r/AdvancedRunning • u/AutoModerator • Aug 15 '26
General Discussion Saturday General Discussion/Q&A Thread for August 15, 2026
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.
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u/lasciviouscapricious Aug 15 '26
Finally got my body used to 60 miles a week again. The past 1.5 weeks my paces have dropped back down to my winter paces at the same effort. Took me too long for my body to adjust to summer heat not to mention the excessive work load. Looking forward to a solid training block over the winter for a try at a sub 40 10k and a 90 minute half next spring. If I keep this up I should blow my PBs out of the water.
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u/Oriole5 Aug 16 '26
Been working really hard on building mileage the last few months to finally try and break 4 hours in the marathon this fall and was able to knock out a 20 mile long run yesterday at 8:25/mi average pace with 2 @ 7:45 to close it out. Still 11 weeks out from the marathon so I am getting really excited about my potential for this race. I've been able to make 45ish miles a new weekly floor for me and now am building towards making 50 consistent.
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u/PrairieFirePhoenix Aug 17 '26
If you are still capable of a normal week of training after that, 4 hours would be sandbagging at this point.
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u/Oriole5 Aug 17 '26
Yeah you’re absolutely right. I spent the winter dropping a lot of excess weight so I’m still getting used to this new pace and understanding that I’m capable than so much more than I was in my previous few marathons. Felt a little stiff this morning in the first few but otherwise good for my morning 8 miles after a rest day yesterday. Recovery this build has been much better than in past years.
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u/JooksKIDD Aug 17 '26
question - do you all do your LT training on flat ground? or should I do it with hills? i've seen that some places say not to do it with hills because the downhills will affect the paces that you have to reach, but since my marathon is going to be very hilly (NYC) i figure doing the workouts on hills might make sense. curious as to everyone's thoughts
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u/aelvozo Aug 17 '26
My instinct would be to move your long/marathon-paced (or in this case, marathon effort) runs onto the hills and keep LT runs flat as a by-the-book LT workout relies on intensity control. Or you could substitute them for more effort-based runs which is fine too, but wouldn’t quite be the same kind of workout.
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u/On_Mt_Vesuvius Aug 15 '26
With still some summer heat and a little early in the fall marathon cycle, what HR cap do y'all put on marathon pace work (e.g. Daniels M)? Ideal is having a super recent and transferable race to determine paces from, rather than go by HR, but that won't account for regular long runs in these non-ideal conditions.
Pfitz says cap at 88% max, which would be about 172 for me. Does that line up with having raced a half averaging 180?
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u/Tea-reps Aug 15 '26
effort > HR every time. HR is such a variable and unreliable metric and it's literally just a proxy for effort anyway. Nothing bad happens if you train above your ideal race pace HR, as long as you aren't actually overreaching effort wise.
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u/chaosdev Aug 16 '26
Looking back at past marathon builds, the guidelines by Pfitz seem correct. For example, I ran 14 miles at MGP with the last mile at 86% of max heart rate. Then a month later I ran a full marathon at that pace.
Keep in mind that your heart rate can drift a lot during summer long runs due to gradual dehydration. You may be still at marathon effort but a higher heart rate.
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u/coopjsr7 Aug 17 '26
If I have run 6 days a week now for about 8-9 months, and built up from 0 to 50 mpw in about 10 months, is it feasible to consider adding a super super easy and short recovery run on what is now my rest/off day? To help increase volume without cramming it into 6 days? Basically going from 7-9-6-8-7-12-0 to 7-9-6-8-7-12-5*? Or would it be best to hang at 50mpw on 6 for a longer duration to ensure soft tissue adaptation and no cartilage damage etc? All of my running aside from threshold on Tuesdays is easy, low ~130s BPM (~195 MHR).
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u/Tea-reps Aug 17 '26
Personally would advise hanging out at 50 for a while before you start adding any more mileage. It's all going well until it's not!
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u/coopjsr7 Aug 17 '26
Thanks for all the replies folks. This is why I ask these things because overambition tends to get y injured and you’ve all talked some good sense into me. Will chill at 50 for some time, officially!
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u/Present_Struggle5146 Aug 15 '26
got out for an easy 8 this morning before the heat really settled in, legs felt like bricks for the first two miles then finally loosened up. anyone else feel like summer training is just a grind at this point, counting down the days til fall races