It’s finally fall in Dallas and the weather called for a PR attempt. I forgot gels, so this was without fueling and at the end of a 60 mile week. Gives me hope for the future! Also feeling immense gratitude that I can even run. 4 years ago I was a fat alcoholic with cirrhosis, killing myself rather quickly with drinking. I don’t have to live that way today. Training has changed my life. Thanks to all who are reading this!

The nerves are unlike anything. I ran in college, high school. But this is so different. I have no idea what to expect. All I know is it’s going to hurt… probably a lot.

It’s been hard to eat and I had trouble sleeping last night. I am drinking Gatorade hoping that fills in some carbs.

Anyone have similar pre race anxiety? I’m trying to be chill in my hotel room but stuck in my bed!!

1300 feet of elevation, but stayed strong!! Had nothing left but still went for it. Couldn’t be prouder!! 😊

Edit: some extra info: Max heart rate 178-180 (estimated) 43y old

Eindhoven Marathon 2026 – Back from years of injuries: 3:13 in my daily trainers (with a cold)

TL;DR: After years of on-and-off injuries, I rebuilt with strength work and patient volume, developed calf issues in my super shoes, raced in my NB 1080s with a cold, hung on to the 3:15 pace group with a twinging calf and finished in 3:13. That's a ~9-minute PR.

Race Information

• Name: Eindhoven Marathon
• Date: October 11, 2026
• Distance: 42.2 km
• Location: Eindhoven, the Netherlands
• Time: 3:13:xx

Goals

Splits

Watch data (42.4 km by GPS). The 5 km splits are summed from the km splits, so they may be a few seconds off. Halves: 1:36 / 1:37.

Background

I started running seriously about 8 years ago, coming from football (soccer) and a few years of tennis. During Covid I ran a lot and got into the best shape of my life: 80–90 km weeks that translated into time trials of low 17s for 5k, 1:02 for 10 miles and 1:22 for the half.

So naturally I kept running longer and harder, which eventually led to a long series of injuries that made consistent training really difficult. I did run a marathon in 2022 on low volume (3:22), but after that the injuries kept coming. I managed around 1,000 km a year, but never consistently.

Training

About six months ago things started to turn around. Two things changed:

• I started doing bodyweight strength routines, a good part of them single-leg.
• I stopped chasing goals and focused purely on building volume, letting how my body felt decide whether I needed rest or could add a bit more.

From May my volume climbed to 40–50 km/week, with 200+ km months in June, August and September. Over the last 12 months that adds up to 1,631.5 km, or 31.4 km/week on average, most of it from April onward.

A fall marathon started to look realistic, so I signed up for Eindhoven, with the option to cancel. I kept training through our summer holiday in Croatia. Getting up at 7:00 to run in 28–29°C along the coast wasn't always fun, but I got it done. After the holiday the focus shifted to extending my long run.

Shoe trouble

This is where the problems started. I do most of my running in the NB 1080v14, but some in the SC Elite v5. Whenever I extended a run or picked up the pace in the SC Elite, I got calf issues, several times. I figured the shoes had too many km on them (~400) and bought a new pair. Three weeks out, during my longest planned long run (30 km), I had to stop halfway in the brand-new SC Elites. Calf again. I took an easy week, mostly in the 1080s.

I decided the marathon only had a chance in my trainers. That was a tough pill to swallow, because the difference between the two shoes is huge for me: about 10 bpm at the same pace. In the comparison below, a 4:30 km cost me 131 bpm in the SC Elite and 141 bpm in the 1080v14. But the 1080s were the only realistic way to the finish line.

I still wanted some reassurance that my calf was OK and that I was somewhat ready for the distance. So 11 days out I ran 18 km with 10 km at marathon pace. It went well, and the start line was back in sight.

Pre-race

Then came the second setback: a few days before the race I caught a cold. It lingered, so I took it day by day. On race morning I was still doubting whether to start, but the symptoms were above the neck, so I decided to go for it, accepting a bigger chance that I'd have to slow down or drop out.

As the morning went on I felt better and better, and in the start corral I felt pure joy. The start was delayed by 10 minutes, but I couldn't have cared less. Being a runner again, in a corral at a big event, surrounded by like-minded people with anticipation in the air: I hadn't felt that in a very long time. Absolutely fantastic.

Race

The plan was to race by heart rate:

• 0–10 km: under 148
• 10–20 km: under 154
• 20–30 km: under 158
• 30+ km: HR matters less; push or hold depending on how I felt

I expected that to work out at around 4:28/km, which is A-goal pace.

I started a bit behind the 3:15 pace group, planning to use the first few km to gauge the form of the day. The first km went well, but despite feeling good, my HR crept up faster than I wanted. By km 4 it was already at 149, over my 148 cap, and it stayed around 150 for the rest of the first 10 km.

Around km 6 I caught the 3:15 pacers. With my HR on the high side and some very windy stretches, I decided to tuck in for a while. That "while" turned out to be a long time. I was running slower than planned (around 4:34/km on my watch instead of 4:28), but my HR still sat steady at around 150. That was within my caps for km 10–30, but higher than I wanted for that pace, so I stayed with the group.

Around km 24 I started thinking about picking it up. The moment I thought it, my weak left calf started giving small twinges for the first time. I took that as a clear sign not to push, stayed in the group, shortened my stride and hoped it wouldn't get worse. You can see it in the splits: km 24 was 4:43, my slowest km until the very last one.

The km ticked by. The calf didn't go away, but it didn't seem to get worse either. Around 30 km I accepted that this was the most I had in me and that I'd try to hang on to the 3:15 pacers until the end.

From there it went downhill fast, even if the splits don't show it at first. The pace held at 4:30–4:35 until km 38, but the cost kept rising: my HR went from 155 at km 30 to 162 at km 37. By km 33 I was working really hard just to reach 35. After that it was a fight for every km. The calf didn't get worse, but everything else started protesting: hamstrings, quads, the other calf, basically everything.

I focused on one km at a time and reached 40 km in an ever-shrinking group. My pace had started slipping from km 39 (4:39, 4:40, 4:40, 4:45), and over the last 2 km I watched the pace group pull away from me, meter by meter. I fought for everything I was worth and finished about 40 m behind the pacers in 3:13. Given the circumstances, it felt like the maximum.

Technically a BQ, but without enough buffer to actually get in.

Post-race

After the race I could barely walk, but I was very happy and satisfied. A week later the soreness is gone and I'm already making new plans. A spring marathon would be great, and the bigger goals (a BQ with a proper buffer, maybe even sub-3) keep calling.

Takeaways

• Strength work (especially single-leg) plus building volume by feel finally gave me consistency: 1,631 km in the last 12 months, versus ~1,000 km/year in the injury years.
• Super shoes aren't free speed if your calves can't handle them. Racing in my trainers cost me efficiency, but it got me to the finish.
• Tucking into the pace group when my HR ran high gave me almost even halves (1:36 / 1:37), even with a calf and a cold.

Thanks for reading. Any tips for building toward that next goal are very welcome!

EDIT: my estimated max HR is 185 from my Garmin.

Tips on how and when I should increase pace to finish at 3:25 if I start out with 3:30 pace.

So I'm 39M. Trying to be realistic. My PR last year was 3:39. I didn't really cramp but felt the onset of it towards the last 6 miles. This will be my 5th consecutive NYCM, my previous times were '22 4:02, '23 4:21, '24 3:43, '25 3:39

I've been averaging about 45mpw and peak around 53mpw. Attached are my last few LR's starting from the most recent which was last week (21mi). Also I finally got a HRM so the 3 most recent LRs have a more accurate HR. I put my goal time as 3:25 so that's what I've been running as mp. So I'm thinking to start out at 3:30 pace and see how I feel at half or mile 15? Or should I just start out at 3:25 pace and see how I feel at half? I don't wanna blow up 😳

What is everyone’s warmup routine on marathon day?

For races from the 5K through the half marathon, my warmup is typically dynamite stretches (leg swings, lunges) a one-mile slow jog followed by some strides.

On training runs it sometimes takes my legs 2-3 miles before they feel warmed up. I’m a late 40s guy.

I have my first marathon tomorrow. I’m a little leery about adding an extra mile of running before the race. At the same time, I’m planning to run with the 3:30 pace group, which means I need to be pretty much at goal pace from the start. I won’t have the luxury of taking the first few miles to gradually work my way into race pace.

How do you guys approach the warmup?

Hi everyone. I just wrapped up week 12 of a 16 week long training block for a my first marathon ever. The race is in little under a month. This training block has unfortunately not gone as planned, as I have been battling hip pain and, now, knee pain.

Anytime I run a high number of mileage (>12 miles), my right knee begins to hurt badly. Today I did 15 and on the last half mile I was hobbling home. I’ve been doing focused strength training for my hips, knees, glutes, and ankles, and am even doing physical therapy once a week. The knee pain is nearly nonexistent, and then I do a long run and it’s back full swing for a couple days, so I take it easy and the process repeats.

It should be noted that last year I had to drop out of the marathon and defer my spot in the race to this year because of the same injury 2 weeks before that race. After that I took a long break with no running. Fast forward to this year, my training began fine and I was doing long runs with no problem and then about a month ago now, I ran the DC half and I guess tweaked it again during that race. Now anytime I long run, it comes back as I said.

I’m just worried for the marathon. If I get 15/16 miles in and my knee starts acting up, there’s no way I can run another 10 miles on it. My goal is 3:30:00 and I believe I’m more than capable of it if I can just solve this knee issue. Has anyone had this issue before ? If so, how did you cope with or resolve it? Does anyone have any tips? Thanks in advance.

Note: I'm seeing a Physio and she thinks I'm ok to race

I had a mild flare up of my left knee that got addressed by the physio a few weeks ago, and I was running 16km exactly one week ago, feeling absolutely AMAZING and no pain or soreness at all after consistent improvement weeks prior.

Then came the last week. Two easy runs but left knee suddenly got worse. The discomfort is hard to describe because the sensation/severity, location, and whether it gets triggered changes all the time.

I'm not kidding. It's like for one second there was a sting in the middle of the tendon below my knee cap when I kicked my leg, but then I kicked it 3 more times it got better or even completely felt fine. 10 minutes later, it didn't flare up at all when I made the same movement. Single leg squats randomly feels good or bad on the same day, in the same hour.

Sometimes it's right below my kneecap, in the middle. . Sometimes it's on the inside. Sometimes it's on the outside. Sometimes it's in the quad muscles above my knee.

Ironically, when picking up my kit yesterday I had to run a bit due to the rain, and my left knee that gave me a random sting for stepping down the bus immediately felt better.

Race is tomorrow, and this morning overall it's better, but I still get random sensitivity from random locations on my left knee at random times. At this point I take it as my body's withdrawal from the drug it makes when running.

I couldn't find many race reports/details about the Lisbon Marathon on this sub when I was looking for advice pre-race, so I hope it benefits someone to read about my experience! :)

Race Information

Name: EDP Lisbon Marathon Date: Saturday, October 10, 2026 Distance: 26.2 miles Location: Lisbon, Portugal Website: https://maratonaclubedeportugal.com/en/prova/edp-lisbon-marathon-2026/ Time: 3:05:10

Goals

Goal Description Completed?

A Sub 3 No

B Sub 3:10 Yes

C Sub 3:12 (PB) Yes

Splits

Mile Time

1 6:49 / +6ft / HR 156

2 6:04 / +3ft / HR 173

3 6:38 / +23ft / HR 174

4 6:41 / +13ft / HR 174

5 6:34 / -30ft / HR 175

6 6:39 / -8ft / HR 178

7 6:59 / +83ft / HR 177

8 6:33 / -75ft / HR 176

9 6:43 / -5ft / HR 175

10 6:56 / +5ft / HR 175

11 7:03 / +24ft / HR 173

12 6:51 / -13ft / HR 172

13 6:54 / -21ft / HR 173

14 6:42 / -12ft / HR 173

15 6:48 / +11ft / HR 175

16 6:48 / +4ft / HR 173

17 5:58 / -19ft / HR 177

18 6:56 / -1ft / HR 173

19 7:08 / -1ft / HR 174

20 7:26 / -4ft / HR 171

21 6:39 / +5ft / HR 169

22 7:45 / -7ft / HR 164

23 7:43 / +8ft / HR 163

24 7:47 / +15ft / HR 164

25 7:51 / -1ft / HR 165

26 7:39 / -10ft / HR 164

Training

For my November 2025 marathon, I followed Pfitz 18/70 to the letter for a 3:13, which at the time was a 25-minute PB and a BQ (32 year-old woman). Less than 2 weeks later, I slipped on stairs and hurt my hip. I idiotically didn't give it enough time off running and subsequently racked up pelvic floor and adductor strains from compensating. Sat out running entirely until late January 2026, then did exclusively easy running, slowly rebuilding volume until mid-April.

Mid-April, I started a Pfitz half-marathon 12-week block (peaking at 63 miles per week), planning to do a time trial in early July to benchmark paces for a 12/70 marathon block. To my surprise, I was hitting faster paces than I had pre-injury in my sessions and my HR was much lower at faster paces on GA and recovery runs. I absolutely loved this program. Then, in June, I stood in the sun for many hours at Plaza Colon in Madrid to watch Spain win the World Cup, and did a 13-mile run very dehydrated the next morning. I caught what I thought was a side cramp and pushed through, but could barely walk after. Turns out I pulled an oblique (didn't know you COULD do that), so I went full rest immediately for a week+ and scrapped my time trial. In hindsight, this meant I was flying blind on where my fitness was for the marathon block, but I managed to be in-one-piece enough to start the block on time.

I modified the 12/70 plan a bit to match the cadence of the half-marathon training (e.g., stacking MLR and LT efforts on back-to-back days instead taking a recovery day between, strides + lifting session the day before long runs to simulate fatigue) and added some doubles to get volume up to peak at 80 miles per week for 4 weeks. I slowly introduced strength training to try to stop the injury train. Nothing fancy, kettlebell and bodyweight work, lots of single-leg work. It was incredibly illuminating in showing me areas of weakness. When I started, I used to shake like a leaf doing single-leg glute bridges, and now, they are routine.

One thing I really focused on was doing all my long runs as progressions, finishing with my fastest miles per Pfitz pace times. MP work was a little slower than I wanted in the Spanish summer heat (closer to 7:00-7:10/mile), but LT/VO2 max efforts were positive indicators for a sub-3. I felt locked in for a sub-3:10, which would enable me to apply for Berlin fast runner entry. My Runalyze was a bit overenthusiastic (2:53 prediction lol), but I decided if I felt good during taper, I would go for sub-3. My dress rehearsal the week of, I did 4 breezy miles at 6:40-6:50 and felt great, so decided to attempt the sub-3.

Pre-race

My husband and I drove from Spain to Lisbon on Friday. Parking and entry to the Expo was easy, bib pickup was quick, and volunteers were great. I stopped at the central info area to ask about transportation and got detailed answers. I speak Portuguese, but I overheard volunteers speaking English as well. The rest of the Expo was a bit underwhelming, booths were small (despite being an enormous expo center) with not much on offer. Headed to the hotel, checked in, inhaled carbs (day 3 of my carb load), and stayed off my feet.

Race morning, I woke up at 3:50AM. Our bibs had assigned transit on them from Lisbon to the start line at Carcavelos. I was in Wave 1 and was assigned the 5:30AM CP train. Called a taxi from my hotel at 5:00AM (no transit opened until 6:30AM except the race transport), rolled into Cais do Sodre at 5:15AM, and was guided by huge signs and several volunteers straight to the train. Incredibly smooth for what was my biggest anxiety of the day. We arrived just before 6:00AM in Carcavelos and were funneled out of the station in the direction of the start. There were tons of port-a-potties en route, and I stopped by the gear drop trucks to sit on the sidewalk for a bit, eat my PB&J, stretch, etc. Dropped my gear at 6:50AM and walked over to the Wave 1 staging area. There were more port-a-potties and a nice bike trail by Wave 1's area, so I was able to get a warm-up jog and final bathroom break in before entering the corral at 7:40AM. A DJ was going full tilt, so I just bopped around to stay warm and checked in with the 3-hour pacer before the start at 8:00AM.

Race

Wave 1 went off as scheduled at 8:00AM heading west towards Cascais. The 3-hour pace group was quite large to start and I got jostled quite a bit. Out of frustration after getting stepped on and elbowed a couple times, I pulled out slightly ahead of the group in mile 2. I heard the pacer say at the first hill between miles 2 and 3 that he was going to slow down on the hills, so I ended up pulling a little more ahead. There was also a big hill leading up to the 10K marker. I absolutely ran these first hills too hard and wish I could have them back.

The single turn around point in Cascais was very manageable and not too tight, around 11-12K. Once we turned, I felt the headwind and started to slow a bit. Around mile 10, the pace group caught me and I settled in with them, using them to block the wind. We crossed the half in 1:29:30, so the dude was doing a great job.

Around 26K, I had a botched water stop. Made eye contact with the volunteer, had fingertips on the bottle only for him to yank it back for the guy behind me. I tripped and fell off the pace group, so I really had to push a bit the next mile, but made it back to the middle of the group. Water stops were definitely my least favorite part of running with so many people.

I hung with the group until 20-21 miles in. I started to fall off and made one last-ditch effort to hang in, but my body was not quite having it. Once I lost the group, I was in no-man's land. The headwind really hit me without the group to block it, and I started to feel defeated. I did some quick math and decided to refocus on a sub-3:10 and not let myself totally crash out mentally.

My fueling and carb load really came through for me by the end. I was taking 90g of carbs via 226ERS High Fructose XS gels per hour, with 2 additional salt chews. I felt less foggy than previous races and was able to focus on clocking the last 5 miles under 8s, which felt like a tall order in the sun and wind. Despite having to re-evaluate my plan, I still felt pretty with it and was able to enjoy the views and interact with supporters.

The last kilometer or so was lined with cheering and screaming. Coming into the final plaza, I hit the promised cobblestones but barely noticed at that point. Running through the arch into the Praca de Comercio was a fantastic finish line. I could see from the final turn I was going to hit a 3:05, so I strapped on a big smile and finished strong. Hit almost an 8 minute PB.

Post-race

One of the strangest post-race experiences I have ever had. After we got our medals, we were funneled through an area where they were handing us ice cream bars. Then it opened up into a large plaza with booths, where you could go get a banana, or a Powerade, etc. I much prefer being given a bag I can hold open and let people dump stuff into instead of going on a scavenger hunt and trying to juggle things in my bare hands, but that's a pretty small complaint.

As I was about to exit the plaza, my hero husband waved me down and showed me 2 of my splits hadn't populated on the tracking app. Ho boy. Thus began a wild goose chase of asking race info volunteers, security, etc. who kept sending me different places to talk to the timekeeping folks. (I DO think my Portuguese was essential here!) Finally, a nice security guard brought me back around to the finish line where the timekeeping tent was, and I explained my situation. They asked to see my chip, and immediately seemed to understand the issue: my chip was at the very top of my bib (they said usually it is on the bottom?) and higher on my body (read, above the boobs) because that was how I had to attach it to my race crop top. So when I was running in the large 3-hour group, some checkpoints hadn't caught it. Honestly, that sounds insane to me, since I am a pretty short gal at 5 foot 3, but apparently I was not the only woman this happened to. They said it was not my fault, it was because the bib was so large I couldn't put it any lower. They told me my time was still validated, and they had noted I had gone to see them so I would not be DQed. Unbelievably stressful. We will wait to see if Berlin accepts it now as a fast runner entry time... But honestly, this is a ridiculous issue to have and makes me so frustrated in general about the size of bibs these days taking up my ENTIRE shirt area, especially when we are SPECIFICALLY instructed to put the bibs on our shirts. My possession of a little extra breast tissue between the chip and the ground should not put me at risk of DQing a race I worked towards for half a year.

Takeaways

Conventional wisdom says you give away 3 to 5 seconds in the second half for every 1 second you go out too hot in the first half, and oh boy, do I wish I had 65 seconds back in miles 2 and 3. I think a sub-3 would have been achievable if I had run an ideal race, but we live and we learn. I definitely suffered alone in the headwind and now understand the benefit of running with a pace group.

This was my first time doing a 3-day carb load per Featherstone Nutrition guidelines, and it was tough. I felt so full and had to keep a rigorous schedule of snacking. But on the day, I think it paid off. I did not feel low on glycogen in the final few miles. Carbs were not to blame for my slowdown at the end.

I have come to realize that I vastly prefer point-to-point or single-loop marathons. Both my 2025 races involved multiple laps of the same terrain, and seeing future km markers on the first/second lap can be a bit deflating. If you are the same way, this is a fantastic race to run. The views along the coast are beautiful, and you can see the Lisbon bridges in the distance that give you a very tangible target to run towards. I didn't realize what a difference not having to do tight U-turns would make either!

Overall, this was a beautiful and fun course. Organization was excellent, transport was smooth (at least in the early waves), start area was well-marked with signage, volunteers were awesome. Highly recommend, but if you are a lady, you might want to get a bib belt.

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

At the start of last week, I was expecting my period, but it never came. October 10th was the day of my marathon, so I was carb loading throughout the week.

It has been 2 weeks and I still haven’t received my period. I know period trackers aren’t 100% accurate, but I’ve been using this app for almost a decade and it’s never been more than 4-5 days off.

I’m getting concerned because I was in my taper when I was expecting my cycle, so my body hasn’t been under a lot of physical stress and I was carb-loading so I know for a fact I’m not under fueling. And there is 0% chance of pregnancy.

Has anyone experienced this before? What do I do?

Overall, I’m pleased (M52, 3 years running, first marathon, interrupted training, sub 4) but I’m curious about what I could have done. Pacing is far from my strong suit and I planned to go 5:40/km for the first 32, then 5:25-5:30/km for the last 10. Obviously, I overcooked it and to compensate I walked the first 100m of several of the last miles as my glutes/hamstrings stiffened. Also, skipped 2 of my last 3 gels (23g every 5km) because my gut wasn’t as well trained as I thought.

My question is, based on what’s visible, and knowing that I didn’t crush myself in the last 5km, if I’d stuck to 5:30 from 32k onwards could I (based on what’s we can see here) possibly have sustained it to the end?

Etiquette question: I'm running the Charlotte Marathon in November and they'll have IRONWRX gels at some aid stations. I'll be carrying my own gels but I've never tried IRONWRX before and would like to grab one or two to take home and test on a long run. Is it poor etiquette to grab on-course nutrition that I'm not going to use in the race?

So I’m following a pretty aggressive Runna plan for my marathon, 3 weeks out. My long runs have been consistent, 14…16…18…19, and 20 last week. All went really well. This week called for 21 miles. I went out, freezing my ass off (cold has arrived in Colorado) and wasn’t feeling it. My heart rate was higher than normal and it felt much harder than the previous weeks 20 miler. I called it at 8 and went home. So do I do 21 instead of the 14 on the plan next week or just skip it and move on?

Hi all! Curious if anyone else experiences this. I ran Chicago on Sunday, and my sweet tooth has been UNCONTROLLABLE. Usually I can rein in my sugar intake and really don't consume tooooo much added sugar, but this week I am a glutton for candy and chocoalte. I feel like I'm gaining a shit ton of weight - just want to know I'm not being crazy and am not alone. I know I cannot fuel myself on this TRUST haha.

I’m a fairly high-mileage distance runner (70-80 miles per week) and have been dealing with a right foot/ankle issue that started as soreness on the inside of my right ankle, just below the ankle bone, especially with calf raises and going downstairs for about two weeks. My PT thought it was related to my posterior tibialis as she examined the tendons/joints and there wasn’t anything indicating a fracture or injury.

After that, I started getting soreness in the center of the ball of my right foot. I initially tried a few short runs while it seemed to be improving, but after a 6-mile run I noticed I was subtly altering my stride near the end, and the ball-of-foot pain flared afterward. My PT thought it was just overuse as I had just recently come back from a different calf injury in my left leg and had been building back up to my usual mileage, but I took a full week off running and my foot isn’t better — it actually kind of feels worse while walking.

Current symptoms:
- Pain is most noticeable on the first few steps in the morning or after sitting for a while
- It usually becomes less noticeable once I’ve walked around
- There is still a mild ache with regular walking
- Pain is mainly in the center of the ball of the foot
- No swelling or bruising
- Pulling my toes upward / dorsiflexing my foot can reproduce discomfort through the toes/top of the foot
- Hopping on it and lowering calf raises makes pain worse

My PT examined and massaged it and said she doesn’t think anything serious is wrong and thinks it may be turf toe / forefoot overuse connected to the post tib issue. She told me continue not to run at all while it still hurts with walking. I have been wearing supportive shoes, avoiding barefoot walking, doing PT exercises, and resting from running, but I’m getting frustrated that it’s still lingering after a complete week off.

Has anyone had something similar where a posterior tibialis issue seemed to lead to forefoot/ball-of-foot pain? Did it end up being metatarsalgia, MTP irritation, plantar plate irritation, turf toe, or something else? I’m seeing a different PT on Wednesday, so hopefully they’ll be able to give more advice!!

I’m not looking for Reddit to diagnose me, but I’d love to hear what actually helped, how long it took to calm down, and what criteria you used before returning to running. I miss running and would love to get back to it as soon as I can!!

TL;DR: I’m scared of cramping in marathons. Is it just part of the deal, or are there strategies beyond salt?

Hi all! I’ve developed a pretty irrational fear of cramping and would love some advice.

My marathon history so far:

• NYC (first marathon): 3:59. Honestly couldn’t have gone better. The last 6 miles were tough and the last 2 were really tough, but I squeaked in under 4 hours with no issues.
• Marathon #2: 4:00:03 (painful in more ways than one). I got a major calf cramp out of nowhere. I’d never had one before, and it literally dropped me to the ground.
• Marathon #3: 3:58. No full cramp, but I could feel one coming on, even though I took in a huge amount of sodium.

So, two questions:

1. Besides salt, what do you do to prevent cramps? (Training, pacing, fueling, strength work, anything.)
2. Is this a fear I just need to get over, or are there strategies that reliably help?

Thx, and happy running!

ive been training well for months and am in good shape for the race. it’s my first marathon and am eyeing up 3/sub3-ish (hard to tell with little experience but have found 30s and 34 pretty comfortable).

we’ve a big night out planned for tonight as a friends going away and, while I’m still going, getting serious fomo. I’ve been off the sauce for a few weeks now but really fancy a few tonight. I’ve an easy run this evening before it and then aren’t out till Sunday for a 19k.

Dont plan on going mad but would a few tonight make much of a difference? Any serious oppositions?

Hi all! New here,

I ran my first half marathon in Melbourne on Sunday and was curious to see how my result stacked up against the rest of the field.

I came across a post by u/TomasTTEngin from last year and decided to put together something similar for this year's event, with a few extra enhancements.

Thought I'd share it here in case others are interested in seeing how they went. Hopefully, you'll find it useful!

I am supposed to run the Amsterdam marathon tomorrow . It would have been my 4th marathon . I had a good training block and did all my speed and long runs successfully and injury free . Taper was going well but since Tuesday night I have been having very poor sleep. I believe it’s the allergies . This has completely tanked my HRV , raised my average RHR by about 3-5 beats and raised my body stress according to Garmin health metrics . I was ok with 2 nights of poor sleep but 4 nights of poor sleep leading up to race day and I am not going to sleep well tonight for sure before race .

I was planning to run about 4 hours time but at this point I am not sure if it’s a good idea to even start and put my body through a marathon when I am feeling so beat up . Is it better to just rest and recover and do another one when I am feeling better ? I am ok to let go of time expectation and run a little slower but I also don’t want to get even more sick running a marathon distance for nothing . I am also older , 50 plus female so my recovery and body strain would not be the same as someone younger. I am really conflicted and wondering if 1. I should start and see how I feel and run accordingly or 2. Don’t start and find another race to do in another 2-3 weeks when I am feeling better . Please advise or share experience. TIA
.

For the context, I'm a 54 year old runner that just started running 2 years ago without any prior activities. Start was hard as for anyone but progress is steady.

Last April, I ran a half-marathon in 1h58 and after that I decided to sign up for my first marathon that will be in 2 weeks.

I didn't follow any plan as I like to run in accordance with my daily condition but I did my homework running every month between 200 km and 340 km at my peak last month (85 - 90 - 85 km for my peak weeks).

I mixed easy, threshold and long runs during my preparation with 4 long runs over 30 km (30, 32, 33, 35 km) and the rest of my weekly long runs over 20 km.

During those long runs, I did train at a pace of 6:00 to 6:10 min/km because my initial goal is to finish in 4h20, and it really felt "easy" (at least very manageable). All my long runs are at conversational pace as I do them with friends and we love to chat a lot while running.

Last week, I ran a half-marathon and it went really well. I finished in 1h46 with a very even pace of around 5:00 min/km during the whole race and even a faster last split at the end. (Race was really flat so it was like a tempo training).

According to that, I have the feeling that I can push a little harder and aim for a better time than 4h20. Maybe even a sub-4 seems possible but I have never trained for that pace (neither did I for my half-marathon that was not a target race) and it's too late to do it now.

So my question is, should I stick to my initial plan which seems very doable now, or can I aim higher and risk to blow up because of the lack of that race specific training ?

I did a 15 mile run this morning as a part of my marathon training block. I’m recovering from a knee injury so I was taking it slow and steady. My easy slow pace is generally right under 12 minutes per mile.
I went out today and ran not checking my watch (garmin forerunner 165) and the first couple miles were 9:45 pace!!! I kept that pace for about 7 miles and the rest of the time was about 10:20.
I started a little earlier this morning, so it was a bit cooler outside and I properly carb loaded the day before, so maybe that helped?

Has anyone just crushed their easy pace like this? It’s actually hard for me to believe!!! I legit thought my watch was broken but i ran in park I frequent and the distance was on par for what it usually is.

I’m a newer runner so if anyone has had experiences like this I’d love to hear

Running tomorrow. There was no bag in the bib pickup. How does the clothing drop-off work, and is a small backpack OK? Thanks!

Link to previous post : https://old.reddit.com/r/Marathon_Training/comments/1vx4k6a/progress_with_pfitz_1855/?ref=share&ref_source=link

After months of training, I completed my first marathon last sunday (montreal) with a time of 4h05 ! As per my initial post, I was aiming sub4 for my first marathon, which may have seemed too ambitious considering my past PBs on HM in october 2025 (1h56).

My plan was to run at 5:45-5:50/km for the first 5k and stay at MP-ish until 32 km and reassess. Things were going well and I was fueling about 90g of gels/maple syrup per hour. At about KM 18, I saw the 4hr pace bunny and learned that she started way behind my corral and I tried to bank time a little bit.

However, at 30km on the dot, both of my quads started to cramp. I never had this sensation in my long runs (I did 30, 32, 33 and 34 km runs) or in my MP runs (longest was 29 km with a block of 23 km at the end). Maybe it was a lack of electrolytes... ? It wasn't particularly hot and my heart rate stayed pretty steady (168-170 bpm, whereas my max HR is 193).

Maybe that pace was too fast for my fitness? This post from this week made me requestion my goal: https://old.reddit.com/r/Marathon_Training/comments/1x5u6xf/it_is_not_poor_fueling_or_dehydration/

I had to slow down to 6:00/km from 34 to 40 km. Once I knew that I would not hit my goal, I tried to enjoy the rest of the race with the crowds.

Overall, I'm pretty happy with my results. The training block of pfitz was a challenge itself and I would have never expected to run 1500 KMs in 6 months (including the build up) from almost nothing in early 2024! I definitely saw an improvement regarding my recovery pace (from 7:30/km to about 6:45/km during my taper). Hit a 10k PR of 48:42 during the block and I also didn't get injured !

Moving forward, I would like to attempt a sub4 again. Not 100% sure what my off-season training would be like to maintain a bit of fitness :)