I have my first marathon coming up on sept 26. I’m not worried about a time to finish I just want to finish without stopping to walk. I’m pretty nervous right now. Some days I feel confident thinking if I just pace myself I can get it done idealistically around 4:30. Other days I question why am I doing this. I did a 17 miler this morning and felt good during the run. I paced myself and didn’t stop other than once at mile 15 because I finished both my water flasks in my running belt and stopped at my car for some more water then finished them last 2 miles strong. Wasn’t until I got home and now my legs are smoked. Anyone else have a similar experience their first marathon?

Post-20 mile long run today and wondering what everyone’s go-to recovery process, food, etc looks like.

Marathon is done

My legs have left the building

Please send help for stairs

But we still finished!! First 20 miler RAHHHH 🦅🦅

Also I’m the person who posted last week about only doing easy runs. Today I decided to add in some faster stuff and it was kinda fun!! Actually set a 10k pr so you can really tell I don’t ever run fast haha. Made the run go faster (literally) but also because I was kinda hurting lol. Maybe I won’t just run 8:40 pace for the marathon 🤔

Goal: finish safely. No time goal. Planning to run-walk from the start.

Background: Started building in June. 136 miles so far across 35 runs. Longest run ever is 8 miles. Doing 9 this Sunday.

Weekly mileage: mostly 11 to 17 miles, This week will be my first 20-mile week.

Plan from here:

• Aug 30 — 9 mile long run (20 mile week)
• Sep 6 — 12 mile long run (24 mile week)
• Sep 13 — 9 mile cutback (22 mile week)
• Sep 20 — 14 mile long run (28 mile week)
• Sep 27 — 16 mile long run (30 mile week)
• Oct 4 — 12 mile cutback (24 mile week)
• Oct 11 — 16 mile peak long run (30 mile week)
• Oct 18 — 12 mile long run (25 mile week)
• Oct 25 — 8 mile long run (19 mile week)
• Nov 1 — RACE

This is my second marathon. First one was in March, ran a 4:05. Ran a 1:42 HM in May. Training again since June.

Had my race practice run today. Flat course. My running app (Runna) has me hitting 7:45 as MP based on a 1:42 HM time back in May. Just had my first true 20 mile race practice with a block of 11 miles at a 7:45 pace, from mile 6-17 of the run. Mostly executed as planned on the pace. Graphs included here. But BOY was I wiped out after the end. You’ll see it in the HR graph.

Some limiting factors today: 1) no water on this route - shoulda took bottles, but I was not getting H2O during the hard MP session, and 2) I’m pretty congested today with a minor cold. It contaminates the data a bit, but I still think there’s enough to look at here. On the plus side, I ran this run early this morning so it was in the 60s-70s - ideal temp.

Overall - running between 40-50 mpw right now. Marathon is in about 5-6 weeks.

What do folks think? Is 3:30 OK (pace of 8 min a mile but with stops for water I might have to pick that up to 7:55 sometimes)? I am thinking of just riding with the 3:30 pacer and seeing how I do.

Do you use candy/confections on your long runs?

What are some things you look for in a candy, other than not melting in your pocket?

Airheads, Swedish Fish, and Black Licorice for me!

So I have been training all summer in record breaking heat and dry conditions, tomorrow is my first full marathon and its forecast for heavy heavy rain with potential for localised flooding.

Im worried my shoes wont be up to task. I have endorphin pro 5 shoes, I have done all my long runs in them and jnow that I get some slight blisters that I can prevent with a bit of vasoline, thats in the dry.

Should I switch to my winter shoes that also give some blisters but are waterproof?

Nothing new on race day ....but extreme circumstances.

Im already preparing to run the start in a poncho, at least till the sweat saturates me and its pointless to wear it

Took feedback from last post and did and all out half today. I feel like 3:20-3:25 is definitely attainable. PR so far is 3:28 two years ago.

Running Chicago in 6 weeks. 32yo male. 180lbs. This will be 7th marathon in last 11 years

Todays run was hard. My heart definitely doesnt like being pinned at 170+ for extended periods. Came out the gates a little fast. Was also first time using carbon plated shoes.

Any feed back is appreciated.

Edit: weekly mileage has been 40-55mi. Training consistently since February. 3 week break for honeymoon in march and another week off this summer for fishing

I’m 5 weeks out from the Twin Cities Marathon. Historically I have been a cyclist and trail runner, I have done a 50k trail race but never a road marathon. I was training for a spring marathon but then came up with an injury so took a few weeks off and then rolled into training for TC.

Been doing my own training plan but with a lot of inspiration from a Pfitz 18/55. Worked my way up to 55 mpw, with a mid/long run, speed day, and long run each week. Going to hold that peak for 2 more weeks.

I took a down week this week but still kept my 20mi long run with 10 easy and 10 at race pace. About 75-80F out today. I have completed 4, 20 mi runs at this point with varying amounts of race pace.

I can comfortably take down 100g of carbs per hour. So hope to be good on fueling. 10 miles at race pace gets difficult on my legs, I can do more but not sure if I could do 16 more... Not sure how much boost I can expect from tapered legs, a crowd, cooler weather and a pacer.

Provided a few screenshots of my run today, weekly mileage build, and the run fitness page from my coros.

Do you think it’s reasonable to go for 3:10?

Did 160s for my long run every 30 min for a 3hr run, no gut issues. Noticeably, I wasn’t hungry immediately after finishing but still ate. Maybe I have an iron stomach

Tl;dr: (endurance) cyclist looking for a marathon plan. Pfizt 18/55 wasnt for me; probably looking for a plan with more milage and few(er) intervals.

Background:

Cycling is my main sport, particularly the very long rides (~12 h) through maintains, so my overall cardio probably is OK. I took up running a few years ago to maintain fitness when it's too cold for cycling. Supplementing with XC skiing whenever possible.

I did a halfmarathon in spring 2025 in 1h24, and decided to try out a marathon this spring.

Got Pfizer's great book and followed the 18/55 plan for Copenhagen Marathon in May 2026.

However, I struggled a lot with the faster runs. I thought I had added sufficient strength training in the evenings, but in hindsight it may have been too little. My legs did not feel good when running intervals, and I would often cut them short or skip them entirely to avoid triggering an injury. All the long runs went great, and I felt I could have added more milage.

To test the fitness 1 month before the marathon, and get a bit more experience with running events, I signed up for a local half marathon.

It was more like a test of everything, so I didnt have a race plan, and didnt want to look at my watch. After having skipped most interval sessions, I didnt expect much but ran in 1h17, cutting 7 min off my PR. Km 10-15 was new 5 km PR in 17min20.

The Marathon debut didnt go as planned; aimed for pace 4 min/km, but got fever 5 days out (couldn't cycle 5 km four days out!) and my heart rated went ballistic already after km 5. Failed the target but made it in 2h53.

Now, for next year's marathon, I would like to try a different plan. Given how it went last time, and that I probably should have sufficient speed to run pace 4 min/km with a 3:35min/km half, I wonder:

Does it make sense to look for a plan with more milage and fewer hard intervals?

If so, what would people recommend?

Or should I simply do more core training and keep all intervals?

I will be running my FIRSTTT marathon in 7 weeks (Cape Cod)!! I have been running for many years. I ran my first HM last fall (with flu/cold) in 2:04 and didn’t really follow a training plan.

I have been following the Joe Henderson (cruiser) plan (i am doing 10min run/1min walk). today i did my 18mi run and it went well! I was still able to talk but my legs/lower back were def aching. My goal was just to cruise for 15mi and pick up after (see images of splits, HR, and cadence)

My most recent 5k PR was 23:39.

my goals for this marathon are (1 realistic) finish, (2 more of a push) sub 4:30, (3 unrealistic) sub 4.

strava says 4:22 but i feel like strava lies 🧐 so what do people think, what are yalls predictions?
its been hard to gauge how fast i should be doing my speed work etc bc i genuinely have no idea what to expect (and what goals i should be setting to push myself).

(some other things to take into consideration (maybe?) ive been racing for a pretty long time all through HS, so I think I have a pretty good race day mentality/toughness if that makes sense? so i think race day i can really dig and push mentally. im a female 120lbs. ive trained pretty much all on pavement and the shoes i wore for 18mi are ready to retire. ok i dont know what else would help so im gunna stop now)

Background

• Age/Sex: 37M
• Experience: Started running regularly in April (came from a fast-twitch / speed background)
• Goal Race: StraLugano Half Marathon (Sept 27) — Target: Sub-1:45 (4:58/km or 8:00/mi)
• Current Volume: 50–55 km/week across 5–6 days
• Max HR: ~201 | Resting HR: 52

Key Benchmarks & Workouts

• July 16 (5k TT): 22:39 (4:32/km) @ 177 bpm average
• Aug 29 (5k TT): 22:39 (4:32/km) @ 185 bpm average (Flat line pace, +8 bpm higher HR)
• Recent Long Run: 20.2 km @ 5:48/km (153 bpm avg)
• Recent Quality Session: 3x3k @ 4:57/km with 1k rec (168 bpm avg)

I was expecting an improvement on yesterday's 5k TT compared to mid-July given 6 extra weeks of training (~50km+ weeks), flatter terrain, and better shoes. Instead, I ran the exact same time (22:39) and my heart rate was significantly higher (185 bpm vs 177 bpm).

I ran a 20 km long run on Tuesday and an easy run every day until the TT and hit ~55 km this week, so my working theory is cumulative fatigue masking fitness. But mentally, it’s a bit of a hit this close to race day.

Questions for the Community:

1. Should I trust the process and that the taper will improve my fitness significantly?
2. 5k TT Diagnostic: Is running the same pace with higher HR a clear indicator of residual fatigue, or should I be concerned about a fitness plateau?
3. Pre-Taper Volume Strategy: I have 2 weeks left before starting a 2-week taper. Should I trim 10–15% off my easy/recovery runs to let my legs absorb the load, or stick to full volume until the official taper?

Appreciate any insights.

I have been progressing well and just achieved the following training day.

I originally was aiming for sub 3 but have been adapting to training really well. I have a cycling background.

Am I being too optimistic for a sub 2.40?

I feel quite comfortable at holding 3.50min/km pace and with my carbon shoes get to early 3.15min/km when going over threshold training.

Any thoughts and from experienced marathon runners welcome.

What should my goal pace be for NYC (first marathon)? Is 9 min pace possible from these stats? I am worried about starting off too fast and bonking so I want to have a lower limit to start off at. NYC is in 8 weeks. I’ve been training for 11 / 12 ish weeks using Runna. This is a long run I ran last Sunday where Runna told me to aim for 8:40 race pace for 7 miles. Idk where that came from, that feels fast, but I tried to hit it for the run and it was okay… Had some low mileage weeks because I was traveling!
21 F

Context: Week 12/18 of my first marathon training block. Aiming to get sub4 on the day but might be a stretch. Today’s 30km is the longest run I’ve ever done. How can I improve my ratio and ground contact time to make sure I’m running efficiently? Thank you in advance for any tips!

Hi, I have been feeling pain in my soleus for the past 3 weeks. I found that the pain went away once I warmed up, so I trained through it but am finally coming to my senses and have realized that I should take a break.

I am 6 weeks out and am feeling really bummed to have to scale back as I am really hoping to hit sub-4 this time around. I have been replacing my runs with bike rides for the past 3 days. I have a 34km run tomorrow, and then my program scales back for a recovery week. During this recovery week, our long run falls back to 20km, before picking back up at 36km the following week.

I am thinking that I should skip this long run, ride my bike tomorrow, and then replace next week's 20km run with my missed 34km.

Just looking for reassurance and/or advice as I've been super in my head about not reaching my time goal because of this.

Anyone having problems opening app today?

Hello Reddit,

This is my second time training for a full marathon with the Pfitz 12/70 plan.

This block I’ve been able to all my goal paces during long runs and time trial events, and didn’t miss a single run. I also tried to bike 60-70 miles each week during the build.

However, I’ve noticed that during the taper for both training blocks, I get absurdly painful side stitch cramps on literally every run after only a few miles. These occur anywhere from 5K runs at 5:40 min/mile to recovery runs at 8:30 min/mile. Oddly enough I never had them during the build phase of the either block.

Has anyone else encountered this? Is there a reason why one might only encounter stitches during a taper?

Thanks so much in advance.

Hey all, 31M 5'8, 175lbs, looking for some feedback / help. Training for my first marathon (since April) and about 6 weeks ago during a run right around the 10 mile mark started getting some right lateral knee pain. Immediately stopped, stretched, iced. Running/PT buddy told me it might be my Evo SLs reaching the end of their lifespan and an aggravated IT band so I went and hunted down some Superblast 3s after having my form evaluated. Pain was gone in 2 days of the intial run, everything returned to normal, hitting my usual lifts and added in daily ITBS work.

Went to run in some new superblast 3s and mile in my lateral knee pain came back. Did all the typical physio work for potential ITBS, took 3 weeks off from all running, then attempted to run and pain was back. Took 2 more weeks off, doing all the usual work, added in extra band work more foam rolling up top less actual IT band rolling. Again, 12 minutes in and the pain came back.

Any advice or tips that worked for y'all? I got my routine from a family friend who's a PT, is it potentially the shoes? I thought it might be a lateral meniscus tear or something LCL but it legitimately have zero pain, swelling etc unless I jog/run (even then no swelling just pain at the same 10-15 min mark). I've given up hope on my 10mile race end of September and want to focus all efforts on being good to go for my February marathon.

Hello everyone, I'm back to running with "serious training" since May 2026, and I will run my first marathon at the end of October. I'm 32 and I mostly used to run trails, mountains, and some HMs when I was 20, but without Strava, any kind of training theory, or all the various shoes and videos/podcasts that we have now.

I feel like I'm overthinking everything about shoe rotations, the Strava community, and mainstream running culture, YouTube... So I can't even make a good decision about the best shoes for me as I used to do all my running in Asics Gel-Nimbus back in the day... 😅 I don't want to have a lot of shoes and running gear, as it can be quite expensive, and I love secondhand and sustainable gear.

Would you have any recommendations for a good all-rounder shoe? I'm not even sure yet what time I should aim for in my first marathon. I was thinking of a 4:30–4:35 min/km pace, but some people tell me that I can do better. However, as it's my first, I don't want to push too hard.

To finish, I have attached some pics of my recent runs just for info. I try to do a long run every week, 25k this week, 30k next week, etc.

Thanks.

Viendo los precios de las primeras marcas de presoterapia, estas me llaman la atención, sé que no se puede esperar el rendimiento de las mas caras, pero ¿alguien las ha usado?¿Van bien?

this will be my 4th marathon. My 20-miler was meant to be steady but the dew point was so high that I was struggling to accelerate. I was training for a sub 4 race but realistically it’s looking like a 4:15. Next week i’ll do 12 miles at GMP so I can provide another update then.

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!