten 100 every 30 min. The caf was to be taken halfway through in lieu of a regular 100. I also brought two salt tabs just in case (although there are a lot of studies say that electrolyte supps aren't needed).

The morning of the race was cold! I brought an old sweater, but ditched it at a donation bin ~15 min prior to the race. Ended up being a bit early on that, but I didn't really want to hurl it at the sidelines right before the race.

5 min before the race, I took a 100mg caffeine pill, and so the race began! I told myself that I would be relatively conservative with pacing and only target sub-3 if I felt good, but we all know how that goes.

When I started running, it really didn't feel that cold at all. I don't think I passed particularly aggressively in the first km or so (uphill), but the 3:00 pacer probably started a few hundred people ahead of me. I basically lost sight of him straight away.

The first stretch felt pretty good, although I thought I made more time than I actually did during the downhill segment from ~3-7K. The 1:30 half pacer was nearby for bascially the entire half marathon stretch, and I thought sub-3 seemed possible if I just grit my teeth in the last stretch.

In the mid 20s, there's this narrow out-and-back that's slightly hilly. This is a somewhat unpleasant part of the course, and I hadn't been looking forward to it. To my surprise, I actually felt pretty good for that entire section.

The first warning bell came ~27 km, when we turned back westward for a short stretch after the out-and-back. I suddenly felt super exhausted and I later realized it was because of the headwind. Luckily, that stretch was very short, but it proved to be foreshadowing for later.

I felt relatively okay for the next while, but the splits show I was already having a tough time holding my pace to <4:15/km. The final turnaround before heading back to the city was ~33 km, and that's where my pace started dropping as we raced into a headwind.

I could've maybe dealt with that had it been the only issue, but my left IT band started flaring u p somewhere around 35 km. I've had IT band problems on-and-off dating back to ~2015, and had a similar problem during the 30K in 2025. I slowed down significantly and took a few seconds of break here and there. I could feel my quads starting to cramp up again and my right hamstring strain, but I was pretty determined to not repeat last year, where I lost almost 10 min in the last few km. That segment is really punishing: a long and exposed straightaway with very little crowd support, and I had flashbacks to the suffering from last year.

I was somehow able to keep running through the IT band pain, and I guess the adrenaline kicked in around the last 1.5 km because I was really able to crank up the pace. I finished much stronger than last year, but fell short of the sub-3.

Post-race

Realistically, I think I got overconfident about the sub-3. I hadn't done my MP runs at that pace but somehow convinced myself that it would just work out. I think even if I hadn't had the IT band problems, I likely would've fell just short of sub-3, given the headwind (and the pacing falloff visible at ~33 km). It would've been pretty close though, and maybe I could've really grit my teeth if it were just fatigue.

My average heart rate for the race was ~168 bpm. It peaked to high 170s a few times during the race and apparently hit 182 around 31.5 km (not sure what happened there). It also apparently reached 184 at the end of the finishing surge.

My Garmin suggests my max HR is 184, but that's probably a bit too low since I haven't done too much speed work since I got a new watch earlier in the year. I actually didn't feel particularly taxed cardio-wise throughout the entire race - it was more my legs that felt like the limiter.

Afterthoughts

I know my conclusion is that I was probably too optimistic with the sub-3 goal, but I'm still a bit disappointed I didn't make it. It's especially tough because there was an almost identical issue (old nagging issue shows up ~35 km) that caused the last ~7 km to be grueling.

I think I did basically everything better this year, training more/harder, fueling better, drinking more, and the weather was much nicer too (would've preferred a few degrees cooler, but can't complain compared to last year), and yet it still felt super rough in that 35-40 km stretch. The thought of doing such a punishing 18-week block again (with more gym time?) and maybe having the same experience a third time a row is a bit daunting.

I probably need to give myself a few weeks to recover... Cutting down ~10.5 min from ~3:00 for a BQ seemed like it would've been much more achievable than ~13 min. I guess I've only really been running high-ish mileage for a year or so, and I definitely did feel faster from all the running, but hitting 4:00/km for a full seems pretty far off.

Also, absolutely no shade meant to that runner with the other race report (amazing work!), but it kinda makes me wonder what I'm doing, having a longer history of running and running at least 1.5x as much. Comparison is truly the thief of joy.

It might just be the thought of the 18/70 that's giving me pause. I wonder if I can still get faster by falling back to the 18/55 (or somewhere in between) and adding some extra gym time. Running ~115 km a week + 2 gym sessions (where my physio exercises alone are building up to 30-45 min each time) feels kinda all-consuming.

The end of this post ended up being a bit dreary - I guess I just wanted to rant a bit, so sorry to anyone who spent their time actually reading the afterthoughts.

On a positive note, so many thanks to the organizers for a well-organized event once again, and thanks to the amazing volunteers and people cheering throughout the race! I've never run any other marathon, but I've heard the support on this one is pretty extraordinary.

Race Information

• Name: Baystate Half Marathon
• Date: October 18th 2026
• Distance: 13.1
• Location: Lowell, MA
• Website: https://www.baystatemarathon.com/
• Time: 1:19:48

Goals

Splits

Background

M30, been training seriously for 5 years and ran a few halfs off much less serious training pre-COVID. Was a mediocre 400/200 runner in High School so my entire distance running career has been as an adult.

Started training on Hal Higdon's free plans, before using Pfitz for a few years. I tried Daniels' half marathon plan in 2024 and didn't like it, and ended up back on Pfitz 12/70 for my first marathon last year where I went 2:57. I was already modifying some of the LT workouts in that plan and was interested in building my own for Chicago 2025. At that point I was consuming all the hot new plans like NSM before I came across Running Writings, particularly the articles on Canova-style/full-spectrum training and was intrigued. I put together what I thought was a good plan and executed it, only for John Davis to release Marathon Excellence a few weeks before the race and make me realize I got a lot of things wrong.

The biggest things I missed writing a plan from scratch, were the buildup for the 95-100% workouts, and balancing the faster paced midweek workouts later in the plan. I just stuck to my usual kinda-fast long runs, and did runs with more and more MP as the plan got further along. Midweek I'd pick something at 10k-HM pace but I was picking workouts that were way too difficult coming off of a hard weekend workout. This resulted in me bouncing back and forth between a good workout and being too fatigued for the next. It was still good enough and I ran a PR, but having the book made it a lot clearer how to put it all together.

In March I put together a half plan but only had 9 weeks of training. I ran a PR of 1:22:51 on a tough course. I was hoping to go faster, but in hindsight 9 weeks isn't that much time to ramp up to some of the bigger workouts.

Training

Ok now to this race. I kept track of my training here. That sheet has my planned workouts on one side and what I actually ran on the other. I started with John's 10k Plan, adjusted some things to peak at 60mpw, put my races on the schedule, and changed the last half of the plan to be HM-specific. NE has a USATF Grand Prix which my club participates in, so I had a good amount of racing leading up to Baystate. My club does track workouts on Tuesdays, so whenever those were close to what I had scheduled, I did that instead. I also adjusted things as the training progressed, but it was usually the midweek workouts and not the progression of specific work.

Training through the summer made getting a fitness estimate a little tough. A lot of my threshold work was 6:0x/mi on a good day, and I knew I was trying to average 6:06/mi for a half marathon. For the first 8 weeks there weren't any massive workouts so I was usually able to keep things under 7/10 RPE as long as I was reasonable with my paces. As I got to the end of the general plan, 60mpw and 3 workouts got really tiring, especially when the heat makes it hard to get any truly easy days.

The last 8 weeks I got in a good rhythm of down week plus tune-up, 95% long run, 100% HM workout, repeat. It also helped that things started cooling down a lot in September and doing long and fast workouts felt reasonable again.

My tune-ups all went great. I ran a pretty good 8k in 72F weather, then followed it up with a 10k at the exact same pace three weeks later. I estimate I closed the last 5k of that race in 18:0x which is only a few seconds off my 5k PR.

HM-specific float workouts went good but not great. I was able to recover well at sub-7 pace, but was always struggling to get all the way down to 6:06/mi for the on portions. I also was running most of my 95% runs at paces that would indicate my fitness was closer to 6:10/mi. Combined with the fact that I struggle to convert up in distance and VDOT gives my 10k PR converts to 1:20-mid, I figured 1:20 wasn't in the cards for this cycle but it would happen eventually.

Tapering is the only place where I went off script a little from John Davis' approach. I find I always do better with a bigger taper and cut down to 45 then 28 miles pre-race with some days off. Still kept the intensity but workouts had more generous recovery.

Pre-Race

10 days out the forecast looked perfect, low-40s. The colder the better I always say. That quickly shifted to 30F at the start and I started thinking okay maybe that's too cold. At least there was no wind, and the temps would rise quickly over the course of the race.

Race was at 8am. Woke up around 5, had my usual oatmeal and coffee. Drove my wife and I to Lowell which is about 45 minutes away. Parked and got to the high school for bib pickup around 7, did the bathroom thing and a 15 minute progressive warmup. Got back to the high school at 7:40 with plenty of time to change into my Fast-R 3s and walk to the starting line. Took a caffeine Gu probably 15 minutes before the start.

I'd call this race fast, but not necessarily competitive, so I had no idea if there would be a pack. Previous year's winners are always sub-70 but then there can be minutes between people so it was unclear if I was going to spend most of this race alone. I was in the second or third row of the starting line and there were some people talking about running 1:20-1:21 so maybe there was hope.

Goal was to go out at 6:10-6:15, and then race to feel without worrying about 6:06/mi. I knew I was in PR shape and probably sub-1:21 shape, and if sub-1:20 happened then great.

Race

The course is a double loop on the Merrimack River in Lowell. The elevation gain is technically close to 300ft which seems like a lot, but it's all very gentle rolling hills and is a very fast course. The biggest hill is at miles 1 and 7 and it's probably 30 or 40ft of elevation.

Miles 0-3: The marathon and half start together but in separate corrals, with a divider for the first half mile or so. Everyone in the half took off at different paces. I settled into 6:10 and when we merged with the full a few guys were calling out for anyone looking to run 6:10-6:15. I happily obliged. Things were feeling easy at this point (as they should), and we got to the end of Mile 1 at the top of a hill in 6:15. Perfect. The half then breaks off around Mile 2.5 and you cross the Rourke Bridge. You should all look up photos of this thing. It's a bridge from 1983 that was supposed to be temporary for 5 years. In 2026 most of the asphalt has eroded away and it's a lot of running on metal plates. As soon as we took a few steps on it there was an audible woah from everyone around me as we all realized there was a layer of frost and were trying not to die. A line of not completely broken asphalt still existed that had a little more traction, and we got to Mile 3 at the end of the bridge in 6:10 feeling good.

Miles 3-7: At this point the half never meets back up with the full so the race thinned out. To my luck though, there were 6 other guys very close to me and we all ended up in a pretty tight pack. I asked them if we're all trying to run 1:20 and got a yes from a few guys. We started knocking out 6:05-6:07s and things felt super controlled. Took my only gel around mile 4 mostly for the 70mg of caffeine. Mile 6 starts with an extended downhill so the pace got a little faster. When it flattened out, nobody really slowed down though and we were running sub-6 per mile. One guy put a small gap in and the rest of the group followed him. Even though I felt good, I knew we had a long way to go. I also saw the people in front of us were coming back and let the group go, hoping I'd have people to pick off the rest of the race. Went through half-half in 40:17 on my watch, so right on for 1:20-mid.

At this point I still felt really good. My plan was just to hold steady and then pick it up after Mile 10. I usually have a pretty good kick so felt somewhat confident that I could make up the 30ish seconds at the end.

Miles 7-10: It didn't take long for people to start coming back to me. I passed a few stragglers that went out too hot and by Mile 8 was back with 3 guys who dropped me at mile 6. They all seemed to be doing worse than me and they fell back around Mile 9. The second time over the bridge was much better now that the sun was out, but still not great. One guy surged to catch me and asked what I was going for and if we were on pace. I told him we're 30s behind 1:20 but we're gonna put in a big kick. I told him we're running sub-6 once we hit the 10 mile marker. He wasn't confident but said he'd try and hang on. Unfortunately he fell behind once I started speeding up so I lost my new friend.

Miles 10-Finish: I crossed the 10 Mile marker in 61:36, knowing 61:00 was 1:20 pace. Did the math and figured I had to close in a 18:24ish 5k to do it if that mile marker was correct. A little faster than just sub-6, but I was confident. My legs still felt great, and I had the last half of my recent 10k to look back on. As the end of the race got closer 5:50s turned into 5:40s. I also started lapping some of the run-walkers and was passing people in the half. There was a One Mile To Go marker and I passed that with 5:48 to get under 1:20, then I passed the last person from our initial 1:20 group around Mile 12.5. I never saw the 13 Mile marker, but I saw the 26 Mile marker for the full and knew I had about 80s to run .2mi. Kicked it in with everything I had, turned the last corner to see the clock ticking up from 1:19:20, and crossed the line in 1:19:48 with some half-gasps half-sobs.

Post-race

Was immediately handed a space blanket and medal. Grabbed some water, a snack bag, and some orange slices. Greater Lowell does a great job of organizing this race and the finish line is no exception. They also bring all the bags to the finish line so I didn't have to go anywhere to get my clothes. Unfortunately I threw out my space blanket right before I realized I tossed my sweatshirt on the starting line. Luckily I had the long sleeve shirt the race gave me a few hours before. Walked back to watch my wife and some club teammates finish. Pounded a Market Basket breakfast sandwich, and drove home.

Thoughts

Sometimes the hard work doesn't pay off but it's really cool when it does. I think this was the perfect day in terms of weather, race, and how I felt on the day.

Training lessons learned, I don't necessarily have to crush every specific workout to run a good race. There were definitely points where I doubted the training and wondered if I was overcomplicating it, but I think the tough HM and M paced workouts are really what got me over the top. I've always had the speed, but I've never felt this strong at the end of a race. At no point was I hanging on waiting for the sweet release of the finish line. This is my best VDOT performance to date which has never been a half marathon for me. In the past I would take what the VDOT calculator says and add 2-3 minutes. I'm sure some of that is just more years of building up my aerobic system, but I genuinely feel like I was in HM-specific shape.

Up next, it's time to crush a 5k this winter. After closing a 10k in 18:0x and half in 18:1x, 17:57 is looking soft.

Made with a new race report generator created by /u/herumph.

Date: 10/18/2026

Race: Columbus Marathon, OH

Weather: 38F-45F, almost no wind (absolute perfection)

Goal: sub 3:00

Training: my own plan, about 22 weeks

Background: No xc or track or cycling background, but I've always done some kind of running to stay in shape. I started more structured running back in late 2024. I ran the Cap City Half back in April (1:26:xx) and did way better than I expected. Was only running 45-48 mpw for that race, mostly 1-2 mile threshold reps, 6-8 mile tempos, and 16-mile long runs. Had a metatarsal stress reaction back in January so I kept that training fairly conservative. The half marathon got me fired up so I thought, "I'll turn 40 the week of the Columbus marathon, why not try and sub-3 for my first one right as I go 'over the hill' as they say?"

Training: I got a little carried away and then paid for it. Originally I had planned on hitting 60-65 mpw and sustaining that mileage with some quality. Maybe I planned on doing 2-3 20 mile long runs. Well, I got rather obsessed with pushing the numbers, especially because my body seemed to be finally absorbing things consistently. I ended up running 10-12 long runs that were 20-24 miles, and cutting around 8lbs of body weight in the process. I peaked at 84 miles in a week, with around 5 weeks of sustained 80-84 miles per week. My RHR dropped from 54 to 41. I felt unstoppable. Ran a 22 mile long-run workout with the final 12 miles progressing from 6:25-6:10. My mind was blown. I thought I was possibly in sub 2:50 shape. Mind you, I went to the well on this run. But it was all too much, too quickly.

Injury: After the long run workout I should have dialed it back the next week, but I was drunk with progress. That Thursday I ran a 16 mile tempo with another 12 at 6:30 pace and on the back half felt something "off" with my left foot. Woke up Friday and was limping around. I went to my PT the following Tuesday and the diagnosis was Peroneal Tendonitis. This was around 4 weeks out from the race and I was crushed.

The Dark Place: I tried my best. Kept up with strength exercises, and I did an ungodly amount of Assault Bike time (it's the only non-impact thing I got in my basement). I ran all of this training block in the brutal summer heat/humidity of the midwest, and literally the first week of 50F running weather I was in my basement on the Assault Bike for 2+ hours because of a tendon injury. This was a dark mental place. Despite my best efforts with the bike, I watched my RHR climb back up, my HRV go crazy, and all my metrics start crumbling. I did a couple little easy runs here and there to test the foot. It wasn't great. With 2 weeks out I was able to do a 12 mile tempo run with 6 miles at around a 6:45 pace. HR was in the 180s. Foot was tight afterwards. I pretty much gave up the goal. I was convinced I had ruined everything.

Race Week: I had mentally detached from the race. I hadn't done a long run in 5 weeks and was convinced my durability was gone. I did some strides, some short easy runs, some mobility work, but I had already moved on in my head and considered this a bust. I was planning my Spring training block already. My wife and good friend were both doing the half and we already had the weekend planned out, so I was going to go along and try it out and if I took a DNF I was okay with that. I mostly just didn't want to injury myself. Day before the race I get bad sleep and then when we're driving to our AirBnb I have some ear pressure, a sore throat, and some nasty fatigue. "Classic." I said, "I am now sick. Comically good timing." I fell asleep on the couch after dinner watching a movie. Went to bed that night pretty much expecting to just not run in the morning. I was still going through the motions, carbing heavily, etc. But I was not "racing" in my mind.

The Race - Part 1: we get to the event. The weather is 100% perfection. Could not get any better. Still did not care. Sitting in the corral with 20 seconds until the race, I was thinking of going back to bed and having some tea. I just didn't want to be there. Gun goes off. First 3 miles go by at 6:55-6:48 pace. I feel sluggish and like my legs are trying to remember what running is, but my HR is fine. It wasn't climbing like I thought it would. I settle in after 5 miles and the feeling clears. Legs start to get a bit smoother. I'm clocking some 6:42s, a couple 6:38s, HR is climbing with hills, but settling back down on the declines. The tendon is holding up. I keep the 1:30 Half Marathon pace pack in view just to keep them close (they were going a bit too hot). The race energy was incredible. My legs were holding pace, my HR was controlled. My system was taking it. Still, I thought, "At mile 16 this could all fall apart, we'll see how long it lasts." I was fairly convinced I was going to blow up, it was just a matter of time. I hit halfway at around 1:29. Legs are still okay. The half marathoners turn in for their finish and we marathoners continue on with diminished crowds.

The Race Part 2: I am lucky and never really have gut problems during runs. I took 4 Carbs Fuel 50g gels with me to take at miles 5, 10, 15, and 20. 200g carbs and 800cal total. At mile 15 I took my caffinated gel and got a little boost. I was feeling slightly fatigued at this point, like I had to pay attention to my body more, but HR and system were still clicking along. At mile 18 there is a substantial incline that lasts for a little over a mile. I had trained on hilly routes and have pretty good leg power so I started passing people on the hill and holding pace without much trouble. At around 19.5 miles the course evens out and at 20 we start a slow decline. And THAT'S when it hit. All of a sudden the legs said, "Hey, this kinda sucks now." I could feel the quads and IT bands slowly tightening like a vice. The hamstrings were giving little aggravated groans every few minutes. The feet were starting to ache. I thought, "Yup, here it comes. Mile 21 bonk is ready and waiting." But the HR was steady (at this point I'm in the upper 170s, low 180s). The legs hurt, but my pace is controlled.

The Race Part 3: From mile 21-26 every impact feels like a Russian Face Slapper is punching my legs. This being my first marathon, I didn't really know what to expect. It was just incredibly harsh, tight, grinding leg pain. That was it. I wasn't really breathing hard, that part never got difficult at all. I couldn't actually move my legs any faster to get my lungs into that uncomfortable place. At mile 25 it was bleak. I was starting to swing my arms faster to make my body move because the legs were giving out. I passed numerous people who had locked up and were stiff-leg walking due to cramps. I thought that could be me at literally any moment. I just held out. The crowds came back. They got bigger and louder. I could hear the music. Mile 26 was 6:47. I could see the banner now. Some primal thing kicked in and I blasted the last 600m at a 5:58 pace and crossed the line at 2:57:24. Was in a bit of shock at the end. Starting uncontrollably coughing on the fence. Just started wandering around after I got my medal and forgot to grab the blankets and any post-race nutrition. I just wanted to find my wife. She cried. My friend gave me a hug. We had a moment. It was a lot to take in.

Lessons: Do NOT go into your primary marathon-specific training weeks thinking "I wonder if I could do THIS?! And ALSO lose weight!!" You probably can and you definitely shouldn't. Once the training-high wore off I looked back at my peak training week and realized I had done 3 incredibly dense, high-volume intense workouts all in the same week, just absolutely smashing my body (Tue: 5x 2mi at 6:05 pace, Thur: 14 mile run with 2x 5 mile blocks at 6:20 pace, Sat: 24 mile long run with back half doing 1 mi at 6:45 and 1 mi at 7:20 float back and forth). And the reward I gave myself was another week of 2 incredibly intense training days. It was incredibly stupid and reckless and I am lucky I made it out with only some tendinitis that cleared up before the race. Also, race magic is real. Carbs are wonderful and you need more than you think. And lastly, while big milestone goals are super fun to pursue, they can quickly become all-consuming and turn running into something about identity, personality, legacy, and ultimate significance. Just know that if you invest that much of yourself into something, you are playing with some devastating psychological consequences if things go sideways. Now that this is done, running needs to get a bit quieter for me.

Thanks for reading if you read this far. I hope the story finds some resonance with you.

Race Information

Name: TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon
Date: October 18, 2026
Distance: 42.2 km
Location: Toronto, ON
Time: 2:57:28

Goals

Splits (Official)

Background

34M, and this was my second marathon.

I started running in January 2025 as a way to stay fit for my summer wedding. That year I did my first 10k race and two half marathons, and kind of got hooked. I’ve kept running and signing up for races since.

My first marathon was Vancouver in May, and it definitely humbled me. It was 25 degrees, I went out way too fast, and I was fueling with NAAK gels at about 60g of carbs per hour. They sat fine early on, but the chunkiness got harder and harder to get down as the race went on. By 35km my stomach was sloshing and I couldn’t take another one. Legs and mind shut down shortly after, and I walk/ran the last 5km for a 3:16:47. Happy with it as a debut, but I felt like there was a lot left on the table.

I wanted a fall race and picked Toronto for the flat course, plus my wife’s family is out east so it doubled as a visit.

PBs going in were a 1:28:16 half, 39:31 10k, and 19:35 5k.

Training

I used a 19-week Runna plan, running 5 days a week: 2 easy runs, 2 workouts, and a long run. No coach.

I averaged about 55-60km a week (~35mpw) across the block, peaking at 83km (52mi), with one other week at 81km. Most build weeks sat between 60 and 75km, but real life got in the way a few times. We moved houses mid-block, work got busy, and some weeks dropped into the 35–48km range. A couple of very hungover long runs in there probably didn’t help either lol.

Workouts were a good mix of speed and threshold. Some key workouts were a 10 × 800 @ 3:55–4:05, 8 × 1K @ 3:55, a 4-3-2-1km tempo stepping down from 4:15 to 4:00, and 10 × 400 @ ~3:20 three weeks out. I also ran a tune-up half in August and PB’d with a 1:28:16 in humid, smoky conditions.

Long runs built from 21 to 28km over the summer, then I did two 32s. The first had 16km of quality around MP at the end of my 83km week. My legs were cooked and I faded over the last few km, which I didn’t love. The second 32 was all easy, 3 weeks out, and I battled a massive side stitch at 30k but got it done. I was feeling a bit...skeptical.

My final MP session 2 weeks out gave me a bit more confidence: 21km with 14km at 4:18–4:20, which felt comfortable with my HR mostly in the low 140s. After a 2-week taper, I went in with 3:05 as my goal and anything close to 3 as a stretch. Garmin was predicting 3:02, Strava 3:10.

Pre-race

Flew into Toronto Friday to give the legs a day to recover from the flight, did a short shakeout Saturday morning, and kept off my feet the rest of the day. Race morning was a bagel, electrolytes, some banded glute activations, and an easy 1.5km jog to the start as a warmup. Rocked throwaway gloves for the first few km since it was 5 degrees.

Shoes were Adios Pro 4s on their third race (previously a full and a half).

The biggest change from Vancouver was fueling. I switched to SIS Beta gels and bumped up to about 80g of carbs per hour, taking one every 30 minutes with water only on course. The Beta gels are way smoother and easier to get down than the NAAK ones IMO.

Race

Everything seemed to just line up. The course was fast and flat, it was 5 degrees at the start with barely any wind, and the crowds were great the whole way.

I’d listened to enough running podcasts telling me not to bank time early, so I was trying to keep that in mind. First km was 4:25 in the crowd, then I settled closer to 4:15 until 10km. That was faster than 3:05 pace and had me a bit concerned, but it felt controlled, so I decided to continue to run on feel.

From 10 to 30km I settled into 4:12–4:15 and crossed halfway in 1:29:11. My HR crept higher than I’d planned, but my body and legs felt good and my stomach was completely fine. Gels were going down easy every 30 minutes, which was a big change after trying to choke them down in the spring.

30k came in at 2:06:33. My legs were starting to feel it, and I was definitely feeling anxiety about hitting that 35k wall again.

When I hit 35km and STILL felt good, I decided to just send it. I ended up in no man’s land at one point and had to choose between catching the pack ahead or toughing it out alone. I pushed to catch them and stayed with the pack mainly to the end. I ended up being able to pass people in the last stretch of the race, which felt very very different than in the spring. My last 2.2km averaged 4:05.

When I turned the last corner and saw 2:57 on the clock I legit couldn’t believe it. Actually got to enjoy the finish this time instead of being completely cooked. Second half was 1:28:17, literally one second off my half PB, which I definitely wasn’t expecting lol. A negative split was a pleasant surprise.

Post-race

Celebrated with family afterwards, and am sore but functional today. A big difference from the spring, where I could barely walk. Long story short, my wife and I ended up on an hour-long bus back to her hometown, standing room only. Not the glorious afternoon I had imagined 😂

Reflections

What worked:

Fueling: This felt like a big part of avoiding the bonk. The SIS Beta gels were easier to get down for me, and I managed 80g/hr without the stomach issues I had in Vancouver.

Even pacing: Every 5k split was within about 5 seconds per km of the others, without any wild swings in any direction.

Trusting how I felt: My watch was reading long and my HR was higher than I’d planned, but the effort felt right. If I’d stuck to my initial plan, I probably would have backed off.

Cool weather: Very clearly this is not the same race at 25 degrees lol.

What I’d change:

More consistent mileage: I averaged 55-60km a week, but there were quite a few ups and downs. I think being more consistent would make the biggest difference next time.

More MP work inside long runs: My one big MP long run faded, which left me feeling so-so heading into the end of the block. I’d like to get a few more of those in next block.

What’s next

Taking it easy for the rest of the year, probably running 3 days a week. 2:57:28 is technically a BQ for 35–39 (2:32 under), but with recent cutoffs it probably won’t get me in. The plan is to chase a safer BQ in the spring and take another shot at the Vancouver course with more consistent mileage.

I’m also considering getting a coach at some point, but I’m not sure about the time and financial commitment yet. Has anyone here gone from an app like Runna to a coach? Was it worth it at this level, or is more volume on the same plan the better first step?

Do you have shoe reviews to share with the community or questions about a pair of shoes? This recurring thread is a central place to get that advice or share your knowledge.

We also recommend checking out /r/RunningShoeGeeks for user-contributed running shoe reviews, news, and comparisons.

For some context, I'm a 27F sub-elite runner based in the Midwest. My PR: 2:52 (also my first marathon), & I'm hoping to run somewhere ~2:47 for my next. Ideally, I'm looking for something super flat and fast, w reasonably favorable weather. I'd also love to keep the overall cost down since I'm not looking to spend a ton traveling for only my second one.

A little background: I spent this past summer training for a fall marathon (one today actually lol) but things went pretty downhill. Btwn the summer heat, increasing workout frequency after switching coaches (up to 2-3x/wk wo’s), transitioning to a lower drop shoe, and some unexpected work stress- was pretty severely overreaching/ approaching burnout. Eventually my body gave me a stopping pt w/ a tibial stress rxn.

After taking a step back, I've learned a lot about what went wrong & am feeling much better abt approaching training differently. Also going back to my old coach where I could get higher mileage and 1x wo/wk. I've spent the last block building fitness through running/xtraining (on my return to run protocol rn) and I'd like to find a winter or early-spring race that gives me something to work toward without completely rushing the process.

Right now, I'm considering Houston or McKirdy, which are obviously two pretty different options and timelines but I'm very open to other suggestions! Also wondering if anyone has had experience w a successful 12 week build as opposed to longer??

For those who've run either (or have other recs):
- what races would you recommend for a flat, fast course?
- how are the weather conditions typically? Ideally looking for something that isn't too warm/not dealing with brutal winter conditions around where I live.
- what are the pros/cons of Houston vs. McKirdy?
- how was the overall experience, organization, crowd support, etc.?
- any recs for races that are relatively affordable when factoring in registration, travel, and place to stay ?

Basically, looking for a good opportunity to take a shot at ~2:47 without breaking the bank or making the logistics unnecessarily complicated.

Would love to hear about races you've run and opinions esp if you train in the Midwest scene. Thankss!

Edit: I only wrote sub-elite bc that’s what category they put me in at the start line/on my bib of my first one based on my other pr’s! Didn’t mean to sound uppity or categorize myself or anything

Race Information

• Name: Baltimore Marathon
• Date: October 17, 2026
• Distance: 26.2 miles
• Location: Baltimore, MD
• Website: https://www.thebaltimoremarathon.com/
• Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/20624579095
• Time: 3:10:48

Goals

Splits

Background

I ran my first marathon in 2012 (3:55:59) and, for the most part, have been navigating life while successfully whittling down my PR over the last 11 years of running, peaking in 2023 with the Chicago Marathon (3:00:14) in which I was a heartbreaking 15 seconds off my sub-3:00 goal.

Having just barely missed my sub-3:00 goal in Chicago '23, I felt like I was certainly capable of giving it another go. I somehow got into the 2024 Tokyo Marathon via the lottery and had an amazing experience despite blowing up again in which I ran a 1:28:xx first half followed by a 1:36:xx second half. Oh, it also turns out that I got COVID on the trip and was starting to feel sick mid-race, so I'm not too hard on myself about that one.

Next up was Houston 2025, which I've chronicled extensively via my recap, but tl;dr: I didn't feel strong from the jump and never was able to run with the 3:00 pace group. I enjoyed the heck out of the race, though, and came away with a smile on my face. I knew that for my next race I'd need a stronger foundation, likely with more volume, strength training, and PT.

In the fall of 2025, I returned to Chicago for the marathon and felt like I put myself in a better position to succeed (1:28:28 half in training, 63-mile peak week, and an 18-mile progression run down to 7:00ish pace). Maybe it wasn't perfectly aligned with my goal of sub-3:00, but it was definitely a step in the right direction.

The race ended up being very similar to Houston, unfortunately, as I was almost on track through half (1:30:11) but then started to fade. For all the fun I had in Houston, Chicago was more of a death march.

Training

After the discouraging Chicago, I decided to take a step back from the pressure of a sub-3:00 and agreed to hold off on a spring 2026 full.

Instead I ran the Frederick Half in 1:27:27 and had a ball doing it. I signed up for the Baltimore Marathon and instead of trying to break 3:00 there, I aimed to try and run faster than my course-best 3:07:47 in 2022.

For this block, I put together a 16-week schedule and averaged 50 miles per week in a somewhat-successful build. I logged multiple long runs of 16 and 17 miles but pulled my TFL with three weeks to go and missed my "Big Papi" 20-mile long run with 10 at race pace. I healed up and salvaged it with a 17-mile long run with an average of 6:57 over the middle 10 miles.

Heading into Baltimore, I might've had a little bit less of a foundation of volume and fitness, but my mindset was perfect as I knew the course would be brutal and therefore I could just go out, enjoy the day, and celebrate my hometown city. It's one of the best running days of the year, after all.

Pre-Race

The logistics of running a local marathon are a billion times simpler than a world major halfway across the country (or world) so I had a friend pick up my bib at the expo before getting the flat lay ready with plenty of time to spare on Friday.

And while I didn't track my carbs in my carbload, I definitely executed well with all the bagels, cherry juice, and cereal I consumed in the three days prior.

I got an acceptable six hours of sleep the night before the race and woke up Saturday morning for my normal routine (coffee, RNWY, bagel, banana).

A friend and I carpooled down to the lot right by the stadiums and we had an easy-yet drizzly- walk to the start, where I went through bag drop, my warm-up routine, and corral assembly. Baltimore might not be the biggest race, but it's one with so many of the running friends I've made over the past 10 years, and it's amazing seeing everyone at the start line.

I found a spot around the 3:10 pacers, had my first AMACX turbo gel (plan was to have one at the start, followed by another every three-or-so miles), and off we want.

Race

My goal for the marathon was to run more off of vibes and less off of my watch, all while hitting a somewhat arbitrary goal of 3:05 to 3:10. I'd take what the very challenging course gave me and, if all else failed, enjoy the city and the people along the course.

The first three miles (6:53, 6:58, 7:16) had a combined 230 feet of elevation. I worked to try and get in a groove where I could just flow state a bit, but struggled to do so early on in the race. I also dropped a gel around mile 4 but fortunately packed a ton in my pockets.

After the not-so-welcoming climb to start the race and enter Druid Hill Park, we were treated to some downhill and I was enjoying it (7:03, 6:46, 7:03). We then made the turn back downtown for a couple miles (6:52, 6:55, 6:47) before running through South Baltimore for an out-and-back. As the elevation evened out, I ran past the Faster Bastards heckle group at mile 10 (6:48) and then some more familiar faces at the aid station by the American Visionary Arts Museum (6:53). Seeing so many friends kept me cruising and an otherwise mind-numbing out-and-back (7:00).

The full marathon route then runs back by the harbor and alongside the half marathon start. Where I was, with a few running friends ahead and behind me, we ran by the half start just as the gun was about to go off. The race organizers need to fix this spot as a bunch of half marathoners were trying to jump across our route to get to the corral and it was not only chaotic but dangerous. A friend who was right behind me got tangled up with two half marathon runners and he fell and hit his head. He had to cut his race short all because of poor planning by the organizers and a lack of awareness by some other runners-- completely unacceptable.

I was personally fortunate to survive this kerfuffle and come through the halfway mat at around 1:31 or so before settling back into a quiet stretch (7:09, 7:07, 7:07, 7:09) of the course where we head east towards Canton and the hill along Patterson Park.

By Mile 18 (7:18) I could tell that I was losing a bit of speed, but was holding up OK and knew that I was still on track for 3:05ish if I could manage to keep a steady clip.

One of the most demoralizing climbs around mile 19 (7:41) really took it out of me but I was looking forward to Lake Montebello where I did the majority of my long runs. I linked back up with a couple other runners and yo-yo'd with them for the lollipop (7:35, 7:22). I was continued to have to work harder to get the same--or even slightly slower--results, but it seemed like others around me were as well so I didn't fight it.

After Montebello, we were treated to the most diabolical little out-and-back up and down a hill that sucked out my soul. Mile 22 (7:45) and its 9% grade led way to another series of small hills that continued to batter me. I stopped for a second at Mile 23 (7:57) to hug my wife and son.

Despite the fact that the route levels out and gives runners a nice downhill, my hamstrings and hips were getting tight and I was losing the will to push it. I found a manageable pace (7:41, 7:55) where I'd avoid cramping up but not completely abandoning my effort and hung on for dear life.

The Baltimore Marathon has one more trick up its sleeve with a few steep climbs down Maryland Avenue (8:21) before the final left on Pratt. I hit the homestretch in 7:10 before crossing with an official 3:10:48.

Post-Race

After chugging a bottle of water and picking up my medal, I dapped up some other runners who finished before and after me and then shivered my way to the bag check to get my change of clothes.

With a sweatshirt and sweatpants on, I made my way to the Faster Bastards tent where I caught up with a bunch of other runners and friends. We celebrated the day that was and commiserated over the brutality of this course knowing full well that we'll all sign up for this race again next year.

Reflections

I didn't land within my arbitrary "success zone" of 3:05-3:10, but I did also stop a few times to hug friends and maybe I'd have snuck in if I didn't. That said, I have zero regrets and am feeling pretty good about this one.

When people asked me how the race went, the first thing I said was that I "felt the best through more than ever before."

It's a step in the right direction and an improvement over my last two marathons (3:17:57 and then 3:14:22). I guess I'm still working on cutting back down towards my PR and a potential BQ and am hopeful that with more compounded fitness, a bit more volume and challenging workouts, and a more forgiving course, I'll be back on track for that white whale of 2:59 and a ticket to Boston.

As always, thanks in advance to whomever made it this far; thanks to this sub-reddit for allowing me the outlet to digest this experience.

Made with a new race report generator created by u/herumph.

The Weekly Rundown is the place to talk about your previous week of running! Let's hear all about it!

Post your Strava activities (or whichever platform you use) if you'd like!

Just wanted to share the results of my decidedly non-scientific n=1 experiment with a super-shoeless marathon.

For context, prior to this year my marathon PR was 3:03:30, in 2017. Since then I've run 4 more marathons, all of which ended with debilitating calf cramps. Until this year, all of my marathon times were hovering around 3:09ish. And this was despite each time being in solidly sub-3 shape, having great fueling, and race times at shorter distances supporting 3 hrs as a realistic goal. Every single time, around mile 20-23, I would start getting the calf twitches that tell you they are about to seize up. And then they would, and then it'd be game over. The worst was in 2025 Chicago, where my cramps hit at mile 13. This year I got in the best shape of my life and ran the Eugene Marathon with training that supported 2:55. I tracked on pace until mile 20, and yet again my calves did me in and I limped into a 3:02 finish. It was rough to watch 3 hours slip away out of my grasp in the last 2 miles of the race.

Looking back, a puzzling thing for me was that I never experience calf cramps in training, and it would only happen on race day. I'm one of those people who likes to save race shoes for race day, so I hypothesized that maybe the common denominator is my race shoes. In normal non plated shoes, I was accustomed to feeling fatigue in my quads, hams and glutes after a hard workout, but the race shoes (vaporfly 2 and AP3) seemed to focus all the stress on my calves. The last straw was a half marathon in Sept, where though I was happy to run a PR wearing my AP3, I started getting the "don't go any faster than this or I'll cramp up on you" in the final mile.

My most recent marathon was last Sunday Oct 11. I decided to run my last few long runs in the non-plated but plenty fast Megablast, and felt no speed penalty compared to my AP3. I wore the Megablast on race day, and for the first time since 2017, I finally finished a race with NO cramps. Also ran an even split race which was a first for me too. Oh and yes I finally broke 3.. 2:58:50!! At age 47.

Now I'm not trying to say carbon shoes are bad and that everyone should go out and get the Megablast. For me it was about being willing to question conventional wisdom and pay close attention to patterns in my running history.

Hey all,

I'm looking for race recommendations for a spring BQ attempt. Some parameters:

• Need something in April or May due to other commitments.
• US Midwest region ideally to cut down on travel time and cost.
• At least somewhat flat or downhill (under 1500ft) for obvious reasons
  
• No major confounding factors like high elevation, common windy conditions, starting temps over 60F, etc. Yes I know weather can change in an instant, especially that time of year, but if for example, it's normally hotter or normally windy, it's not worth the gamble to me.
  
• No huge races, just for logistical reasons. I prefer small to midsize races, but it obviously does need to be USATF-certified.

Right now my short list based on find my marathon and race raves is:

• Illinois Marathon Apr 24th
• Lincoln NE Marathon May 2nd
• Fargo Marathon May 22nd
• Bayshore Marathon May 29th

I'd love to hear you thoughts on those races specifically, or if you think there's a race that would be another one for me to consider.

Thanks!

Tagging this as a race report, but it's really less about my race, and I'm also interested in advice from others who've paced someone else in a marathon.

• Name: Marathon Beneva de Montréal
• Date: October 11, 2026
• Distance: 26.2 miles
• Location: MONTREAL, QC
• Website: https://couronsmtl.com/marathon-beneva/accueil/
• Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/20544003931
• Time: 3:10:05

Goals

Pre-Race

A colleague who has already demonstrated enormous marathon potential in Ironman competitions wanted to try to run a sub-3 in his second standalone marathon. Last year at this marathon, he ran 3:11. This April, he set a new Half-marathon PB of 1:24 l, but then had a very triathlon-packed summer, and did his last half-Ironman of the season only 4 weeks prior to this marathon. As such, he wasn't able to focus all his energy on running until the time when one would normally start tapering before the marathon. The sub-3 goal was based on extrapolations from his marathon time during the full Ironman this summer rather than on goal-specific training.

This was my 9th marathon, my current PR is 2:47, and I was already registered for the NYC Marathon three weeks later. I figured a 3-hour marathon would be a fine last long run before tapering for NYC.

The week before the race, he told me he thought he had only a 30% chance of breaking 3 hours but he wanted to try anyway. I told him he couldn't allow any doubts to already start creeping in.

This was my first time pacing anyone to a marathon goal. I had another colleague pace me to a sub-1:20 in the Montreal half-marathon in April, and it was a great experience, so I wanted to pay it onward.

The days before the race felt quite different than any marathon I've run for myself. By now, I have a pretty fine-tuned internal checklist of everything I need to do (and to avoid) on Marathon Eve, so I wasn't really that stressed about anything. On the other hand, I felt like the most important factors determining how they race would go were completely out of my control. Normally my own level of fitness on race day is my primary concern, and I just make adaptations based on the factors that are beyond my control, like the weather. But this time, it seemed like my own fitness was of secondary concern.

I exchanged several messages with my pacee the day before, and we talked on the phone through what nutrition each of us would carry during the race.

Race Day

The conditions were absolutely perfect, classic fall marathon weather. We found each other in the front of the corral and saw the 3:00 pacer. Our plan was to stick with that pace group for the first half, and then try to negative split. As such, we were surrounded by lots of other runners for the first 10K, and although I was frequently checking around me to make sure my charge was in contact, Ididn't really feel like I was doing much pacing work yet.

At some point during the first third of the race, my guy came up to tell me that his legs were feeling good, his cardio was good, but he was getting side stitches. I offered such classic breathing gems as 'in the nose, out the mouth' and "get tall in your torso' and also concluded that the official pacer was slightly ahead of 3-hour pace, so we could hang back and I would bridge up to them when he was ready.

We kept the 3-hour group in sight for several miles after that, but I could tell things were starting to unravel for my boy. The seeds of doubt were starting to germinate, and as we passed through his neighborhood around 17k, he told me that if I wasn't there, he would turn off and go home. Jokingly, I thought.

At the half-way point, we were on 1:29:30, so still technically on pace, but it didn't really seem like things were going the right direction. The middle third of the course is a really pscyhologically challenging stretch, as it's a long out-and-back along the Boulevard Saint-Laurent, the main thoroughfare that divides the island of Montreal, where the crowds thin into non-existence. The way out is slightly downhill, but too slight to really feel it, and after a short loop through a neighborhood with at least some spectators, you come back on St-Laurent, and the same angle is of course much more noticeable when it's an incline.

It seemed like everything was going wrong for my man physically at one point or another. At times it was the legs, at times it was his breathing, and then his feet started hurting. I was grabbing him water at aid stations and carrying the bottle that had his Maurten mix, but was running out of other ideas to help. I told him to try the Kipchoge smile, even if it made him look like a grinning idiot. He tried, but it was hard for him to force a smile when his feet were hurting that much; he was running in Asics Metaspeed Rays, which are incredibly lightweight but unstable. By mile 16/17 (25/26k), things were getting so bad that when I offered to give him my shoes (even though they are a size bigger), he was just desperate enough to try. So we actually stopped on a curb, did a quick shoe exchange, and took off again. His feet did start to feel better after that, but we'd really only solved one problem, and others were starting to present themselves. He was having gut issues, at a moment when it seemed like he really needed fuel. He told it felt like he was running through Jello.

Unable to transfer any of the strength in my legs to his, I tried to use my surplus energy in the second half to stir up any crowds we passed into as much of a frenzy as they could manage. No group of spectators we passed was too small to hype up, and as we started to get back into more populated areas with denser crowds, I was shamelessly beseeching them to share their energy with us. My friend told me that at first, he thought it was cringe, but it actually really helped. At a weird, seemingly unnecessary U-turn in the 21st mile, I did a Japanese U-turn and the crowd went wild.

One of our other colleagues, who had cheered us on much earlier in the race, suddenly appeared next to us with only about three kilometers to go, running alongside for just long enough to give the final boost that we needed to get to the finish line. I was giving encouraging predictions about how much time he was still going to take off his PR. My forecasts were slighltly inaccurate because my watch had auto-paused when we stopped to swap shoes, but still, we finished in 3:10:05.

After the race
My friend headed straight to the first chair he could find after the finish, which was right by the medical tent. He was quickly swarmed by vigilant medics and peppered with questions, but told them he just needed to sit for a minute, and got back on his feet quickly.

It was a PR for him, but admittedly not the most satisfying. It was also undoubtedly a learning experience for both of us. He has some things to consider for his training next season. I will run NYC in just a few weeks for myself, but I'm also already thinking about pacing again, and wondering: what can I do better? What do you do as a pacer when the runner you're pacing is struggling?

Race Information

• Name: Wineglass Marathon
• Date: October 4 2026
• Distance: 26.2 miles
• Location: Corning, NY
• Website: https://www.wineglassmarathon.com
• Time: 3:28:36

Goals

Splits

Training

I followed the Breeze plan from John Davis' (u/running_writings) book Marathon Excellence for Everyone, which is the lowest mileage plan he has. The plan gives two options for mileage, one peaking at 40 mpw and the other at 50 mpw. I typically landed somewhere in the middle, with my 3 highest weeks of mileage being 45, 46 and 47 miles. The plan was 18 weeks long, so I started the first week of June. That first week I was on a cruise, so I missed two scheduled workouts (we hit some weather and running on a rocking ship was... not it) - and those were the only two workouts I missed all summer. The first base building portion of the plan goes off 5k pace. I raced a 5k the first week of the plan in 22:22, so I used that time for my 5k pace (7:10/mile).

I ran the Richmond Marathon last fall and my time was 3:46. That race was my first marathon in 12 years and was a 11 minute PR. For this year, BQ for my age group is 3:30, so I set a somewhat big and scary goal for this year to break 3:30, even though that would be a massive PR from what I did in 2025. The second half of the training plan you base your workouts off marathon pace, so I used for 7:45-8:00 pace for that, and managed to hit pretty much all the workouts on pace, so I locked into that for race day. I did 2 long runs in the rain, and that helped me not panic when the 10 day forecast was saying rain before the race.

Overall, I would say I nailed the training, waking up before work to get my runs in all summer. I also strength trained 3-4 times a week pretty consistently, though the last few weeks of training I was getting pretty fatigued and dropped down to 2x. I was also experiencing weird core/adductor pain - not sure if I pulled a muscle or what but went to PT 1x per week and got some exercises to work on that as well. I told the PT my goal was just to get through this marathon and not get any worse.

Pre-race

I drove up to Rochester to visit friends and family the Wednesday before the race. We tried not to plan too much walking activities. I did a carb load on Thurs/Fri/Sat - managed to hit over 450g carbs each day (goal was 500 but we'll take it). Saturday afternoon I drove down to Corning, picked up my bib, did a 2 mile shakeout run, and looked at parking options for the next morning. I was staying in Hornell, about a 40 minute drive away.

I actually slept fairly decent for the night before a race, and woke up early at 4:00. I got on the road at 4:45 to be to Corning by 5:30. While driving I ate a Barebells protein bar and half a bagel. I was planning to park in the main parking garage in Corning, but there was a huge line, so I ended up just parking at the YMCA across the river. That honestly worked out perfectly and I would park there again.

I caught the bus to the start line with no issues. When we arrived I went to the warming tents which got super crowded. I found a seat, and I ate my pre-race graham crackers and sipped on some water and got my vest organized. I didn't have any gear to check, so ended up leaving the tent around 7:30 and doing a short warmup jog before getting in the line for the bathroom. The portapotties were arranged in a circle which made the lines in the center somewhat chaotic. Afterward, I ended up behind the circle in a nice little paved area where people were stretching/warming up. I hung out there until the last possible second, when I stripped off my throwaway clothes and jumped into the start line.

Race

I jumped in the start line somewhere between the 3:20 and 3:30 pacers and we were off right at 8:15!

For fueling: I was wearing my vest (UltraSpire Basham Vest - I love it! Room for all my gels, my phone, and 2 water bottles) and had LMNT and gels. I took a gel at every 2.5 miles all the way through. It was cold so I did not drink as much as I probably should have, I wasn't feeling as thirsty as usual.

It was quite crowded at the start since there is not really any separation between paces at the start (no corrals or signs or anything) and the road is not too wide, and I was also pretty cold. After two or so miles it spread out a bit and I tucked on behind a group of girls who were going around my pace and stuck with them. At mile 3 my hamstring started tightening up badly and I seriously wondered if I was going to have to stop and all my hard work would have been for nothing. Thankfully, it figured itself out! There is really only one notable hill on the course, around mile 5. My training is really hilly, so I did not think it was bad at all. I was with that group of girls all the way until the halfway point, when I peeled off to pee at all the portapotties at the half marathon start. The core issue mentioned above seems to get worse with a full bladder, so I decided it was worth the 40 seconds it cost me. The water stops only had 2-3 portapotties at each one, and the last few stops they were all full when I went by, so I thought I might as well stop where there are 100 and not have to wait. When I jumped back in, it seemed like it had really thinned out and I was really missing my pace group. I just tried to jump from person to person picking people off. I finally linked up with another guy who was going my pace and we went back and forth until around mile 20. Another poster mentioned an awful downhill around 21 and I agree, I really felt that one! Miles 21-24 are basically a blur of me just trying to hang on to the pace. By the time I got to 24 I knew I was a) almost done and b) could do the math to know I was going to hit my goal of 3:30 unless I really crumbled. At mile 25 I stepped down weird and popped a blister I hadn't even felt until that point - but I sure felt it then. Blood straight through my shoe, ugh. At the end you go over a bridge and come around a corner and can see the finish line, so I tried to sprint it in the best I could, for a chip time of 3:28:36.

Post-race

When I finished I was so happy! 18 minute PR and BQ (not enough of a buffer to get into the race, but still a qualifier!)! In the finish area I got my picture with the PR bell, grabbed some food (Wegmans chicken noodle soup!), and then got my picture with my finishing time on the screen. I saw two of the people I was running with out on the course, so celebrated with them a bit. It started to rain at that point, and I didn't have any warm clothes beyond the heat sheet, so I walked across the bridge back to the YMCA to shower. Unfortunately, while nice of them to allow runners to shower there, there was no hot water, so it was not exactly the most enjoyable post marathon shower I was dreaming of! Once I was clean, I headed home, with a car full of snacks!

Overall, Wineglass was a beautiful fall race with a fast course. The trees along the finish line were all colorful. The weather ended up being pretty perfect (though later finishers got a bit wet). I didn't use the on-course hydration, so I can't speak to that. Of course, I mayy be looking at the race through PR goggles!

Made with a new race report generator created by u/herumph.

A place to ask questions that don't need their own thread here or just chat a bit.

We have quite a bit of info in the wiki, FAQ, and past posts. Please be sure to give those a look for info on your topic.

Link to Wiki

Link to FAQ

I raced the Kodiak 100M back on October 9-10 and ended up having a pretty good day. Here’s my story.

Spoiler: I finished in 22:13:57 securing an automatic entry to UTMB 2027

Training/Preparation.  After a mediocre Western States run I felt that I needed a little more emphasis on speed in my Kodiak training so I opted for the SWAP 50 mile/50k Champion plan as the basis for my Kodiak training block. I supplemented this plan with some additional high volume days as I felt appropriate but stuck to the workouts prescribed in the plan.  I averaged 70 miles per week over the 13 week training block with four 90+ mile week along with two weeks in the 80’s. Fitness wise I was in great shape and that became apparent after swapping the hot/humid Georgia summer days for the cooler/dryer climate in Big Bear Lake.  Side note: I drove out to Big Bear Lake early so I would have three solid weeks prior to the race at the 7000 feet altitude that most of the race is at. By doing this I also got to run almost every section of the course at least once before the race. This proved invaluable as I always knew what terrain was ahead, how far it was to the next aid, and roughly what race effort would feel like on each section of the course.

Race Plan: Run at the fastest sustainable effort I could muster for the entire race.  The day before the race, while packing my drop bags, my wife asked me if I was getting excited for the race. I told her ‘not particularly’ instead I was focused on getting my mind prepared for the amount of discomfort that was to come.  When running 100 miles discomfort/pain/fatigue always occurs and generally starts to hit pretty good in the last quarter of the race. However, whenever you’re trying to extract the most out of your body the voices telling you to slow down or walk start much, much sooner making most of the race a real mental battle with your mind to keep moving as fast as you can.

Nutrition/Hydration plan: I planned to use Carbs brand gels for as long as I could use them. Specifically, I planned on 1 regular Carbs gel and 1 Salted Carbs gel per hour. That would give me 400 calories and roughly 550mg sodium per hour.  In the second half of the race I planned to replace the regular Carbs gel with a caffeinated Carbs gel for 100mg of caffeine.  For a backup carbohydrate source I packed SIS Beta Fuel electrolyte gels in my drop bags for the second half of the race.  Typically I can manage the Carbs gels for 10-12 hours without stomach issues but after that my stomach can get a little wonky with them.  On the hydration front I would use just plain water in my flasks since the gels had enough electrolytes for me, and I started with 2 800mL soft flasks (plus an empty 500ml one in kangaroo pocket) and then switched to 500mL flasks once the sun went down.

Start to Doble 1 (Mile 33): For these UTMB series races they have a small barrier separating the pros/elites from the rest of the field and generally give this group a few seconds head start before releasing the main field.  At Kodiak they allowed anyone who felt like they were competing for a top 20 spot into this corral. Based on previous year’s results and my goals I moved into the “elite” corral. Looking around, almost all of the non-pro guys seemed to be my age and I was like crap this is going to be more difficult than I imagined. I immediately changed race strategy since I didn’t want someone in my age group to get away early and snap the elastic. A part of me also wanted to be that guy snapping the elastic on the other guys here.  Regardless, when the gun went off I rolled out at an almost suicidal pace up the first climb. I figured I could push pretty good on this shorter climb and then recover on the long, 5+ mile downhill dirt road section that followed.  That strategy mostly worked, I spent more energy on that climb than planned but felt pretty fresh by the end of the long downhill road section. Side note: the amount of people who immediately went to hiking in the elite corral was out of control - I get it in the steep section but there’s no need to walk the flat switchback sections, ugh.  After several miles of downhill dirt road we hit the PCT and I immediately fell twice. Luckily the field was spread out by then so real issues. This section of PCT is rolling and I just tried to cruise along at what I thought was a fast but sustainable effort. Surprisingly, I caught several more people towards the end of this section (and they were walking the rolling climbs!). I fell in line and waited for the road to Camp Whittle to pass. When you hit the road to Camp Whittle, it’s a 3-4 mile gradual climb up a dirt road so I was surprised when everyone in front of me went straight to hiking. I just shifted into ultra climb mode and jogged by everyone - it was crazy.  Made it to Camp Whittle (Mile 19.5), refilled my flasks and grabbed my waist light before heading on.  Leaving Camp Whittle the dirt road continues to climb for another 1.5-2 miles with some steep sections. It was on these steep sections that I started to feel the early hot pace. Initially, I thought I’d gone out too hard and blown my legs up and went into panic mode. Fortunately I knew the upcoming PCT trail section and knew that I could recover if I just kept the effort in check and stayed on my nutrition and hydration.  Sure enough, after several miles of feeling like I could be in for a long day everything just snapped right back. I’m not sure if it was just the body recovering after several easy effort miles or maybe just some high energy songs that came on. Regardless, I went from ultra shuffle to ripping the technical descent to Doble 1 in an instant. Side note - from that point forward if I felt I was bogging down I forced myself to sign along with whatever song was playing on my headphones  and and this always kept me moving.  Hit Doble 1 at 6:15 on the clock, grabbed my drop bag, changed shirts into a short sleeve wool, threw on wool arm sleeves, changed headbands, put on headlamp (in addition to my waist light), swapped my UV gloves for warm gloves, grabbed a new bag of gels, and filled my flasks with water before heading out on the big loop from Doble 1 to Doble 2.

Doble 1 to Doble 1 (Mile 55). This is a big loop with a mix of trail and dirt road.  I was riding a high coming out of the aid station and shifted my strategy to run as fast as was sustainable unless I’m feeling good. If feeling good, rip it. Not much else to say about this loop other than knowing there were a couple of good rollers on the dirt road, and where they were at, and the section from Cactus Flats to Doble was pretty rugged was really beneficial. I knew what was coming and was able to execute accordingly. Reached Doble 2 at around 10:50 elapsed, met my wife for a quick gel swap and bottle refill before heading on.

Doble 2 to Sugarloaf 1: Leaving Doble 2 I began overlapping runners heading out on the Doble loop and picked up a lot of energy from everyone (and hopefully I gave as much back). I caught W2 on this section and we yo-yoed for a while (she dropped me like nobody’s business on the Sugarloaf climb!).  

Sugarloaf 1 - Sugarloaf 2:  Met my wife at the crew point for a gel swap and then refilled my water bottles at the aid.  Drank an extra 500ml before heading out but didn’t think to refill the bottle before heading up so I only had 2 flasks for the big climb.  Jogged the .75 mile up the dirt road to the trail (saw M2 and M3 coming in to Sugarloaf 2) and then immediately went into hiking mode. I planned to hike the majority of the Sugarloaf climb and that’s what I did - just hike as fast as possible and jog any flatter sections (there are several flat sections on the top half of the climb). Made the top and started jogging down. By this time my waist light battery had died so I was left descending with just my headlamp (sunrise was coming soon so I didn’t want to stop and change batteries on my waist lamp). That made the going a little slower with the rocky surface but I made good progress to Balky Horse aid where I drank two cups of broth and a good amount of water before heading down to the Sugarloaf 2.  My stomach was giving some trouble here so I moved down the dirt road slower than I’d like to have. I almost felt hungry so at Sugarloaf 2 I took in an extra Naack puree pouch (in addition to a Carbs gel and water).  At Sugarloaf 2 I changed shirts into a lighter day shirt, swapped gloves to UV gloves, and dropped my waist lamp/battery pack.

Sugarloaf 2 to finish:  Coming out of Sugarloaf 2 I ran into the main 100k race field coming down Sand Canyon road. That was a real pick up as everyone was cheering me on and I was trying to cheer them on. After Sand Canyon road the race follows some paved road for a couple of miles before arriving at Bear Mountain.  You’d think if would’ve been some nice downhill paved road but no they found the steepest paved roads in California to follow - ugh. I blew past the Bear Mountain aid station turn off and had to circle back a good quarter mile but that didn’t matter - just a little climb up to the Skyline trail and then the Snow Summit climb before a long downhill to the finish.  As I approached the Snow Summit climb I began to overlap the 21k racers and that was a good thing. I fell in line with the 21k folks and began the never ending switchback climb that was Snow Summit.  Periodically, I would pull over and let the faster 21k runners go by before trying to latch on to them and at least once I had to stop so I wouldn’t throw up from the effort. After an eternity, I reached the Snow Summit aid - 5 downhill miles to go! The first mile coming down was on the 21k course and I was at my limit trying not to get in their way.  Fortunately the 100M course broke off on another trail. Unfortunately, it was a super steep mountain bike trail and my my poor quads were absolutely screaming as I tried to maintain a decent pace on the descent. Eventually, I popped out on a dirt road and at that point I knew I was practically finished - just a little bit of dirt road and less than a mile of paved to go. From there I let it roll all the way to finish in 22:13:57 - 17th overall (15th male), age group win, and automatic entry to UTMB 2027!

Post Race: Wow, it’s still kind of hard to believe that just happened. And it’s somewhat surreal for an average guy like me to see an email from UTMB Elite Services inviting me to the UTMB finals next year. Clearly UTMB will be my big race for next year and I’m sure I’ll throw in some good local races along the way however for now I’m going to take a few weeks of recovery and enjoy some down time.

TLDR: Anyone who is building their own training plan and documenting it, what software/templates are you using? Training Peaks? Excel? Coros Training Hub? Strava private notes section only?

Hey ya'll, I've got a rough idea of the next 52-60 weeks of training. I have many different plans (mostly in PDF or .docx format), training theory books and have watched nearly every Steve Magness video of the last 15 months. I want to glue pieces of all of these things into a cohesive plan with an ability to pivot week to week or day to day depending on how I'm recovering.

Currently, I organize training via a somewhat-memorized/habitualized weekly schedule, and adjust either mileage or intensity or focus 'off book'. With 3 weeks up and 1 reduced week (depending on where a race or big effort might fall).

I'm considering using the Coros Training Hub, but... it kind of seems like it sacrifices some flexibility and most reviews aren't enthusiastic. I know most paid coaches use Training Peaks with their clients.

I'd prefer not to have to whip out my laptop after every session to go into a spreadsheet translating shit from one app to another.

What are you guys doing for an annual training plan? Is a Training Peaks membership worth its price tag?

I simply enjoy training theory, running experiments on myself and data.

I think my last NYC Marathon in '08 might have been $130 at a NYRR member rate, my last Boston in '04 I think I paid $80. Marraige & kids screwed up my running life of course....but alas I can now consider racing again. I go to the San Francisco Marathon site and see it's entry fee is $430? The other California marathon on my bucket list, Big Sur, $350 after all processing fees? Inflation has increased about 56% since my last marathon ('08), a decent running shoe is about 50%-60% more expensive than it was back then.... but it seems entry fees are 3x+ more expensive today? This prompted me to look around and when I see $50 5K and $75 10K entry fees...am I a cheapskate or have things gotten out of control with entry fees?

I just completed Chicago this past weekend and ran Boston in April - the prices to run these events are insane especially when you include the travel and everything included as a part of the experience- yes I know these are world majors and a price premium is somewhat expected. That being said what are some well known races (roads and trails) that are still actually affordable?

Hey, everyone. I’m a 30-year-old guy and I’ve got a local 5k coming up. I’ve mostly just raced against myself before, so I don’t have much experience actually competing against other people.

I checked past race results, and based on my predicted time of around 18:20, I might have a shot at the podium or even winning, depending on who shows up, hehe. Trying not to get too excited about it, but it’s new for me.

Any advice on how to race it? Should I go out controlled and sit on the leaders, or just run my own pace? Thanks!

Race Information

• Name: 2026 Chicago Marathon
• Date: October 11th, 2026
• Distance: 26.2 miles
• Location: Chicago, IL
• Website: https://www.chicagomarathon.com/
• Time: 2:48:41

Goals

Splits

Training

This was my 3rd marathon going from 3:08 on a Higdon plan, 2:48 on Pfitz 18/55, and then for this block I followed Pfitz 18/55 with a few added miles each week to peak at 60 miles. I had to adjust some weeks with weather so I only ended up with one true tune up time trial. Additionally I coached wrestling practices once a week where I was getting anywhere from an hour to two hours of work in per session, and I tried to get in a strength session each week but that was more hit or miss based on fatigue. Towards the end of the block the strength sessions were more upper body focused to give the legs a break.

Key Workouts: I mention weather here because I've realized I put too much stock in race day weather. Also most of the Pfitz MP workouts are early on in the plan

Week 5: 16 with 10 at MP (avg 6:18) - 70 degrees

Week 9: 16 with 12 at MP (avg 6:19) - 72 degrees

Week 11: 12 with 7 at LT (avg 5:49) - 66 degrees

Week 12: 10K time trial: 35:46 (avg 5:46) - 72 degrees

Week 13: 18 with 3x3+1 at Marathon Effort (avg 6:34) - 79 degrees

Week 17: 8 with 3 x 1 mile at 5K pace (avg 5:31) - 70 degrees

I honestly felt great in all of these workouts except for week 13 when it was unbearably humid. That workout was scheduled as 18 with 14 at MP and there was no way that was happening that day.

Pre-race

Got into Chicago late on Friday night, ordered dinner, and went to bed. Got my shakeout in on Saturday morning with some strides and felt a little sluggish. Ended up walking way too much on Saturday meeting up with friends and walking along the Lakefront Trail with the family. Ended up with 22,000 steps on Saturday...

Meals on Saturday included some bolognese from Nonnina (incredible, highly recommend) for lunch, and chicken parm with penne and vodka sauce from Francesca's for dinner (also recommend). So from a fueling perspective I was feeling good, but my legs were still feeling it from all those steps... Insert worried thoughts...

Slept fine on Saturday night, showered and got ready for the race. Typical breakfast of protein oatmeal and a couple sips of my electrolytes. I meant to grab water from the front desk to take with me on the walk, but completely forgot as I got on my way to the corral. 30 min of walking later, I got to the corral, still plenty early maybe an hour or so, jogged around the corral for half a mile, used the restroom, then started to panic that I hadn't hydrated enough since I forgot my water.

I ran out of the corral over to the water stations but they were all out and only had gatorade. I pounded 3 cups of gatorade and made my back to the corral with 20 min or so before we started.

Race

My ideal plan was to go out at 6:20 pace, reevaluate halfway, again at mile 20, and finish strong. Fueling plan was to take a 30g gel every 4 miles and gatorade at each aid station. I was nervous about the warmer than ideal temperatures so knowing that I didn't quite hydrate like I had planned the morning of, I was definitely trying to catch up throughout the race. I also hadn't trained much with drinking fluids in my long runs, typically I would bring 16 oz of water if it was above 70 degrees, but other than that I was fine without extra fluids, maybe a stop by the car halfway or so. All this to say that fluids became an issue later in the race.

Getting into the race, I knew my watch was going to be off for a few miles so I just went by feel until I found the 3rd mile mark and I was right on pace. I found a guy to run with as we were both targeting 2:45 (shoutout Victor). Looking back, 2:45 was going to be easy for him while it called for a perfect race from me. We get through the first few aid stations and I don't think I fully planned for how many aid stations there actually were. It seemed like they were popping up all the time. I continued to drink gatorade at each one, drank my gels at mile 4, 8, and 12, but I could tell that I was a little bit off. My HR had creeped up closer to LT (176ish) and I had planned to stay under 170 for the first half. We were also about 30 seconds ahead of pace which I knew was a little fast for me, but stubbornly I didn't stick to my plan.

At the halfway point, I start to settle back on my own towards 6:20 pace trying to potentially bring my HR down, but I was likely too far gone at that point. Mile 16-17 I got a side stitch that forced me to slow down to about 6:30 pace, but that went away after a mile or so. I continued with my fueling plan, but my stomach was a little upset so I switched to water over gatorade at this point. Pace slowed closer to 6:30 for a few miles but my body never recovered like I hoped. The side stitches came back around mile 20 and what was supposed to be time to push had turned into time to survive...

Enter Mile 22..... This was the breaking point... All those fluids were sitting in my stomach, my side stitches hadn't gone away for 2 miles, pace continued to slow, and I knew that I had messed up...

I try to fight through this for about half a mile until my body brings me to a walk and pull off out of the way... A couple gags later and all the fluids I had put in my body were now on the pavement of Chinatown... I keep walking for about 20 seconds or so and this is where the first thoughts of a DNF creeped in. If I didn't start running again soon, it was looking bleak, so I picked up a jog and made it to the next mile mark. Manual Lap: 7:17. Actually not too bad for what just seemed like the longest mile of my life.

Mile 23 I somehow found a bit of a spark and tried to scrape together at least a PR knowing I was still on pace for that. Rattled off a 6:29, but I was terrified to try to put any more carbs in my body. I was feeling better than before I threw up, just not strong enough to hold this pace for much longer.

I sipped some water here and there and tried to give it whatever I had left to get to the finish. 24 and 25 were purely survival, I gave up on lapping my watch at each mile because I knew seeing slower miles would be discouraging. It was at this point I started some self talk to just appreciate everything that had come together for me to be at mile 25 of the Chicago Marathon. Being thankful for my family traveling out and watching, supporting me through training, all the fans there, the kid who handed me a small water bottle after I had just ejected all my fluids.. All these things to appreciate and I had reached the final stretch.

The last mile is a bit of a cruel joke with the bridge and all the signs counting down just how far from the finish you are. I tried to push at each sign but 800m, 400m, 300m, 200m, 100m is a lot of pushing.. I came in just under 7:00 for the last mile which I count as a small victory and I have never been so happy for a race to be over. I found my family and immediately all the disappointment of not PRing was put on halt. My daughter screamed out "Dada!" as soon as she saw me and that was all it took to remind me what actually matters.

Reflection

The last 6 miles of this marathon had me going from I never want to do this again, to I can't wait to fix all this for Boston this Spring. I know that my training had prepared me well enough, but it came down to not sticking to the plan that cost me. I never once noticed the weather, and while it may have had an impact, I'm putting a lot more stock in the things I could have controlled. So here are my final notes to change for sub-2:45 at Boston next fall.

1. Stick to my pacing and listen to my HR.
2. Map out aid stations and build those into my fueling plan.
3. Race with what I've trained with. Introducing gatorade, especially that much, was not a smart idea.
4. Run my race. I knew I was ahead of plan and waited way too long to pull back.
5. Don't walk 20,000 steps the day before the marathon...

With that said, thank you for reading and I hope to see many of you in Boston this Spring!

Made with a new race report generator created by u/herumph.

A place to ask questions that don't need their own thread here or just chat a bit.

We have quite a bit of info in the wiki, FAQ, and past posts. Please be sure to give those a look for info on your topic.

Link to Wiki

Link to FAQ

Race Information

• Name: Chicago Marathon
• Date: October 11, 2026
• Distance: 26.2 miles
• Location: Chicago, IL
• Website: https://www.chicagomarathon.com/event-info/participant-information/
• Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/20544099472
• Time: 2:48:49

Goals

Splits*

* Based on Strava activity, which was 26.54 mi so paces are faster

Background

I'm M24 and running my 4th marathon. Race history:

• 2024 Portland Marathon – 2:52:02
• 2025 Pittsburgh Marathon – 2:56:55
• 2026 Eugene Marathon – 2:48:52
• 2026 Chicago Marathon – 2:48:49

Been running for about 4 years, racing seriously for 2.5. Back in 2024–25 I was already pretty fast, but my body had not learned how to tolerate mileage. I wanted like hell to improve my marathon, but could hardly make it to the start line in one piece doing the minimum mileage to finish a marathon (55 mpw).

Then mid 2025 I suffered a serious bike crash with a motor vehicle and was sidelined for 2 months. After that, I slowly built back up with a lot of easy running and held at 60 mpw for a few months before starting another build. Have been injury-free since, and am proud to be running both faster and healthier now.

Training

This was my shortest training block at only 12 weeks, because I suffered a second crash with a car in the span of 10 months, this time while running after getting chased onto a busy street by an aggressive dog. Luckily, my injuries were not serious, but I was on crutches for 3 weeks before ramping up back to mileage and reintroducing any form of intensity.

I followed a scaled down version of Pfitz 18/70 (peaking at 60 mpw). I had done a similar 18-week version of this 60 mpw plan for Eugene, and made it through the finish with some peroneal tendonitis but relatively in one piece, so I decided to keep the mileage the same given that I just recovered from an accident.

This was my first completely injury-free block, with nothing but a few tiny niggles that I catastrophized into thinking were stress fractures. I was able to hit my mileage target and key workouts every week. The caveat is that I had already modified the plan to be lower intensity (fewer workouts) than the original Pfitz plan, because I am too afraid of getting injured. I think this led me to only reap modest fitness gains (maybe 1-2%) since my last marathon.

I also found that the VO2 max workouts late in the block tended to produce niggles that I always thought would become injuries if I kept running on them, so I ended up replacing a lot of them with LT work kind of as a safety measure. Historically these were the same workouts that gave me tendon issues in previous blocks, so I am still afraid of them. Not sure how much this is holding back my training lol.

By the end of the block, I was in approximately 2:45 shape on a perfect day, and that would become my race goal.

Pre-race

I did 3 days of 480g carbs for the carb load. Since this was my first time visiting Chicago and my girlfriend and I are both huge foodies, we turned the Saturday before the race into a big food tour involving multiple bakeries, coffee shops, pasta, and noodle restaurants. The one problem – we took transit, and despite the fact that all we did was eat and take transit, that added up to over 25k steps across the day because of how disconnected transit in the city was. I also did a 5k shakeout run, which would be fine if not for all the extra time on feet after. I felt tight from all the standing and walking, and did not bring my foam roller, massage gun, or anything. On top of it being a hot weekend and feeling rather fatigued, I went to sleep calling it a wash in my head and telling myself that I'd just go out and have fun and not give a fuck.

Breakfast was 150g carbs of bread, Clif bars, and the free Biscoff they gave me on the plane. Smashed a Celsius and then took a Lyft bike to the start line (actually so much better than transit, best idea of my life).

Fuel plan was 8 GU Salted Caramel gels (providing continuous sodium and caffeine) + Gatorade at 12 stations. Normally this is more than enough sodium for me but I brought 2 extra SaltStick tablets because of the heat. I like the GUs because they are small enough to all fit in my shorts pockets without any additional compression tights or compartments.

Race

Given the weather and terrible rest and recovery leading up to the race, my plan was to pace comfortably at around 6:25-6:30/mi pace and just finish reasonably close to my previous PR, even though I think I was in shape to beat it by 3 mins.

Miles 1-14: Did exactly the above. The 6:05 splits were almost certainly GPS error as my mile splits had also become offset from the official ones at these points. Felt comfortable, albeit a little hard to find my pacing groove because of how crowded it was. Was happy just sightseeing the different neighborhoods and taking in the crowd.

Miles 15-20: At the beginning of this segment I felt my right calf tighten up. Historically, I have had right calf cramping in 2 out of my 3 previous marathons, and last night it was already feeling tight, so I knew I ran the risk of cramping today as well. I slowed my pace closer to 6:30 and began to prepare for the worst, or at least just try to finish in one piece. I also think I subconsciously started compensating by striking harder with my left leg. However, by mile 18, I did not really feel any worse, in fact maybe better than earlier. I told myself that my body was probably playing tricks on me, and that this is exactly the kind of line I should be treading to run a fast marathon.

Miles 21-26.2: First time in my marathoning career where I felt like I had a lot left in the tank to turn up the pace. I started hitting 6:20 pace, and then in the last 2 mi turned it up even more to 6:10, 6:05, 6:00, 5:55. Felt amazing to start flying past everyone in the most painful part of the race. The marathon gods decided my ego needed to be checked, because even though I had just run a strong negative split, my calf decided to cramp up with 400 meters left to go. Fortunately, I was able to hobble across the finish without losing much time at all, but part of me wonders how close I was to disaster striking earlier and crushing my race.

Post-race

Felt surprisingly fine post-race. Hobbled around a bit and started walking normally. I really enjoyed the fact that they engraved my medal and gave me a free BQ patch on my medal, but not much else going on at the 27th mile post-race party. Walked around Grant Park with my girlfriend, saw the Bean, smashed a burger and fish & chips, and then a nice dinner at Valhalla later in the day.

Conclusions

• I'm just happy I managed to finish strong and in one piece, regardless of time, in the face of the less-than-ideal weather and poor recovery leading up to the race.
• I don't care too much about the 3 second PR, but it proved to me that I probably have 2:45 fitness on a perfect day, so I'll take that fitness and run with it into my next race.
• Running a world major is both humbling and inspiring – first time I felt like I was in such a big crowd while running this fast, but it was amazing to see all the fast runners out there.
• I've had the same right calf cramp in 3 out of 4 marathons. Probably something to look into there in terms of strength work. Despite that, I think I paced this almost perfectly, because I felt like I was treading the line of running as fast as I could on the verge of cramping for most of the second half.
• I also think it's time to try increasing my mileage to 70 mpw (my body feels ready) and increasing the duration of my MP work to condition my legs and avoid cramping.
• This race is too fucking crowded. I don't think I will return any time soon.
• Onto Boston 2027!