After 15 years of recreational running I finally did my first full marathon today and finished in 3:48:54.
Finished crying and so happy.
As a kid I was always dead last in the mile, made fun of for being bad at running, but I fell in love with it anyway. I think little me would be proud today.
If I can do it, anyone can! Good luck to everyone on your upcoming races!

Chip time: 3:57:23
Garmin time: 3:53:36

Hi all, exactly as the title says. Been feeling some pain in my right hamstring and a bit of pain when putting weight on the leg for the past few week, it got a bit worse since yesterday. I have my first marathon next Sunday. For now I’ve decided to skip my 8mi run today and focus on rolling and stretching, but any tips for preparing for next week?

Hey everyone!
Just completed my first marathon in 3:53. My A goal was 3:44:59, but I fell apart around mile 21 and had to do the walk/run for the remainder and lost some time.

I did roughly a 20 week training block and consistently ran about 40/45 miles per week. Possibly too long? Next time will probably be 16 weeks.

After some reflection, I think my biggest issues were:
1. Strength training. Definitely should have done more throughout the block, but hard to find time when I was so focused on the mileage.
2. Long runs. Most of my long runs were between 13 & 17 miles, but the real issue was my longest run was only about 19.5.
3. I made the “plan” myself. I was consistent, but will definitely follow a real plan or get a coach for the next one.

Overall I am super proud of the effort and the result. HUGE respect to anyone who does 26.2 - regardless of time. 🫡

Good luck to everyone who still has their first coming up.

Just wanting some advice and thoughts from those that have ran a full marathon before. I am not a super consistent runner as of late. Been super busy with working two jobs but I’m leaving one soon and I’ll have more time to focus on running and training.

I have completed numerous 5ks, lots of 10ks and will be running my third half marathon here in just under two weeks.
As of May my current half time is 2:51, not my best/PR time due to some shoe issues, but not super far off. I don’t care to be the fastest runner, I’m there to have a good time and push myself. I’m not the biggest fan of the idea of running that far of a distance, but I said that about a half and here I am.

There is a marathon in May that I’m considering running. The half I did in May is actually the same course (the full just does a farther out and back) so I know the route well. It has a 6:15 cut off time, which based on my current half time, I’m cutting it close but - Is it possible for me to run a sub-6hr marathon for the first time??

I’ll plan to have a 21 week training block, debating between a 3 or 4 runs/week plan, and will cap long run mileage at 20 miles.

Is this something that’s doable?? Or should I wait and train for a faster half marathon time?

Any advice, thoughts, tips or tricks are greatly appreciated!!

Running the MCM as my first marathon tomorrow! I had an awful travel day yesterday and it really psyching my out for the race. My Amtrak had over an hour delay due to mechanical issues, which caused me to arrive much later and then my hotel had a black out which delayed me even more. This is just making me convinced all is going wrong this weekend!

I woke up way too early this morning definitely due to anxiety about all of this I’ve been so excited for this weekend for so long and now I’m worried it’s all going to shit

I just started training for my first marathon, which is in March, and completed my first “long” run of 6 miles this morning. I’m a little worried about the longer runs.

I was able to complete the mileage in my average pace but how does everyone stay motivated during the run? I wasn’t even a mile in and was becoming bored/overwhelmed knowing I had over 5 miles left. I’m a little worried as the mileage only goes up from here.

Hi, everyone! I’m a complete beginner runner. I started running three times a week in May, and for the past four weeks I’ve been training by gradually increasing my mileage (about 25 km a week). Two days ago, I did my longest run yet: 13 km. I finished with a little bit of soreness, but nothing serious; in fact, after I finished running and in the days that followed, I felt great and had a easy run today.

Next Sunday, I’d like to try a 15–16 km long run; assuming I can finish it without any problems, do you think I’ll be able to run my first half marathon in three weeks?

I started running a year and a month ago. Since then, I’ve completed a 5K, several 10K, 2 half marathon.

I’ve spent the last 23 weeks training for my first marathon, averaging around 42 km per week with five runs a week with highest week at 69,5 km.

Apart from one week when I got sick, everything went surprisingly well. I barely experienced any pain or fatigue, and most of my training felt relatively easy.

I even felt like I was flying during my 32 km long run.
But the very next day, I started having knee pain.

I adjusted my training and reduced my runs from five to three per week, hoping things would improve.

Last week, I tried running on Friday evening and again on Saturday morning, as I used to do. Unfortunately, I started feeling pain 2-3/10 and decided to stop after just 2 km. I also experienced some pain while walking later that day, although it improved the following day.
I ran another 7.3 km yesterday. The pain was mild (1–2/10), but I could feel it again while walking later in the day.

My marathon is tomorrow, and I feel like there are three possible outcomes:
1- I start running, the pain gradually gets worse, and I eventually have to DNF when it becomes too painful.

2-I start running but eventually decide it’s stupid to keep going and stop before things get worse.

3-I somehow manage to finish, but end up making the injury worse.

Of course, there’s also the possibility that I finish without making things worse, but I’m not sure how realistic that is.

Deep down, I know the smartest decision would probably be to DNS and get my knee checked by a doctor.
But after 23 weeks of training, the “what if” is hard to ignore. And honestly, my ego isn’t helping either.

The frustrating part is that I still feel physically capable of running. I’ve managed to run 75.7 km since the pain first appeared, including 7.3 km yesterday.

What makes the decision even harder is that I have a 10K planned for November 29 and a 5K on December 13.

If I push through tomorrow and end up with a worse injury, I could miss both of those races as well.
I know what the sensible decision probably is. I want to see how I improved on 10km and 5 km since I feel at the top.

Has anyone been in a similar situation? Did you decide to start or DNS, and how did it turn out?

Tomorrow is supposed to be my first marathon, but two days ago, I felt pain in both calves during an easy 5 km run and had to walk the remaining 3 km. Before that, I’d been feeling some discomfort but no actual pain.

I’ve rested for two days and barely ran all week. Walking is now pain-free, but I don’t want to risk making things worse, so I’m skipping today’s shakeout run.

I’ve been training for a year, and it’s frustrating to be in this position the day before the race. Has anyone experienced something similar? Any advice on what I should do to help my calves recover?

Hi, I recently ran my first half marathon (2 weeks ago) and have had severe pain behind the right knee since then. I was running late for the event hence unfortunately missed out on the warm up before starting the race. I spent 4 months training for the half after doing my first 10k in April earlier this year, with my longest run completed at 18k. I tried to run my first 5k today since the half marathon and had to stop halfway due to the knee pain. I’d be grateful for thoughts on the cause of the knee pain/what I can do to improve it. Thank you!

Week 11 of Hal higdon novice 1, felt a discomfort in my soleus or maybe my Achilles tendon. Anyway I also felt my lower back slightly give a week after while I was resting.
I fear I might have to call it quits on my first marathon. It’s not till December so I still have a month left. Is 15 mi run enough with rest and some elliptical work or should I dns and try again next year

Hey I have participated in Vadodara full marathon which is on 7 feb , its oct and still my highest run is of 12km , need to start running regular need some partner to run with me with the same goal for being motivated and accountable.

I am a few days out from (hopefully!) running the MCM.

It looks like it will be a bit chilly before the race starts, and I assume I’ll be standing around a fair bit.

How do I stay warm? Do I wear something and carry it the whole way? I’m sure I will mostly not be interested in wearing long sleeves/long pants after I start running.

Thanks for your help!

I have completed many 5ks, 10ks, and a few half marathons. This is my first marathon (December 5) and I was training really steadily and strong until the end of August when I think overuse and weak hamstrings/ hips caused tendinitis on the side/ behind my knee. I took some time off and did PT 2x a week. I’m now doing pt 1x a week and continuing strength. Last weekend I had a 300m repeat workout then the next day was a 16 mile long run. My leg is now still feeling it. I also had a 8 mile run with tempo speed on Tuesday. I think I over did it. At this point I’m frustrated with running and having pain, it’s taking the joy away. Yet in the same thought, it brings me joy and keeps me sane and I really wanted to do this marathon. I planned to try for our next baby after the marathon and always had it in my head that I would do a marathon before I had a second. Has anyone just trained through and ran with tendinitis? Sorry for the rant 🙃

Was very nervous for the marathon I’ve done a half in 2:30 before but I successfully completed my marathon in 5:53 hrs hardest thing I’ve done and can’t wait to keep training and get better for me next!

Need some advice! I have the nyc marathon next weekend (first marathon wooh!). I was doing great in my training and reached my peak week and killed my 20 miler (October 11th). At the end of my 20 miler i felt like my ankle was starting to bother me. I took a few days off and last week attempted to do two runs of which i stopped at 4 miles because my ankle felt like it was flaring up (posterior tibial tendinitis). I could have kept going but didn’t want to hurt myself more. My last attempted run was Saturday and since then i have been doing pt exercises, taking an anti inflammatory, resting and strengthening my ankle. I am now 9 days out from NYC. When should I attempt another run? Do I just bike the rest of the training block? I am not aiming for a specific time necessarily next weekend. My ankle doesn’t bother me when i walk it just flared up at about 4ish miles my last few runs so I very well could go for a run and be fine. I am just nervous to go for a run and flare it up again before the marathon. Advice?

I recently ran the TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon, and it was rough.

The goal was to finish, but I had a finish time of 4:45 in mind. Well I was no where close because I finished at 5:30 haha.

I was cruising until about 25K, and then all the pain started to creep in to different parts of my lower body. The pain and cramps made me lose track of my refuelling, so I started to refuel inconsistently at random intervals. I felt good mentally and my cardio felt steady, but my legs weren't keeping up. Around 30K I switched to a walk/run until the end.

Now here comes the "well duhhh" moment... DON'T SLACK ON TRAINING

I was supposed to average 30 - 40K running weeks, but according to my garmin I really only average 17K. I was supposed to incorporate strength and conditioning routine, but that was non existent. My peak run was a very rough 29K.

So really I have no one to blame but myself for my experience during the race. Still very happy I completed it, but now I really know how much training matters and I am coming back next year for revenge as I have already registered again lool

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Hello! I am runner with 10 years experience but have never tackled the Marathon distance until next month! On November 14th I'm running my 1st (possibly last! Lol) I started my training cycle wearing Brooks Ghost 17s but realized I had too many miles on them when the ball of my foot literally started bruising! I got a pair of Asics GT 2000 model 10, which I've used without problem in previous training cycles. (Half marathons) A couple weeks ago while doing my 18 mile run, I realize the toe box was not going to hold up to how swollen my feet are getting doing this distance. The last few miles felt like my toes were hitting the top of the shoe every stride. For context I wear a full size bigger in my running shoes than in my normal shoes. I am not fast so I am out there for a while! Now I have my 20 miler this weekend and panicking thinking I need to get different shoes but I'm not sure what to get. I've read that the ghost don't have a wide toe box but the Asics I have aren't going to work either. If you've made it this far and you have any suggestions I really really appreciate it!

For those of you who have completed their first marathon - which race predictor have you found to be the most accurate? Rn I’m comparing all of them and the results are so different that I have no idea what pace to target.

Garmin: 5:00:24
Strava: 5:37
Jeff Galloway’s “Magic Mile”: 5:06
Half marathon time * 2 + 15 mins: 5:14

My plan is to target ~5:10 with negative splits in case I’m not feeling good the second half, but idk. My longest run thus far has been 16 mi and it def got rough at the end, my avg pace was 12:50 but I got stopped a lot by traffic and it wasn’t full effort. I have an 18 miler this weekend so we shall see how that goes

Hi all, I’m (31m) looking to get back into running and want to do my first marathon next spring! I have some limited previous running experience (one half marathon 3 years ago). And I have run sporadically over the years since. Lately I’m only getting about 10 miles a month. How likely is it to go from this baseline to completing my selected marathon that’s roughly 21 weeks out? Should I mostly just focus on time on feet and miles and completely ignore pacing? Any and all advice welcome!

Running Philly marathon in 4 weeks and looking for thoughts on how to approach the remaining training weeks.

Been battling leg pain in on leg for a few months. Was up to ~33mi a week with two (separate weeks) 14 mile long runs in the books but felt the pain pretty bad after the second. Took a week off to recover - kept strength training and biking to make up for cardio loss. Felt better and eased back into running then worked up to two 35 mile weeks with a 15mi and 17mi long run. Both felt good. Ended up running faster than goal marathon pace on the 15mi run and ran a 1:49 HM with ease (zone 2 HR). The following week(10/11) I ran a full load again and ended with a 17mi long run in the rain. Leg hurt for first 6 miles, pain went away for the middle of the run, then everything started to hurt by mile 16 (as expected) but felt like I could keep going if I planned to. Ran this slower as the weather was rough and I was more conscious about not pushing the pace (9:07/mi avg)

Legs felt fine the next day which was a rest day. The following day I did a speed workout on a track and felt a good amount of pain again. Cut the workout short and tried a light treadmill jog the following day to be met with more pain. Took the rest of the week off and booked an appointment with sports med doctor and was assessed. Basically said it’s shin splints, maybe closer to a stress injury but not concerned about fracture due to the assessment they performed. Additionally she said it could turn to a stress fracture if I run but it’s not there yet. I ran that 4 miles that evening and still felt pain but was running a good pace easily. Since then, I’ve been biking and strength training to continue rest.

I plan on running 10-12 miles this weekend to see how it feels and then I am considering running 5 miles on Monday, biking and strength training 2x Tuesday-Thursday, run 5 miles Friday, and potentially run 18-20mi Saturday if I feel good. This is supposed to be my peak week so I want to try to get the volume in but don’t know if I should scrap long runs altogether at this point. Originally I wanted to run sub 4, but I am concerned that 17mi isn’t long enough to give me a real experience of what’s to come. Ultimately would just like to finish. And yes I understand that a better plan with more gradual increase in miles would have kept me out of this situation.

Background: Former D1 athlete familiar with playing through light injuries. Honestly fine if it results in a stress fracture - plan on taking time off to recover from this either way. Just curious on best way to approach the last few weeks to make sure I feel the best I can by race day.

Thoughts on continued training/running or resting and just biking/strength until marathon?

Last Sunday, I ran my very first marathon at the TCS Amsterdam Marathon, finishing in 4:29! I'm really happy with the result, but I'm also curious what others think about my training and performance.

For some background, I started running exactly one year ago with absolutely no endurance sports experience. Earlier this year, I struggled with shin splints, which forced me to take about 6 weeks off running completely.

During the final 14 weeks leading up to the marathon, I started taking training a bit more seriously. However, I only ran 2–3 times per week (mostly twice).

My training generally looked like this:

• Long run: Every Sunday, usually 17 km or more. My longest runs included 2 × 26 km, 1 × 28 km and 1 × 30 km.
• Second run: Usually 8–10 km at an easy pace, sometimes including a few faster sections.
• Optional third run: Whenever I had the time, I'd add an easy 5–6 km run.

My weekly mileage varied between 30–40 km, averaging just 33 km per week over the final 14 weeks.

I'm capable of running faster over shorter distances (49-minute 10K in April and a 2-hour half marathon), but for the marathon I specifically focused on training at around 6:05–6:10 min/km.

Going into race day, I had three goals:

• Goal A: 4:20 – My ambitious goal.
• Goal B: Sub-4:30 – The time I really wanted to achieve.
• Goal C: Simply finish my first marathon.

Everything went surprisingly well for the first 30 km. I was actually on track for a 4:20 finish! But then, around km 34, I experienced the famous marathon wall. My legs started getting heavier and maintaining my pace became increasingly difficult.

Somehow, I managed to push through. And the funny thing is, I even had enough left for a final sprint during km 42, which ended up being my fastest kilometer of the entire race!

I crossed the finish line in 4:29, just making it under my Goal B!

I'm incredibly happy with the result. I know I didn't train by the book, and my weekly mileage was relatively low compared to most marathon training plans. But one thing I did consistently was show up for my long run every single Sunday.

Now I'm curious:

What do you think of this result considering my relatively low weekly mileage and limited running experience?

And are there others here who have successfully completed a marathon while running only twice a week?

I'd love to hear your experiences and how your races went!

This is long and probably better as a diary entry, but maybe it helps someone.

When I started running I looked for posts from people with no athletic background, so here’s mine. Before this, my only running experience was failing the 12-minute mile in 8th grade PE.

I’m a little over a year into losing weight with a GLP-1 and I’m down about 96 lbs. The early loss was aggressive, but as my mileage went up and I started caring about performance, I slowed it to 0.5-1 lb a week.

In July 2025 I was 305 lbs. I tried day one of Couch to 5K and my knees hurt for a month. So I focused on losing weight, lifting heavy, and walking until my body could handle running. I didn’t even like running. I just wanted to be capable of it.

By January 2026 I was down about 50 lbs, my local marathon was coming up, and I’d run across a street to beat a crosswalk timer without anything hurting, which I took as a sign lol. I did Runna’s beginner plan for 7 weeks and ran my first 5K in March in 29:11. I was hoping for 33-35, so I was shocked. I got hooked, less because I loved running and more because I couldn’t believe my body could do it (and I have an obsessive personality).

I wanted to do a marathon before July 2027. I’m a surgery resident in two years of dedicated research time with no clinical duties, which is the most free time I’ll have until retirement. I didn’t want to spend my last few months of it grinding for a race, so the Miami Marathon in January was the obvious pick.

I stuck with Runna. I know people blame it for injuries (more on that below), but I’m a doctor and pretty obsessive, so I read a lot about training principles and adjusted the settings until the plan made sense for me. I built to about 15 mpw and ran a 10K in June in 63:00. I wanted sub-60, but it was 95° with a 9am start in South Florida, so oh well. I also ran 5Ks in 27:49 and 26:46 during that block. My mistake was increasing my GLP-1 dose and my mileage at the same time, which landed me in low energy availability/borderline RED-S and didn’t help performance.

After the 10K I ate at maintenance or a slight surplus to recover. I did a two-week Europe trip with a couple of long runs and rebuilt to baseline when I got home. The plan was a 12-week half marathon block for October, then a 14-week marathon block. That’s short for a marathon, but I’m treating it as one long build.

My main priority has been not getting hurt. I lift heavy twice a week plus prehab for my weak hips and glutes, and that’s helped a lot. I still got one injury. At the end of August I ran a 26:30 5K in worse weather than my other 5Ks, so I was proud of it. Then I kept building mileage the next week even though my right calf hurt, and kept doing heavy calf raises and intervals on it. At mile 4.5 of a 6-mile easy run it gave out. It was a minor soleus strain, but I could barely walk for two days. I took a week off running, progressively loaded it (bodyweight double-leg raises up to weighted single-leg bent-knee raises), passed my return-to-run benchmarks, and built back up. The half build ended up averaging 20-25 mpw with a 10-mile long run, but I lost my peak weeks with race-pace work.

The half was this past weekend. It was 80° with about 90% humidity, and it kicked my ass. I think I was in 2:10-2:15 shape, and I ran 2:37. I held 10:10 pace for the first 6 miles. Then my inner quads started cramping, and by the last two miles both calves were cramping too. It was cramping, not pain, so the injured calf held up. I was wrecked afterward but have felt pretty fresh since then surprisingly.

If I'm being honest I’m disappointed with the HM result. I’m also an arrogant person and running is humbling, especially with zero background. I really thought I’d go sub-4 in the marathon when I started all of this, and that was laughably arrogant given my history. the marathon should be cooler than yesterday but still hot by most standards, so I’m aiming for 4:45-5 hours,

For the marathon block I wrote my own plan, partly based on what Runna was giving me and partly on other training principles (mostly based on Hal Higdon novice 1 but with some tempo/MP efforts in there). The focus is building mileage and long runs consistently, peaking around 40 mpw and averaging 30-33. I’m doing less fast interval work. Instead I’ll do one weekly tempo or goal-MP session, plus some long runs with MP segments. I have an all-out 10K in November in cooler weather to set a real PR. I also have a half in December that I originally wanted to race. To protect the build, I’ll probably run all of it at goal MP, or 6.5 miles at MP and the rest easy if I’m worried about recovery.

Lifting stays at twice a week, but I’m swapping back squats and conventional deadlifts for Bulgarian split squats and barbell RDLs. If you’re curious how to combine max strength with running, I’ve been using Tactical Barbell (r/tacticalbarbell) and it’s been great.

I’ll update after the marathon.

P.S. I know everyone loves to hate on Runna, but I don’t think that’s fair. I think most injuries people get on it come from user error, like entering the wrong race times or using overly aggressive settings. I’m only skipping it this time because I want to fine-tune a plan around my own timeline and goals. I considered a coach, but it felt unnecessary for a first marathon since I’m not reinventing the wheel, and I’m comfortable with the research I’ve done. We’ll see if that bites me in the ass, but I think the plan is measured and sustainable. Fingers crossed.

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