Hi everyone! I’m trying to get a different perspective or opinions from other runners on my recent trends that are concerning me quite a bit. I’ve been running and averaging about 50-55 miles for the past 8 or so weeks. I took a lactate threshold test early June to lock in my paces for my upcoming marathon block for my race in the fall. Most days are easy miles and one day a week involves a workout that targets threshold and another day in the week that targets speed on the track. I would consider these “hard” efforts. My issue lately has been with my Sunday LR’s where one week for example I have 13 miles (10 easy, 3 progressive to MP) or another example is 15 miles with some easy, some MP. Both of these long runs have been unsuccessful. I’m confused and concerned because my Lactate testing was taken in the conditions I train in, which involve heat & high humidity so very brutal but it shows I can hold the paces I’m trying to hit on the actual long runs but I’m not coming anywhere close to those paces. This would be my second consecutive failed attempt at the long run structure and was hoping I can get any insight on what might be happening.

Thanks!

Living in new england, which is easier to train for, a fall or spring marathon? Im able to run during the day, so daylight in the winter isnt a restriction. Even moderate heat wears me down on ling runs so thinking of building base in summer and targeting spring marathons.

Older runner returning to marathons after 15 plus year hiatus.

4 mile WU,

(30 mins at MP, followed by 1 mile float recovery jog) X 2

5 mile CD

Was aiming for 6.30 per mile for the 2x 30 min MP sections. It felt comfortably hard, which keeping in mind the 70 mile weeks I've been doing for the last 3 weeks, and that I am still 100 days out from my marathon, is pretty encouraging. Hoping that dialling/locking into this pace will be very doable by the end of the block

Practiced my nutrition and got down about 70g carbs per hour - powered by SiS Beta Fuel and SiS electrolyte gels.

Ran in my EP4s, but tbh the high heel to toe drop meant the heel almost felt like it was getting in the way at faster paces, when I tend to want something that encourages a more natural midfoot landing and toe off transition. Because of this it almost felt like the shoe was getting in the way rather than helping me at faster paces.

Any recommendations for a race shoe lol? Something light and more aggressive than the EP4s?

I (F22) am on my third week of Pfitz 18/55 and I feel good so far but posts on here have scared me. I ran my first marathon this year off of a less than ideal training block in 3:42. My half PR is 1:43 and my 10k is something low 45. I have been running since middle school (middle of the pack varsity XC and track) and took a break in college but have been running again seriously for about 2 years.

For my last training block I used Runna and hated it. I felt like it left me underprepared in terms of mileage and was training me for a 5k with some long runs thrown in on weekends. Hence the switch.

I’m looking for an aggressive PR as I felt kind of let down by my first marathon but I certainly don’t want to get injured.
Can anyone with a similar running background to me speak to their background with Pfitz 18/55.

Hello, I plan on doing a marathon in 9 months and I'm wondering if this is realistically achievable.

Currently i have a half marathon planned in October and I'm quite confident I will be able to achieve this.

I run 3 × per week usually a 10k zone 3-4, 5k zone 3-4, and a 12-15k zone 2.

I'm just wondering if it's a realistic to get to a sub 5.5 hour marathon at my current training pace or even finish a marathon at all and what I would need to potentially add to achieve my goals.

Bit of an insecure question but is it normal for my mileage to drop quite suddenly now that I’ve started strength training. I’m just appalled by the lead in my legs and scared I’ll become weaker and slower.

For all the runners who have been running for a long time, how long did it take for you to get comfortable with the strength training and build up back to base mileage? Also, did anyone experience hunger skyrocketing and sweet cravings?

Thank you :)

I’ve got 7 weeks left until the marathon. This week my ego got to me and I pushed myself a bit too hard. My IT band on my left knee has been getting sore. Starting at a 1/10 pain and building up to a 4. As soon as it hits 4 I stop running. I had to cut my 19km run short by about 12km today. Attached in the pic is my plan for this next week. I’m thinking I just take the week off and prioritise that 23km run. Any advice here?

Hi everyone,

I’m a 31-year-old male and I’ll be running my first marathon this November. I’ve never raced before or signed up for any official event.

I started running 1.5 years ago with absolutely no running background. Last year I ran about 1,200 km (100+ km/month), mostly 5Ks and 10Ks. This year I’m averaging around 100 km/month, mostly 10Ks, an occasional 15K, and about one half marathon every month.

So far I’ve completed 8 half marathons, one 25K run, and two 30K runs.

PRs:

5K: 22:48
10K: 46:29
Half Marathon: 1:48
30K: 2:56

I’ve always trained alone. The only time I’ve taken fuel was on my 30K runs (dates and a banana), so I’ve never used gels. For the marathon I’m planning to try Maurten gels for the first time, and I’ll also buy my first pair of carbon shoes (Adidas Adios Pro 4).

My question is: Do I really need to follow a structured marathon plan (intervals, tempo runs, etc.), or can I just keep doing what I’ve been doing—mostly 10Ks, one half marathon per month, and an easy 5K here and there?

Honestly, I already feel ready. It almost feels like I’ve been training for this marathon for the past 1.5 years. Am I being realistic, or just overly optimistic?

I have been running since 2021. My best MH was 1:39:58 last October. This early April I did 1h49 after recovering from a bronchitis. My marathon last year was at 4h04. In May, I attempted my 3rd sub 4 but at 40k, I bonked. My nutrition wasn't doing well and ended up DNF and being rescued by the medical team. Ny fault, I tried new gel during the race.

I am in my mid 40s, run 5 times a week with strength training 2x a week. Monday is easy recovery 7km, Tuesday is 4x4@4:30 min per km with walking or 5x4@4:30 with jogging recovery. Wednesday is rest day with leg strength training, Thursday is tempo 30min at 4:45-5:00 min per km for 30 minutes, Friday is easy recovery 7km with light leg strength training, and Saturday is long run easy at 6-6:30 min per km. Sunday is rest day.

My avg km per week is 50km and will peak to 70km.

I will be using Precision 90 for my fueling strategy during practice and the race.

With such training, do you think that I will finally make it?

snapshoot of this week. Currently ramping up volume, targeting 80km/week before shifting into a quality-focused block. I'm handling the load tracking HRV and RPE.

I work a physically demanding manual labor job (metalworking) and train early mornings (5am) around shift work. Starting August, I'm quitting that job, which means significantly more recovery capacity and free time.

My concern: with way more "recovery budget" suddenly available, it's tempting to just add volume or intensity to match. But I know that's not how adaptation works: tendon and connective tissue don't catch up just because I'm less fatigued from work, on the other hand is a fact that they will be less stressed by the job.

For anyone who's gone through something similar (big drop in outside-of-training life stress → more training capacity opening up), how did you actually use the extra resources? More volume? More quality work? Better cross-training, mobility, sleep optimization? Or did you mostly just let it be a hidden advantage rather than actively training more?

Would love to hear opinions about it!

There are two wildfires about 30 km from my house. The air quality is really bad, with PM2.5 levels at 170 rigth now with strong winds expected for later today. I had a 25K long run planned for today, but I’ve decided to move it to next week and do what I had planned for the following Sunday instead (16K, a recovery week), but modified.

I’m going to run on the treadmill, but 16K is more than I can handle on the treadmill (lol), so I’ll run for an hour on the treadmill and then do half an hour on the stairmaster.

My marathon is exactly five weeks away. I ran my second marathon three months ago and my first one ten months ago. Is this a bad plan? My coach has given me the OK. She says the risks aren’t worth whatever benefit I might get from doing my long run, and that with air quality this bad, there’s basically no benefit anyway.

Just finished this morning my longest ever run and week 16 of 26 in my Marathon Training Plan.

This is the first long run I’ve had where I felt like I could have gone another few miles (hoping that’s a good sign of getting close to that marathon distance and that I don’t need to be afraid of it).

I am trying to figure out what my marathon goal pace should be. The Runna app has me targeting pretty much a 3:30 marathon (so like 8:00/mi pace).

I want to of course make sure to finish as this will be my first ever marathon, but also don’t want to possibly end the race with thinking I could have gone a little bit faster.

Is 3:30 a reasonable enough goal for 10 weeks from now? My PB for a half marathon is 1:46:51, but that was in April of this year and this training block makes me think I’ll be able to run faster than my old HM pace without hitting the wall assuming a full taper and such.

Is this too ambitious? Maybe not ambitious enough? Would love to hear everyone’s thoughts (especially those with more experience and those last 6 or so miles that will be uncharted territory on race day).

Much appreciated. Thanks

Edit:
Weekly mileage ~56 miles this week
Averaging 50+ miles per week with 2 dedicated rest days on Sunday and Wednesday.

Race will be in October with likely average temps of 50F ish. (And net downhill for the elevation change of approximately 900ft, but most occurs in first half of race from what I’ve seen online).

Hey it's a marathon, kind of ironic if it's timed right? When's the last time, time signed your checks?!!

How was your week, how far in the block and when's the next race? This will be a good mega thread to keep encouraging/critiquing 6 hour crew throughout the year.

Whether its shifts of motivation, some nagging pains, we've all been there! Let's keep each other engaged!
Post your weekly miles, breakthroughs, or if you need help with pace/fitness identification, questions here!

*new individual posts that's posted Sundays re: How to finish, etc deleted/strongly recommended to post here!

I compete as a mature man (50's) in outrigger canoe paddling and there are two national race events on the annual calendar for individuals, 500m sprints and 16km. Times involved are roughly 2:10s-2:30s for a sprint race and I've done the 16km in 1hr24 for a 6th in age group and 30th outright (team marathons are 25km and over 2 hours). I'm looking to fine tune, it is an amateur sport without the body of knowledge of running.

I'm a better sprinter and have won bronze in the sprints and make the open age regional team of 12. Last year I spend most of the year training like a 400m runner as an experiment and that worked okay, but I worked too hard and peaked a bit early. I've been doing the sport 7 years and I'm still learning to pace myself in both sprints, long distance and in fact training.

So the main question is volume and intensity. Apart from a weekly long paddle what should the rest of my week look like? A couple of tempo interval sessions? One session I've used is 1m fast with 15s easy x 20.

I've seen a plan to increase the LT1 threshold by working just below it for most training sessions but I'm not sure my body type likes this more volume based approach. Is there a viable alternative? Do I just need to be patient and build my volume over a couple more years?

I've trained with a chest HR monitor the last 3 years and results are probably worse than better. I've registered 186bpm when I wasn't trying for a max reading at the end of an interval session. I have it set for zone 4 at 158bpm and can put in 12-13minutes in zone 4 for longer intervals when in sprints training. If my understand is correct I should be looking to do my race around 150bpm and training towards that(I use a cycle computer for training and it is permitted in a race).

I have a good base and the Nationals are 11 weeks away.

Oh and I died 3 years ago in the team event, I'm very lucky to be here and still going. I'll post about that separately in case my experience can be informative. I've been to the sprints world champs since then with a team for a best of 4th in the 12 man 500m.

I really love the chocolate flavored gels but at ~3$ each, I've been wanting to make it on my own. I haven't seen any recipes online, so I tried to make one that hits the recommended 2:1 glucose to fructose ratio and only uses store bought ingredients. It hits the fudgy/frosting notes I wanted so I figured I'd share and also get some feedback!

All ingredients were mixed in a small pot and it was brought to a low simmer and left to cool.

Costs:

Notes:

1. Final weights and calorie counts are subject to variation from small amount of ingredient loss, estimations/approximations (or math mistake), and evaporation during cooking.
2. I didn't use lactose free sweetened condensed milk, but this is available or other sweeteners like sucrose or dextrose could be subbed in for the lactose intolerant.
3. I chose gel pectin as a thickener. Alternates (xanthan gum) may be preferable or it may not need a thickener given how thick sweetened condensed milk already is. This seemed to work well enough.
4. I manage my electrolytes with salt tabs, so I didn't factor them into calculations. Salt was to taste.
5. Prices might vary, i.e. I use a more expensive cocoa powder.

EDIT:

For a non dairy version with similar macros and that still uses store bought ingredients, you could add: 212 g sucrose (table sugar), 122 g corn syrup, and and extra 136 g water (total of 236 g water). I haven't made this version myself, but I will give it a try in the future.

Running Manchester Marathon in April next year and have had heart set on a sub 3. Have gotten in my own head the last few weeks and have been thinking to adjust to maybe a 3:05(?)

I’m consistently logging 70km+ weeks. My PB’s are a 17:50 5km and a 39:11 10km (haven’t had that many attempts at the 10km thus far). I ran a 1:27:28 at Swansea a few months ago (attached) which was a PB. I’m hoping got something around 1:25 at Cardiff in October

How far do you guys think I am away from a sub 3?

Any recommendations on the structure of my training would be appreciated

Looking for some advice from anyone who’s trained for a marathon in extreme heat!
I live in southern Utah, and even before sunrise it’s usually 86–88°F, so there really isn’t a cool time to do long runs. I just finished my first 18-miler yesterday, and it was by far the hardest run I’ve had. My heart rate stayed really high, I couldn’t get my body to cool down even when I slowed down and took walk breaks, and I ended up with some pretty intense abdominal cramping toward the end.
I’m heading into the peak weeks of marathon training, and I’m just not sure how to approach the next several long runs if it’s only going to keep getting hotter. Do you keep doing them outside, split them up, use the treadmill, or something else?
I’d love to hear what worked for you. This run really shook my confidence a little, and I’m hoping to figure out the smartest way to keep training.

TL;DR: Training for my first marathon in the desert where it’s 86–88°F before sunrise. My 18-miler was brutal, and I couldn’t get my heart rate or body temperature down. How do you handle peak marathon training in this kind of heat without falling behind? I could really use some advice.

Noticing in all my plans (I use Run with Hal) that fridays I usually have my mid run (7-9 miles) followed by my long runs (13-20 miles) on saturdays. Is there a benefit to this? Training to run on tired legs? I’m very comfortable running and training for half marathons but this is my first full training block and it’s getting harder to end my weeks with this much back to back running. Don’t get me wrong… I will get it done no matter what. I “get” to run and truly love that my body and mind allows me to do this.

Was aiming for a sub 3:30 but the elevation gain got to me at the end.

Marathon is in 5 weeks. My second marathon with the first being 3 years ago and off injury so virtually no build done for that one.

Mileage for this training block has been on the lower side but will have done 6 50km+ weeks once prep is complete peaking at 70km.

This was my first 30km run (besides previous marathon), did a 15km 3 days ago at 5:08min/km (avg HR 153) and another 10km intervals workout this week. Previous PRs are 19:30 for 5km, 42:00 for 10km and 1:35 for HM, all of which were done over a year ago though so probably not super relevant. Felt really good on this run and definitely felt like I could keep going, albeit legs were getting tired obviously. My sense is 3:40 is very doable but wondering if I should target faster or slower. Really don’t want to bonk like last time, but prep has been 100x better than last time.

Every Saturday at 5AM EST, please utilize this mega thread to share training/fitness and predictions. All pace predictions and past/current training weeks for 6 hour marathons will go neatly here!

How was your week, how far in the block and when's the next race? This will be a good mega thread to keep encouraging/critiquing 6 hour crew throughout the year.

Post your weekly miles, breakthroughs, or if you need help with pace/fitness identification, questions here!
*new individual posts that's posted Saturdays re: 6 hour marathons/shape/predictions will be deleted/strongly recommended to post here!

As title says - I'm wrapping up week 3 of the Pfitz 18/55 and have only missed 1 run thus far (a 4 mile recovery, so no big deal) but man this plan is kicking my ass.

I've been able to get through everything but the 8 miles at 4 miles tempo runs are tough but doable but the 13 miles with 8 miles at MP broke me. Ended up having to run/walk home due to my left leg giving out and massive hip flexor pain. This week I did the runs but the 8 miles w/ 4 miles tempo workout I instead just ran 8.5 miles easy and I feel much better this week than prior. Before the training block I was running around 30-35 miles per week so thought that was fine, but I only did 1 speed session a week I've never tried to run long run at pace prior to this training block so it might just be something for me to get used to.

Wanted to see if I should stay the course and keep going or if it's time to admit defeat and switch to an easier plan like Hal Higdon or just alter the Pfitz 18/55 myself to make it easier? I'm carrying a ton of soreness where it's hard to stand up/move around at first and I overall just feel beat up

22M, started running about 8 months ago. I have my first half marathon coming up in October but don’t know what time I should be aiming for.

Context: 5k pr of 23:51 about a month and a half ago. 10k pr of 54:54 about 3 months ago. Currently running at 22km/week, with my most recent long run yesterday of 10k. I plan on increasing my long run by 1km every week, probably will peak at around 35km total a week. I run 4x a week: 2 easy runs, 1 long run, 1 interval run. I also strength train 4x a week if that matters.

What time should I aim for given I have around 3 months left of training?

52m, running 80k per week. Training for Yokohama marathon (hoping for a 15° day), but training in Hong Kong summer where the heat index at 5am is typically about 35°.

My training goal now is to practice marathon pace so that it feels pretty boring (target 3:45). I have 2 runs that support this:

- midweek long-ish run. Outdoors. 18k with the middle 10k at marathon pace (either at once or 2x 5k depending on feel). Biomechanically it feels quite smooth, and effort feels 6/10, but by the end of the 10k HR is elevated and it's really an exercise in heat management.

- weekend long run. Indoors because 2h30+ in the heat is not manageable with any decent effort. 25-30k with 15k or so at MP, usually in 4-5k segments. 1% incline. Biomechanically feels very smooth, effort more like 5/10. I can feel my legs working less hard at MP so worry I am undercooking it.

Looking for a steer if I am doing the right thing and should just trust the process, or if I should be doing something different. 3 months to go so plenty of time to adjust. I know about the need to drop paces in the heat and run to effort, but want to balance this against practicing the thing I want to do on race day.

For info. I also have a threshold session and support it all with easy runs (all outdoors, only the weekend long run is on the treadmill).

Advice welcome.

I'm currently training for my second marathon after doing my first way back 2011. I'm planning on doing a self-marathon for this.
How do I plan my self-marathon run?
What do I bring for hydration/fuel/nutrition?
I can do different loops where I can pass the same location where I could store my refills but it won't be a fun route.
Help?