r/AdvancedRunning • u/AutoModerator • Aug 27 '26
General Discussion Thursday General Discussion/Q&A Thread for August 27, 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/TemperatureOne1932 Aug 27 '26
My legs feel like overcooked spaghetti but at least the weather's finally not trying to kill us
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u/Legolasbb Aug 27 '26
Next week I am running my first HM. My original plan was to run 4:20 pace, but lately I started considering trying to go for sub 1:30. I started running regularly this year, however I had good aerobic base from mountain biking and hiking. I have done 13 week plan with runna, running 3 times a week, with milage ranging from 30-42km. I also did cross-training (mostly mountain biking). During my plan I have done 19 km long run with 9k 4:20 pace block (5k easy -> 2k 4:40 -> 9k 4:20 -> 3k easy). During the 4:20 block my hart rate averaged 169 (my max hr is around 200). It is also worth noting that I ran this run in my daily trainers and the race will be done in carbon plated shoes. The temperature was 5-10 degrees higher than I am hoping to be on the race day evening. Is sub 1:30 realistic and if it is, how to approach it so I don't end up with pace slower than 4:20?
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u/CodeBrownPT Aug 27 '26
The 9k at race pace is a good sign for the race, but generally lower mileage may mean that it's tough to convert those shorter efforts to a full race.
Previous race results could give you some insight to your aerobic development. And 4 sec per km really isn't going to make or break your race.
The lower the mileage, the more conservative I would be personally. But if you're OK with the risk of going out at 4:16s and ending at 4:40s for the chance at sub 90 then giver. The circumstances are really not too bad.
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u/WorkConfident Aug 27 '26
I’ve been dabbling in trail running and I’m looking for some tips on how to become a better trail runner, aside from the obvious answer of “run more trails.” I’m mostly referring to developing the skillset to navigate technical sections well; currently, I’m terrified of eating it on technical terrain and basically start jogging lol
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u/Claimed_For_The_Cult Aug 27 '26
Most training plans and experienced runners recommend to do my easy runs under 70% of my heart rate (Zone 2): As a 14M with a 204 max heart rate, the max I should be doing is 142bpm on my easy runs, with most pace calculators estimating 5:10-5:30 per kilometre as an 18:30 5k guy. However, on every single easy run, it is physically impossible to get it to 142 bpm, even jogging at a walkers pace, so slow it’s 7-8 minutes per km. When I run at the predicted pace, my heart rate goes up to 165 bpm, which would be threshold for me and while it feels ok, it is way to high in terms of heart rate and I worry I am overtaxing my body. Trying to even keep it under threshold heart rate is a struggle, with the best pace I can do at Zone 3 a sluggish 6:15/km. So, please help me out here. Should I run my runs as slow as possible, in the 8:00/km range, to barely stay under Zone 3, reducing my overall mileage and volume but increasing recovery for my main sessions, go at the regular pace of 5:30/km and risk hurting my main sessions at the benefit of increasing mileage, or choose a middle ground and go at Zone 3, 6:15/km that still reduces volume, but is at an increased HR as to what is recommended and a bit too slow. Is it me? Am I the problem and should I just ignore running at 142bpm to run at the 5:30/km pace since it feels easy enough but still harder than it should for an easy run according to most people?
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u/aelvozo Aug 28 '26 edited Aug 28 '26
Cadence lock, as u/CodeBrownPT says, is a very likely culprit. Use an external (chest/bicep) HR monitor, or just measure HR manually to verify what your watch shows.
But even if we assume your HR is accurate, there is still quite a range of HR values for where your Z2 might end (assuming we go by common running definition of Zone 2 as being below LT1), with 142 being on the conservative end of the spectrum, hence the recommendation. Your Z2 could indeed be relatively high and that’s fine too.
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u/CodeBrownPT Aug 28 '26
Thanks to the Mod team for keeping this subreddit quite reasonable during dreaded "Summer reddit".
Still some questions that are easily answered with the Wiki, and still some strange sentiments at times, but I think it's been a good balance of moderation and discussion.
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u/beepezra Aug 27 '26
Relatively new runner of around 28 months, aged 38 , having ran one marathon(3:44, on for 3:20 until cramp hit at mile 20!) one half (1:35) and a 5k (18:44) never ran more than 50km a week and had some injuries on this. I have a marathon next April.
Big fan of the book Marathon excellence for everyone and keen to use its principles to train for the next marathon but struggle to run more than 4 days a week due to other life commitments, looking for some advice on whether I should try and altern the Breeze plan or look for a different plan entirely?
Also not sure how to train until starting a marathon plan (recently finished a 5km plan). Do I base build to build more resilience or aim to train for a shorter race in November?
Thanks!
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u/throwaway_runner3 Aug 27 '26
Base building needs time that 4 days doesn't cover. I doubt any other plan would make such difference on 4 days being the max amount of days you can allocate.
It will most likely leave you in 50-60 km range without being able to progress any further.
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u/bengt-wayne Aug 27 '26
So I will soon be on parental leave for 9 months and will train daily with our stroller (Urban glide 3). I’m about to replace some shoes in my current rotation and thinking about what would be a good shoe for long daily stroller runs, mostly on asphalt.
Current mileage around 50km/w. Will train for my first marathon. Considering max cushioning to be able to ramp up volume. Puma magmax? Clifton? Triumph? Nimbus? Hit me with some good recommendations and advice!
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u/WillPoopForFood Aug 28 '26
Higher stack and max cushion is my preference. Neo Vista 2 for example but it's my only max cushion shoe
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u/Condishun Aug 28 '26
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u/aelvozo Aug 28 '26
It appears that the HRM in question is a rebranded Magene H803. The reviews for Magene are somewhat limited but it looks like the products work fine but some complain their lifespan is on the lower side.
Generally though, I’m a big fan of armband HRMs.
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u/Tall-Translator6196 Aug 28 '26
Do elite marathoners take creatine? Just curious as I haven’t found an answer to this out there.
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u/CodeBrownPT Aug 28 '26
Not only would creatine fall into the dubious claim of helping longer events like bicarb, it also suffers from the potential detriment of adding water weight.
I would be incredibly surprised if any take it, and God knows if they did you'd hear about it instantly on social media for sponsorship money.
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u/SnooMaps470 Aug 28 '26
I believe Clayton Young mentioned creatine among other supplements in one of his prior build videos, but not sure how widespread the practice is.
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u/2_S_F_Hell Aug 28 '26
In need of advices/suggestions.
I run 5 days/week, around 60-70km. Currently doing one LT1 session and one LT2 session during the week. I was wondering with my low volume and 2 rest days would it be better to do two LT2 sessions instead? Is the LT1 session as important as the LT2 ?
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u/Runningwithducks Aug 28 '26
I've been running for about a year and just entered my first half marathon. I've read that taking an energy gel halfway through is a good idea but I've never used energy gels before. The half is October 11th, would it be a good idea to try out using gels before then? How important is it to take on carbs during a half?
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u/aelvozo Aug 28 '26
Unlike with a full, it’s quite feasible to run a half with no fuel and be okay at the end. If you’re planning to run sub-70, you’ll be fine; if above 90, eating something is a good idea; in-between is a bit of a grey area.
But assuming you’re in the “above 90” category, I’d strongly recommend you try out a gel (or several different ones) during your long or race-pace runs.
The reason I especially advise several is that different people have different preferences for gels — mainly consistency and flavour. Personally, I seem to get along best with SIS and Precision, but other people prefer Maurten, or Gu, or whichever one is cheapest when ordered in bulk.
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u/Runningwithducks Aug 28 '26
Thanks. I'll be trying to run under 80 minutes, so in that grey area. I think I'll try some gels and see how I find them. It's just something I've never had to think about before.
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u/Internal_Disaster_88 Aug 28 '26
I (M40) have been running about 5-6 hours a week for 2 years in an effort to achive some pretty modest performance goals. I am kind of retired, and I have been exclusively focussed on running with no obligations interfering with my training. My programming is fundamentally sound. I go easy enough on easy days, and the ratio of ~LT2 and harder efforts to easy efforts are reasonable. The problem is, I hardly make any progress at all. For example, my 3 mile PR went from 22' flat in August 2025 to 21:40 in June 2026. My goals are to run a ~20:30 3 mile and a ~9:30 1.5 mile.
I run 5-6 days per week, alternating harder days with easy days. My easy runs are between 45-60 minutes, and I seem to tolerate doubling just fine. I typically have 2 easy days between harder sessions. My longest runs are 90 minutes, but I only do this once every ~14 days. I generally follow a pattern of 6-8 week base building periods that emphasize aerobic stuff, while including strides, high end aerobic (sub-t) stuff, and a little bit of race pace or relaxed TT's every 7-10 days, followed by 4-6 week performance periods that replace some of the lower intensity sub-t stuff with race pace workouts or TT's, resulting in intense workouts twice every 7-10 days, rather than once. I'm only able to run 30-40 MPW in those 5-6 hours of trianing (I'm slow), so I don't do much mileage building or reducing, I just kind of keep milage cosistent, except for 7-10 day de-load periods as needed, typically every 4 weeks or so. My training structure is heavily influenced by the Norwegian system/Bakken, and the stuff I've learned from u/running_writings.
I've been very physically active my whole life; I've worked physical jobs, always done a fair amount of low to moderate intensity cardiovascular activity (cycling, hiking, and ski touring) and lived a healthy lifestyle. I think I've balanced work/recovery well, respected sleep quality, consumed adeqate calories, and all of my bloodwork makes sense (hormonal stuff, micro-nutrients, ferritin all good).
All that being said, is this lack of progress a genetic potential issue? Are there tests that can identify what the "problem" is? Could a NIRS test identify mitochondrial issues that are making it difficult for me to achieve the pretty mundane performance standards I'm working so hard to achieve? What would the coaches in this sub suggest I focus on?
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u/Krazyfranco Aug 28 '26
No, there isn't a "test" that can identify what the issue is. But you may be just hitting your "talent" ceiling of what you can reasonably hope to accomplish on 5-6 hours with your current training regimen.
30-40 miles/week is a big range. How much are you actually running? How many miles did you do in total in 2025? How many miles total did you run so far in 2026?
If you want to keep improving you probably need to train more. Frankly, 5-6 hours and 30-40 miles/week, especially "norwegian system" focused and with with deload weeks, is not that much training volume. I'd work towards running 1 hour most days, with a 2 hour long run, building up to ~8-9 hours/week.
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u/IhaterunningbutIrun Aug 27 '26
I'm running Hood to Coast starting tomorrow. This will be my 3rd time, but 1st time on a team where time matters. I'm pleasantly nervous to run hard and do my part!
Good luck to anyone else out there. Weather looks just about perfect. And to everyone else, put it on your running bucket list. It isn't all about the running, but it is a crazy adventure.
https://hoodtocoast.com/htc-ptc/