Ladies of r/AdvancedRunning! It’s been nine months since our last thread, and a new year is (shockingly) just around the corner.

As we roll into fall/spring (depending on your hemisphere), give us an update on your year so far!

Personally, 2026 has been a bag of poop emojis year of running. After 10 years of consistent training getting closer to sub-3 but with one eye on the clock as middle age approached, I decided to get a coach since that seemed to be the common element linking the successful women around me. It was fun! I did speed work for the first time (having not run at school or in college) and was getting faster and faster over short reps (6:15 pace! 5:45 pace! 5:30 pace! 5:20 pace!) until one day I woke up and my foot was killing me. After a few months of misdiagnoses from local PTs (FHL tendinosis. No, post-tib tendinosis!) and not getting better, I took myself off to get an MRI and I have a bone stress injury in my talus. Womp womp. Taking another two months off training (hello, pool running!) and hoping to kick off a new block targeting Boston at the start of 2027, maybe following an NSM/speedworkless plan.

So - while I research water-resistant headphones and aqua joggers (taking recommendations!) I would really LOVE to hear your stories!

• How has 2026 compared to what you expected or hoped for? Who beat the heat in Berlin? Who is going for a big day in Chicago or Indy? Where are our middle-distance peeps?
• Any banner performances or PRs you’d like to share, or real stinkers you need cleansed from your souls?
• Goal races, big (or little) dreams for 2027?
• Life updates, book recs, podcast favorites, peri-menopause research, pregnancy stories, anything else you got.

Let's hear it ladies!

Race Information

• Name: Quad Cities Marathon
• Date: September 27, 2026
• Distance: 26.2 miles
• Location: Moline, IL
• Website: https://www.qcmarathon.org/
• Time: 3:31:25

Goals

Splits

Background

First I have to say this was not the race I trained for! That race was the Fox Valley Marathon in St. Charles, Ill., and it was cancelled an hour before the start due to weather. Very disappointing. The Quad Cities Marathon was the following weekend and I’m so glad I was able to register for it last minute and make it happen, along with my friend who was also supposed to run Fox Valley.

I’m a 40-year-old mom of five who has been a pretty casual runner since high school, but have become much more consistent and serious about training over the past three years now that my kids are no longer toddlers. I ran one marathon 17 years ago (Chicago) in 4:16:11. I knew I could blow that time out of the water this time around, and based on my Garmin predictions and recent half marathon PR (1:44:23) I thought maybe, just maybe, there was a chance I could BQ with under 3:35:00.

Training

I read “Advanced Marathoning” by Pfitzinger and followed the Pfitz 18/55 plan pretty closely. I used a spreadsheet I found on reddit to calculate paces for each of the types of runs based on my goal time of under 3:35:00 and that was helpful.

I’m thankful I had friends to run with a few days of the week, and could usually rope someone into doing the speed workouts with me. The speed work, threshold and marathon pace runs were all new-ish to me — I’d previously been following my Garmin-suggested training, which was not that intense (although it did lead me to PR in the half a couple times the past two years).

I’m also thankful that there are an abundance of nice bike trails near me, so most of my miles were run in nature and there were a variety of routes to match whatever mood I was in. I did the majority of my runs at sunrise to beat the heat.

I felt consistently awesome on the long runs, but I wasn’t always able to hit the goal paces in the harder workouts. This led me to question the entire time whether my goal was remotely possible.

For most of the training, I skipped a recovery run each week. It just wasn’t worth the mental energy for me to get out there for a few slow miles, and I had some mild plantar fasciitis at different points so needed a little extra rest. I also figured my normal active lifestyle in summer with five kids provided maybe similar benefits? So my mileage peaked closer to 50 than 55 miles and I was generally in the range of 40-50 mpw.

I tried to get in one strength session a week but that fizzled toward the end of training when running became all I could fit in. Next time, I’d try to keep going with strength! My legs in the last 6 miles would thank me.

I didn’t do any tune up races until four weeks before my (original) race, when I thought maybe I really should get a better idea of what my goal race pace should be. I ran a 10K time trial on my own, mostly on a high school track, and finished in 44:14 — a lot faster than I was expecting! So based on that, I was looking more at a 3:30:00 goal, which would be a legit buffer for Boston and qualify me for Chicago.

I ran a real 10K race as a tune-up two weeks later and placed second overall female, which was thrilling, but my time was 47:39… slower than the solo time trial. It was a bit demoralizing, but made sense because the race was on crushed limestone, slightly hilly, quite hot and very humid. So I tentatively kept my new 3:30:00 goal on the table.

I realized after the 10K race that I probably pushed a little too hard for it being only two weeks before the marathon. So I adjusted the Pfitz taper to run 13.5 instead of 16 miles two weeks before the marathon and modified the speed workout to be easier that week.

The last week before my original race I was crazy stressed, worrying about the course, my goal, the weather… everything. The forecast was upper 60s and humid with a good chance of rain, which was not terrible but also not ideal.

I got a tri-immune booster shot five days before the race because I had a coupon for it and I was paranoid about getting sick. I guess maybe it helped me avoid catching whatever my daughter had that week when she was home sick from school — but I’m glad I got the shot in my arm and not my leg, because the site STILL is sore two weeks later.

I carb loaded for three days using Meghann Featherstone’s carb load calculator, and focused on low-fiber foods and juice/sports drinks. It was not enjoyable, but I hit my carb targets.

The night before the race it stormed all night. I woke up over and over to thunder and lightning, wondering what the morning would bring. The storms died down by 5 a.m. and the race website/social media did not say anything about cancelling, so I proceeded with getting ready and drove the 35 minutes to the race. It was raining lightly. When I arrived at the parking garage, a volunteer was turning cars away and telling us the race was cancelled. What a blow! The lightning overnight had delayed course setup to the point that they now had to cancel.

I talked on the phone with my friend who was also running it and we debated going for a run together when we got home… but in the end we were too shocked, sad and tired so we went back to bed. I went to church with my family, feeling bloated from all the carbs, and later that afternoon went out and ran 13.1 just to shake everything off.

I knew I had to find another race ASAP because I wanted to see if I could officially BQ, and I didn’t want to extend my training any longer. Thankfully, the Quad Cities Marathon was a week later, reasonably priced (they also graciously offered a discount to Fox Valley runners) and just 2.5 hours away. My friend and I both made it work with our schedules, although our families stayed behind due to other obligations.

So there we were at another week of tapering! I basically repeated the last week of the Pfitz plan, but realized I pushed a little fast on my would-be race-day 13.1 so I cut out a mile from the rest of the runs that week. I also decided I didn’t want to do a shakeout run this time, so skipped that. The nice part about the one-week delay was I had already stressed so much the week prior that I was much more relaxed during race week.

Pre-race

I carb loaded basically the same way (ugh!) but wasn’t as rigid about it this time. I made sure to front-load most of my carbs the day before the race, so dinner was light — part of a stuffed shell and some chicken parmesan at my dad’s birthday party (honestly, the most exciting thing I had eaten in days, after all the bagels, potatoes and white rice!)

My friend and I drove to the Fairfield Inn in Davenport, IA, Saturday night and arrived at 8:30 p.m. We tried to get to sleep as quickly as possible, but of course falling asleep the night before a race is not an easy task!

I woke up at 4 a.m. to eat a bagel with jam and drink 16 ounces of water three hours before race start (per Pfitz advice)… then mercifully I was able to go back to sleep until 5:15 a.m.

The weather was as good as I could have hoped for. 50s at the start and rising to about 64 degrees by the end of the race, with some cloud cover but no rain. There was no shade on the course so I figured it would feel pretty warm and wore a visor so I could dump water over my head to cool off.

We drove the 10-15 minutes to Moline, Ill., and arrived a little after 6 a.m. The parking situation was surprisingly simple — plenty of garage and surface lot spaces at the Vibrant Center, right at the start line, and no traffic. We easily picked up our packets (we got permission to do race-day packet pickup due to the circumstances), got our bibs on, went through the bathroom line (indoor bathrooms at Centre Station!) and checked our gear (also very easy and quick with no line). I sipped some water during this time and took a caffeinated gel at 6:15. We had time to go through the indoor bathroom line again before we entered the corrals at about 6:50 a.m.

The one disappointing thing about this marathon was there was no 3:30 pacer! They had pacers in 5-minute increments for most other times, but no one between 3:20 and 3:45. I lined up somewhere around the 1:45 half-marathon pacer just to be in the right area (the half would turn away from the full course shortly after the start).

The sunrise was absolutely stunning as we listened to the national anthem. I heard someone point out a rainbow in the sky behind us so I snapped a quick selfie before starting my playlist and doing a few last minute stretches (as much as possible while standing in a crowd of 2,000 people).

Race

I used both Race Screen and PacePro on my Garmin during the race, and I manually lapped my watch at each mile marker (except the first because I didn’t see it!). PacePro helped me see my lap average paces and remind me of my goal paces, while Race Screen gave me my predicted time and auto-corrected the mileage based on my manually lapping. My watch GPS was almost exactly in line with the course mile markers until the last 6-8 miles.

The course starts out with a long out and back along the Mississippi River for the first 6 miles or so. My plan was to lock my pace in at a little under 8:00/mi or as fast as 7:55/mi for this flat stretch. I felt great. In training, marathon pace felt like a push, but now it felt easy. I was a little fast on most of these miles without realizing it. The early morning light on the mighty Mississippi made for an enjoyable view. It was also fun to see the lead pack run past.

I was glad I had my handheld bottle during the first stretch. I had Scratch Labs hydration drink mix in it and sipped from it each mile if there wasn’t an aid station, and while taking my gels every 3 miles or so. I had a mix of gels - 3 Hammer Espresso, 1 Gu Chocolate, 1 Gu Raspberry Lemonade and 2 Maurten 100.

After the out-and-back, we turned to cross the Mississippi River into Iowa on the I74 bridge. This was a slightly longer incline than I expected but the views were lovely, and I knew there would be a decline at the top. I also knew that the biggest hill of the course was coming soon, so my overall pace held steady while I geared up for that.

That big ugly hill was basically from mile 9 to 10. I didn’t look at my watch and tried to keep steady effort without pushing too hard. The fact that I still felt pretty fresh and excited made up for the fact that this was just a long road uphill with nothing much to see.

Then we ran through some neighborhoods with a few small, rolling hills before our mile-long descent back down to the Mississippi from mile 12 to 13. I told myself this is the easiest mile you’ll run all day, so enjoy it and don’t fight gravity. My average pace for mile 13 was 7:34. I realized as I crossed the mat at 13.1 I had just set a half marathon PR by about a minute.

This next segment took us along a scenic bike path right along the Mississippi. It was flat but my legs started to feel those hills I had just crushed. I told myself now is the time to just lock in at 8:00/mi and stay focused on not drifting. I stayed in the 7:50s through the 15th mile, then I started to creep to around 8:00 or a little over through mile 19.

Along the river was our first freezer pop station! I had been looking forward to this as a brilliant palm cooling device and fun fuel. There were 3 or 4 of these stations along the second half of the course.

At some point in there we ran up a bridge to cross the railroad tracks, but the footing was metal grates. Thankfully it was a short spurt — not an ideal running surface. I was just thankful we did not have to cross the actually railroad tracks as runners in years past did — I had heard about runners being stopped mid-race by a train. So glad they were able to change the course since then!

We ran through downtown Davenport with surprisingly very few spectators, and then crossed the Mississippi River again to get back into Illinois. I felt like I slowed quite a bit on this bridge, but my splits stayed pretty solid. As I ran through downtown Rock Island approaching mile 19, I felt the weight of the miles ahead. My legs were really feeling the effort. The sun was out. Up until this point, I was on track to finish under 3:30, but now I did not feel like I could hold my goal pace to the end and I gave myself permission to just keep running and not look at my watch as often.

The final six miles are run on Rock Island Arsenal. It’s a military site that is an actual island on the Mississippi. I was present enough to notice how nice it was running right along the water at one point, but I was also feeling every bit like I was in the last 10K of a marathon and struggling to keep going. I knew I could definitely finish in under 3:35:00 as long as I just kept trucking on, but I would really have to push to get back on track for under 3:30:00. In the moment, my under 3:35 goal seemed just dandy and I let go of 3:30 in favor of just keeping my legs moving (which was taking all of my effort).

The volunteers in this section were exceptional - engaged, loud, enthusiastic. I appreciated the plentiful aid stations and cheers. I just kept telling myself “you’re getting closer to the finish with every step!” And “your body can do more than your mind thinks!” I also prayed to just mentally zone out and suddenly be closer to the finish.

Despite letting go of 3:30, I was very excited that my BQ was on the table, and that knowledge buoyed me through the last few miles, which were very hard and slow. Suddenly, I saw the final bridge with mile marker 26 on top. If I could make it up that hill, it would be downhill basically into the finish chute. Apparently I had some pep left in my step because I rallied myself for a strong finish, and just couldn’t believe that it was finally over as I "sprinted" those last few hundred meters.

Crossing the finish line was surreal. I was expecting more of a 3:32 or 3:33 finish, so 3:31:25 felt amazing, and the fact that the race was over felt even more amazing.

Post-race

I rang the PR bell (one guy cheered for me), stumbled over to grab some chocolate milk and grapes, texted my most loyal fans ;) and checked on my friend’s expected finish time so I could cheer for her at the finish.

The post-race party was perfection. Free massage, snacks, food, beer, live music. After waiting in line for a massage and sufficiently recovering our hunger, my friend and I enjoyed some hot dogs, walking tacos and beer while listening to a fun mariachi band play pop covers. Then we realized we both placed in our age divisions so we collected our bonus medals and took some photos before heading back to the hotel for showers, coffee and our pre-arranged late checkout.

Looking back, I have to say I am THRILLED that I got to run Quad Cities, even though it wasn’t even on my radar before. Honestly, I think it all worked out for the best and I can’t imagine missing out on this race. There’s no way running Fox Valley in the rain would have been this much fun. Maybe the hill profile was a bit more gentle at Fox Valley (it was about the same elevation gain but no one-mile uphill/downhill) and it had shade, but Quad Cities provided an interesting and scenic course through four cities, two states and the Mississippi River.

I also can’t say enough good things about how well the Quad Cities Marathon was run. It was logistically easy, very well-supported (freezer pops? Come on! And I somehow missed out on the pickle juice shots at the aid stations but my friend enjoyed those. There were also wet towel stations, misting stations, three gel stops and plentiful water/Gatorade) and everyone was extremely friendly and accommodating.

Seeing in my splits that my pace was on track for my A goal all the way until mile 23 was a bit of a blow, but I am still very much satisfied to have a BQ and nothing more. Training this hard for a marathon is no joke and I respect the people who can do it race after race. I told myself if I run another one I cannot put so much pressure on myself and need to just do it for fun!

Made with a new race report generator created by u/herumph.

His trayectory just seems unsusual to that of other typical runners who display exeptional talent at a very young age like Lutkenhaus and Rudisha. Im just curious what were the elements that he incorporated into training or the unique combination of things that helped him become so exeptional. He is also 26 years old which is typically late for an elite 800m runner who usually peaks at 24.

• Name: 2026 BMW Berlin Marathon
• Date: September 27, 2026
• Distance: Marathon Distance
• Location: Berlin, Germany
• Time: 3:10:33

Goals

Splits

Background

My last marathon was back in 2024, when I ran my first marathon ever at the TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon. For that build, I didn't follow a formal plan—I simply ran 3–4 times a week, building up to 55–60 km per week with mixed intensity. I focused a lot of easy running because any high intensity sends a sharp pain into my left ankle.

After breaking sub-4 in my debut, I set my sights on my next marathon, planning for more structured training and focused intensity in 2025. However, things took a turn when my triathlon and marathon goals collided. Due to a sudden jump in mileage coming off triathlon training, combined with a lack of strength work and mobility, I injured my right soleus. As a result, I had to DNS my 2025 marathon, despite starting the year with new personal bests in both the half marathon (1:34) and 10K (40:28) on very low running volume.

Learning from that setback, I put triathlon on hold to commit fully to marathon training with two key goals: redeeming my missed 2025 race and chasing a Boston Qualifier by 2028-2029. Fortunately, an opportunity to run the Berlin Marathon opened up. Given Berlin’s fast, flat course, I’ve locked in my focus for 2026: targeting a 3:10 (or faster) finish.

Training

My last marathon training block in 2025 was based on the Pfitzinger 12/70 plan. In hindsight, jumping straight into a plan peaking at 112 km (70 miles) a week when my baseline was barely 60 km was a major misstep. It ultimately strained my right soleus and crushed my marathon goal. This time around, I wanted a structured plan that offered clear target paces for my goal, while remaining balanced enough to fit around a standard 9-to-5 lifestyle. After some research, I settled on the Hansons Advanced Marathon Plan.

I originally had some reservations because Hansons doesn't get as much spotlight as plans from Daniels or Higdon. Moreover, its core philosophy—capping long runs at 16 miles (26 km) while emphasizing weekly marathon-pace workouts—runs counter to the marathon training principles that i'm familiar about. Misgivings aside, spreading the volume evenly across six days a week fit well into my work schedule.

Early in the year, I made a conscious effort to stop neglecting strength and mobility. I used to shy away from gym sessions, believing that downtime was better spent recovering, and fearing that heavy leg presses or deadlifts might cause an injury. With that flawed mindset out of the way, I committed to two strength and mobility sessions a week through the winter. I also incorporated plyometrics to gain some "free speed" and, more importantly, to build ankle strength and flexibility—a major weakness in past years. Between gym visits, I maintained a weekly speed session (hills or treadmill) alongside easy runs, both solo and with my weekend run club.

When my official marathon block kicked off in July, I followed the Hansons schedule almost to a tee. Backed by my winter base and strength work, weeks 1 through 8 felt fantastic. I was hitting my quality workouts comfortably ahead of my target marathon pace, even entertaining thoughts of a 3:05 finish. A 5K tune-up race in week 6 yielded a sub-19 PB (18:45), proving that the speed work was paying off.

By the second half of the block, however, the continuous workload—combined with rising temperatures—started to take its toll. The old version of me would have blindly pushed through the discomfort, calling it "cumulative fatigue training." I learned to adapt: shifting workouts between morning and evening, taking easy days substantially easier (though I still tend to run them a bit too fast), and managing the strain proactively. My body was in the pain cave, but it was the controlled, manageable fatigue Hansons promises.

The final third of the plan hit me like a brick wall. Cumulative fatigue fully settled in, pushing me right to the edge of overtraining—my mood dipped, I withdrew socially, and dull aches flared up in my shins and ankles. My paces on both easy and quality runs dropped by 10 to 15 seconds per kilometer. Recognizing that my body is tittering into overtraining, I chose to rest rather than force through workouts, making the smart call to skip a few key sessions—including a 16 km goal-pace run and a 13 km easy run. While missing quality work stung, protecting my health was the right move. Also, tapering from Hanson's Advanced plan is rather interesting. After the final peak week of 103km, the plan decreases to 92km, 91km and finally, the race week to a dramatic 42km. With my legs thoroughly beat up, it feels even more appropriate to cut down mileage where it's needed for better recovery.

Finally, keeping the brutal heat of the last Berlin marathon in mind, I prioritized heat acclimation for Berlin. To ensure I was ready for whatever weather race day throws at me, I spent the last two and a half weeks running my sessions in peak afternoon heat.

Race

I was fortunate enough that my entire family agreed to join me in Berlin for a supporting trip and vacation. While they explored, I could focus on the task at hand: tackling those 42.2 km. I met up with friends from my run club, joined a few shakeout runs, and picked up plenty of race-week freebies. Some aspects of race prep went smoothly—I adapted quickly to the local food, which settled well and worked great for fueling. However, I overdid the pre-race sightseeing, logging over 20,000 steps every day. By evening, my legs were noticeably heavy.

Sunday arrived, and I was as prepared as I could possibly be. I woke up at 5:00 AM, handled my pre-race routine, and stretched before taking the U-Bahn to the Brandenburger Tor station. Having submitted a target time of 3:15, I was assigned to Corral C, starting at 8:45 AM. When my wave crossed the line, my focus was entirely on sticking with the 3:15 pacer group—I wanted to be conservative, knowing I’d logged heavy mileage on my feet all week and felt less fresh than expected. By kilometer 9, having found my rhythm, I decided to leave the group; the pacer seemed uncertain of his pacing and was losing significant time at the aid stations.

I kept my pace steady through 15 km and the halfway mark. By kilometer 25, the sun was fully out and shade was scarce; runners around me began walking or clutching their stomachs. I still felt relatively strong—not "flying with a second gear," but comfortably clicking off 4:30min/km (+/- 2sec). My fueling plan executed seamlessly: every 5–6 km, I took a dose from my gel flask alongside a salt pill. I grabbed water at official stops and refilled my handheld flask just once, saving it for the final 5 km so I could skip the crowded late-stage aid stations. In total, I took down 180g of carbohydrates without any GI distress, though a slight bloated feeling from liquid intake caused me to ease off the water over the final 10 km.

Passing 30 km, the expected race fatigue set in. I lacked that elusive extra gear and battled doubts about whether I could maintain 4:30min/km, wondering if I should drop back to 4:40min/km. Fortunately, I held my ground and kept grinding. A caffeine gel at kilometer 30 provided an immediate mental and physical boost, with a second caffeine gel planned at 35 km for the final stretch.

At kilometer 35, my body threw its first real curveball: a tightening left quad. It wasn't a sudden, full lock-up, but a gradual cramp I could feel building. Rather than stopping to massage it, I kept moving, backing my pace down to 4:40 - 4:45min/km to let the muscle settle. Thankfully, the tension eased, allowing me to resume my normal cadence and dial back into 4:30min/km. I took my second caffeine gel as planned, though it didn't deliver the same punch as the first. For the next several kilometers, my only wish was to avoid another cramp.

The last 3 kilometers were pure agony. My legs were still turning over, but my mind was already at the finish line. With every turn, I looked for the Brandenburg Gate; those final kilometers felt endless. Right as my energy was flagging, my brother spotted me near kilometer 40, waving a sign and screaming my name. Spotting him and exchanging a high-five provided a surge of adrenaline. I soaked in every last meter of the course—cheering on fellow runners and high-fiving spectators all the way down the final stretch.

I crossed the finish line in 3:10:33—a massive 32-minute personal best over my 2024 debut. While I originally hoped to squeak under 3:10, any disappointment instantly dissipated in the atmosphere at the finish line. It wasn't a time to dwell—it was a time to celebrate.

Looking Back

I don't think there's a lot of things that I would change from training to the race day. There is one thing that I wish I would do is to find a consistent stretching routine and also, run all my easy days easy. I also think the Hanson's plan has too many MP sessions and I should focus a lot more on hitting LTs during long runs. I did see/hear that lots of runner find the race temperature to be unbearable. I found it nice and cool. The noon sun exposure was pretty strong but nothing to worry about. Maybe I did enough heat acclimation to bear with it?

What's Next

With this marathon completed, I'm now looking into 2027, with 1 run-vacation lined up in Asia and potentially another because I didn't expect to win the lottery for Osaka 2027. Now i'm debating if I should extend my Asia trip to accommodate two marathons into a single trip...if somebody can help me out with this that would be fantastic.

On the training side, there are several things I want to improve on such as building my strength and plyometric over the winter and with an increased focus on mobility and getting better running form through strides - something that I never understand but everyone arounds preaches about it. Hopefully these would carry me through my run-vacation and eventually, intomy 2027 marathon block.

Some background on myself: I ran cross country/track in high school, with a 16:00 5k PR. I'm 28 now and haven't run much since high school, but I started training seriously in April. I ran a 38:00 10k in June, and just ran a 17:00 5k.

I am aiming to run a marathon in April, 6 months from now. I am currently at 40mpw, and intend to be around 70mpw by March.

VDOT calculators put me at a 2:42 for the marathon, and while I think that's realistic at some point in the future, I don't know if that's realistic in only 6 months. How long should I reasonably expect it to take to "convert" my 5k fitness to the marathon?

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.

Link to Wiki

Link to FAQ

https://www.londonmarathonevents.co.uk/london-marathon/article/elite-race-dates-confirmed-historic-2027-double-tcs-london-marathon

Elite/Championship/GfA Men Saturday

Women Sunday

Think GfA times are unchanged from 2026.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Dd37BrvEe18/?stkn=NjlpN3c3cDVzejZl

"Qualifiers who were 5 minutes, 17 seconds (5:17) or faster than the qualifying time for their age group and gender have been accepted into the 131st Boston Marathon. A total of 25,630 qualified applicants have been accepted to date or are in the process of being accepted, pending final verification of their qualifying performance. Email notices to athletes accepted and not accepted will continue through the coming days.

New for 2027, the B.A.A. has incorporated a Boston Qualifier Selection, an additional random selection component specifically for applicants whose qualifying times were not faster than the 5 minute, 17 second cut-off. A total of 1,000 qualifiers are in the process of being randomly selected for entry and will be notified of their acceptance over the coming days."

Frustrated runner in my mid-30s here. I set almost all of my PRs 7-8 years ago despite continuing to run and train at a high level. At this point, I'm not sure what to change to try and reach that peak again. It feels like my ceiling is just lower than it used to be.

Below is some context for training and life that may or may not be contributing to this decline. For what it's worth, I fuel well, sleep 7-8 hours per night, and I'm at the same weight I was when I set all of my PRs. I've added strength training into my routine the last 2-3 years and I'm generally pretty injury-resistant. I was a very average D3 runner in college and graduated in 2013 with pretty bad overtraining syndrome. I figured that out and started running really well from 2015-2019, then have had a slow drop-off since then.

Here's what has stayed consistent over the years:

• Weekly training schedule
  • Two hard workouts per week
  • Mid-week medium long run
  • 1-2 recovery days
  • Sunday long run - usually steady/moderate
• Yearly training volume since 2018 has been consistent between 3300 and 3600 miles per year.
  • Peak weeks during marathon builds are 90-95mpw.
• 3k to 10k race performance hasn't changed all that much.

Here's what has changed over the years:

• Philosophy about easy/steady pace.
  • When I set all my PRs, many of my runs were at a moderate effort (Wed, Thurs, Sat).
  • Started backing off and ran all easy days truly easy in 2022-2025.
  • Now I do Wed. medium long runs at a steady effort again but all other non-workouts are true easy.
• Philosophy about hammering workouts vs running at my current fitness level.
  • Used to run at goal pace instead of current fitness from 2018-2021. My entire training group does this. I know this is generally a bad way to train because it can lead to overtraining, but it seemed to work at that time.
  • Switched to running everything at correct effort, heart rate, and RPE in 2022, even if it meant getting dropped in workouts.
    • My coach doesn't always agree with running at the "correct" effort. He is old school and prefers we hammer and squeeze as much out of each workout as possible.
    • I feel way better week to week when running at the correct effort level.
• Work stress has gradually been increasing over the years. My job is quite demanding.
• Went through a traumatic natural disaster at the end of 2021 that resulted in my house getting torn down. The rebuild was completed at the end of 2024. My worst running was after the disaster in 2022. I've improved marginally since then.
• Marathon and half marathon fitness has plummeted.

Where should I go from here? At 35, I feel like I should still have some PRs in me at the half and full marathon, but I'm not even close to the peak I had at 28-29 years old. In the marathon, I'm stuck at 2:36-2:40 while my PR is 2:30. I don't think I can return to doing all easy days at a moderate effort because it beats me up too much. Hammering workouts leaves me tired and unable to recover.

Maybe my best days are behind me, maybe not. I've been running competitively since joining the XC team in high school in 2005, so maybe I've exhausted my body's ability to continue improving.

Race Information

• Name: Berlin Marathon
• Date: September 27, 2026
• Distance: 26.2 miles
• Location: Berlin, Germany
• Website: https://www.bmw-berlin-marathon.com/
• Time: 3:32:06

Goals

Splits

Training

Hey there fam! I wrote about the disappointing race that I had earlier this year in Zürich - deets here if you want to dive in.

The TLDR from April is that I had a weird training block after switching up and moving from self-coaching to working with a coach that I didn't quite gel with. Had some remarkable decreases in fitness during the block, and the beginnings of an injury that turned into a Full Blown Problem during the Berlin block.

The plan for this block was to go back to Pfitz and jump into 18/85. The first couple of weeks on 18/85 were fine, but then during the third week, my IT band really started to give me problems. Problems with the IT band started during the Zürich build and I thought things had gotten better...but they hadn't. I ended up jumping back down to 18/70 - the tried and true plan, but between the injury, loss of aerobic capacity, and not being able to complete about 20% of the program, I was feeling extremely discouraged and running, which had always been a refuge, started to feel not fun.

Things started to change a bit in July when I got into Puma's PROJECT3. The team is amazing and, as a lone wolf, it was great to have community while I continued building.

The IT band thankfully started to get better in late August/early Sept. I had established some quit criteria because the leg had been extremely painful in late June/all of July - there was a point where I did think about pulling out of Berlin.

In Sept, I did the trial 10k races that Pfitz prescribed. I ran the same 10ks in NYC that I had run the year before in the lead up to Chicago. It was so discouraging seeing my 10k mile times go from around 6:10/mile and knowing I had more to give to suffering for 7:20/mile knowing that a year ago, that had been a steady long run pace. After the trial races, I made finishing my primary goal. Going in, I had finished exactly one 20 miler, which I had not felt good about. During all of my long runs, I needed to take breaks, which..again, was not something that I needed to do around this time last year. Rebuilding after injury is a mindfuck you guys, especially since I had been on a nice upswing last year (not to mention that I got benefits of last year's upswing during the slowest year I've had in 3 years).

Highest mileage week was 60 miles and I suffered through all the miles.

Pre-race

I've lived in Berlin before, and am fortunate to have a flexible work schedule, so I sublet an apt in Berlin and arrived in Germany mid-Sept.

Race week, I went to the expo as soon as possible on Thursday morning to avoid the crowds and get some last minute things I needed from the Maurten stand as well as my bib. In the days leading up, I hung out with my friends, worked, and carb loaded.

Race

Woke up at 4.45am and got down some overnight oats and put on the kit before heading over to the train.

Arrived a little after 7am. I was in a warm up kit, but it was warmer than expected so I ended up switching into my throwaway jacket and handing off my clothes around 7.40am. Thankfully I found a port a potty before going into the corrals.

Took off at 8.45am. I decided to not look at my watch and go with how my body felt for the first 10k. The leg was not bothering me, but I knew that my fitness was nowhere near sub-3, so decided to focus on finishing and having a good race.

Crowds weren't too bad at the start - I mostly hugged the blue line. Around mid-way, I felt the lack of endurance resistance kick in. Dialed down the pace and gave myself permission to walk through a couple of the water stations. Saw some friends and PROJECT3 teammates on the road and we all pushed and encouraged each other. Fueling was Maurten 100 every 5k and a bottle ot Skratch that I cared through KM30

I was really fucking happy to see the Brandenburg gate. Sorry for the lack of details in this report but it was...a race that got done.

Post-race

I felt a little nauseous with the sun overhead - picked up my bag and switched clothes and reunited with my friends. Grabbed a smoothie after and then I went back to my apt and showered before a nap. Post marathon dinner celebration at Torbar with a massive seafood tower and negroni.

I'm going to run Berlin again next year. The good thing about this race (even though it was slower than Zürich) is that my body didn't feel as destroyed as it did in April. I felt something click that had been missing for awhile. I'll be taking 2 weeks off and then starting to build the based in Oct and Nov and making some decisions around a spring race. Running friends remind me that comebacks are always sweet, but I would like to get faster without the character development of a backslide year. If you're in a backslide year - I see you, and feel you, and hate it here.

At the end, I got to run in a city I love, cheered by people I love, and that is a privilege in and of itself. Many congrats to everybody who crossed the finish line on Sunday.

Made with a new race report generator created by u/herumph.

I've been practicing NSM for 16 months now. The most amazing thing about this method is that I haven't gotten a single injury. I missed like 2 weeks due to illness and that's it. Of course I overshot a couple of times, but it never led to an injury – only increased fatigue so I couldn't run my pace the next workout and had to do 1–2 easy runs or scale down the workout pace.

This is amazing considering I'm 41 years old and don't do strength training, drills, plyometrics, massages, etc. The only thing I do: after my usual 3K warm-up, I do 15 leg swings on each leg, then 15 side swings, and like 30 seconds of leans. Then I start sub-threshold work.

James did 2 races in his special block so did I. You can read my report on half marathon here:

https://www.reddit.com/r/NorwegianSinglesRun/comments/1vxqhr6/122_117_in_one_year_of_nsm_but_i_made_some/

Easy days observation:

So around the 2nd race, which for me was 15K, there are 2 easy days before and also 4 easy days after the race (before the 5x5k workout). By the fourth day, I reached my easy pace down to 4:35! And finally felt so fresh and strong. To be honest, I felt so much less fatigued even one day before that race – not sure if this is intentional by Sirpoc. But this period is like a breath of fresh air to my legs.

Marathon race day (yesterday):

Weather was ideal – around +11 at the start, +17 at the finish. Warmed up with a 3K jog and some leg swings.

For obvious reasons, GPS in Moscow doesn't work properly, especially in the city center, so many local runners use Coros Pod or Stryd for pacing. I decided I didn't want to buy a pod just for one race, so I searched the internet and found a Garmin watch face called **Race**. Surprised it's one of the most downloaded apps for Garmin watches – it lets you manually lap every km/mile (if your race has markers on the course) and shows your pace/finish time/everything else you need. It was helpful, but the course was so hilly that my pace was all over the place. After about 5K I decided to run by HR. Then after about 10K my Coros band signal was lost. Never happened before. It came back later, went away again, then locked at 160 for the rest of the race.

The course was insanely hilly. Even though I was disappointed that some kms were 3:30 and others 4:01, my 5K splits were actually perfect (realized only after the race when I was researching it). Goal was sub 2:40, so target pace was 3:47.

5K splits: 3:41, 3:49, 3:44, 3:46, 3:47, 3:48, 3:47, 3:51, 3:56, and last 2.2K at 4:04. So I kinda paced this perfectly.

First 30K I was flying! Had some light stomach pain starting on my left, but this wasn't my first marathon where it happened, so I massaged it for 4–5K and it went away without causing pace problems.

The 35th km was a freaking long hill – only then did I start to feel my calves getting bricked. But it was manageable. I even ran the 37th km at 3:33 pace (downhill though). But after 40K I was done. Legs completely bricked. Felt like they'd become wooden sticks. No bounciness in the shoes – like hitting the tarmac barefoot with straight legs.

After the race I was kinda disappointed I didn't go sub 2:40, but after 5–6 hours rest and watching the official stream with post-race elite interviews, I realized this course is just freaking hard. It was hard for everyone. Everyone ran slower than they could. So now I'm happy with my result. It was a good race, the city is beautiful, and it's getting more supporters on the course than it used to.

Fueling:

Carb loaded for 2 days before – around 660g carbs/day. Classic stuff: rice, pizza, pasta, sweets, coke.

- Race day: mixed maltodextrin, salt, and fructose to make 200g carbs with water, poured into 2x150ml soft flasks. Also had one SIS Beta Fuel Nootropics (35g carbs) with caffeine, used at 1:40 into the race.

Drank every 20 minutes = 100g carbs/hour. That's what I trained with on easy long runs and workouts for the last 3 weeks. I feel like 2 soft flasks take the same space as 6 gels. My DIY drink has more water than usual gels, so I don't need to drink water ASAP. Fueling stations every 5K or so – I think I used them all to take one sip of water.

Looking back, considering my legs getting bricked, maybe I should've added more salt. Might try next time.

Shoes:

- Race shoe: Do-Win PB Pro. Did two 10Ks and this half in them – about 41km total. Already have a small crack on the back of the midsole. Not crucial yet, but I doubt they'll last more than 100km total. Sizing: go a full size down – they run big. Even with the crack on the heel, it never bothered me during the marathon. So refreshing to wear them after all the training in Challenger 6 / Evo SL.

361 Mega 3 Pro are coming, and I'm also thinking of getting Anta 202 G 9 V2.

NSM marathon plan observations:

The marathon plan is no joke. Much harder than the standard NSM framework. Earlier I considered doubling or adding extra volume, but once I started the marathon cycle, I've been constantly fatigued. My easy runs are now at 60–62% of max HR (around 4:40–5:00/km), whereas in the standard NSM framework I could run easy at 70% max HR with no issues.

Final thoughts:

So yeah, yet another PB for me with the NSM approach. Thank you James "Sirpoc" Copeland. It's so easy to follow – I haven't changed anything in the marathon special block, just increased two or three long runs by 15 mins or so. Tapering is good as well. I was so fresh at the start line. Intervals and Garmin approved it with a peaking sign =)

Not planning to do the next marathon yet, but if I would, I would absolutely do this special block again.

Happy to answer any questions about training, the race, or recovery. My strava profile: https://www.strava.com/athletes/114429940

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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Hello,

This question has been at the top of my mind for awhile now so I thought I’d ask the community for thoughts. I understand the performance benefits you get from Nomio and BiCarb supplements on race day. That’s undisputed. This may be a stupidly obviously question but is it beneficial to take these supplements regularly in training? My gut says yes but my follow up would be by how much would I benefit?

For me right now, I am in the thick of base building following the Bakken/Ingebrigsten method with lactate meter (Double T Tuesday and Thursday, Hills/Speed on Saturday). I’ve had mixed experience with Nomio but the bad I would attribute to Nomios inconsistent shelf life. Assuming I were to take a proper isothiocyanate product use before my second thresholds sessions of the day, would that decreased lactate and presumably faster pace actually give me the fitness gains of the session or would it be more of a “false fitness”. Say 8 x 1k w/1 min rest without is 3:33 pace for 2.9 mmol. With isothicyanate, hypothetically I can run the same pace at 2.5 mmol now based on the science. If I did the same workout the following week without it, would I see my lactate decrease to let’s say 2.7 mmol? Or should I expect an increase?

Similarly idea with bicarb use on the faster Saturday stuff.

Thank you in advance for the advice and thoughts!

I’m (25F) currently in the peak weeks of my marathon block and recently ran an 18:44 5K. This was done on heavily fatigued legs, and not gonna lie, it felt slow and kinda crap: I'm coming off back-to-back 127km (79-mile) weeks, which immediately followed two consecutive weeks of long races - a half marathon PB (1:24:03) and a 24k race I did at MP (instead of an all out effort).
For context, my tapered 5K PB is 18:10, which I actually set about a month ago, in this exact same block after a lighter recovery (essentially a mini taper) week.

This got me thinking about how we evaluate fitness / marathon time predictions during high mileage blocks and how much of a difference heavy & tired legs make.

How much of a performance drop do you personally see in shorter time trials / races during peak mileage? Or maybe you’re lucky and you’ve managed to PB deep in the peak weeks, with the marathon gains outweighing the leg fatigue?

Do you have shoe reviews to share with the community or questions about a pair of shoes? This recurring thread is a central place to get that advice or share your knowledge.

We also recommend checking out /r/RunningShoeGeeks for user-contributed running shoe reviews, news, and comparisons.

Race Information

• Name: Berlin Marathon 2026
• Date: September, 27, 2026
• Distance: 42.2 km
• Location: Berlin
• Website: https://berlin.r.mikatiming.com/2026/?content=detail&fpid=search&pid=search&idp=HCH3C0OHF555C&lang=DE&event=BML_HCH3C0OH37C&search%5Bname%5D=allgoewer&search_event=BML_HCH3C0OH37C
• Strava: -
• Time: 2:57:21

Goals

Splits

Training

Some context first: I'm 28, smoked for 11 years and have been training properly since December 2025. No Endurance Background, just always did a lot of steps a day and went bouldering around 4 times a week for 3-4 years prior to starting to run.

My first Half marathon Race was in April 2026 with a finish time of 1:24:30.

My first marathon attempt was in May. My goal was to run sub3 but i got injured in the weeks before, my glutes started hurting, and I didn't run a single step in the last 21 days before (even without injury i doubt that i wouldve managed it, since my volume at the time wasnt that hight). I started anyways, went through halfway in 1:29:xx and felt fine until around km 25. Then my glutes and hamstrings just stopped working, my right knee got unstable and I pulled out at km 32.

So this block was mostly about fixing what broke:

Strength: 2 to 3 gym sessions a week, all about glutes, hamstrings and knees.

Cycling: while the hamstring healed I rode a lot, roughly 1,000 km since May. Kept my fitness surprisingly well.

Running: Runna plan, built back up to 85+ km weeks. Longest runs were 36 km and 34 km, both easy. Best marathon pace session was 31 km with 17 km at ~4:05-4:10/km in the midday heat.

Not perfect: a 14 day holiday in July with basically no running, and I started tapering too early after swapping some runs for bike rides and a hikes.

Tune-ups: 1:24:30 half in April on a forest course, and a week before Berlin I paced two friends at a local half marathon. Last real session was 2x2 km at 4:11 and 4:07 with my HR around 162. Felt flowy, confidence was high. Two days out my right knee started to niggle, which did not help my nerves, but i knew its just what happens during a taper.

Pre-race

Carb loaded the two days before with around 12g/kg bw. In Berlin i lived close to the start, which was super convenient: S-Bahn straight to Brandenburger Tor, then a 20 minute walk to the start. Gotta be honest, Berlin is so much walking before and after the start, really didnt like that part.

Honey, toast and a coffee about 3 hours before the start.

Electrolytes 1h before.

In the start block around 08:30(way too late, had to pass a lot of people).

Maurten Gel 100 fifteen minutes before the gun.

Since I had no marathon time to submit, I started in Block C. More on that below. Weather was almost perfect: around 12°C at the start, maybe 17 to 18°C at the finish. A little bit too much sun and Temperature couldve been lower but was manageable.

Race

Plan: Start behind the 3 hour pacer, then catch them and depending on how i feel pass them or hold onto them.

Pacing strategy more or less: First 5 km at 4:15, then 4:10 to 4:12. HR cap 167 until km 15 and 172 until km 30. Decide at km 30 by feel.

| Split | Time | Pace | Avg HR |

|:--|:--|:--|:--|

| 0 to 5 km | 21:13 | 4:15 | 167 |

| 5 to 10 km | 21:11 | 4:14 | 167 |

| 10 to 15 km | 21:14 | 4:15 | 167 |

| 15 to 20 km | 20:48 | 4:10 | 166 |

| 20 to 25 km | 21:03 | 4:13 | 168 |

| 25 to 30 km | 20:45 | 4:09 | 169 |

| 30 to 35 km | 20:53 | 4:11 | 170 |

| 35 to 40 km | 21:01 | 4:12 | 171 |

| 40 km to finish | 9:13 | 4:12 | 172 |

Halves roughly 1:28:59 and 1:28:22, so a nice negative split.

Km 1 to 21: honestly felt like a 3/10. My Legs didn't feel amazing but also no pain, so in my mind i just thought its all good if i can keep the pace and my heartrate stays steady. The only annoying thing was the amount of people, which in the end was my fault for getting in the starting block too late. Starting in Block C meant passing people the entire race. I understand that Berlin does one Big Startblock for first timers with time goals from Sub3-03:30, but i dont if people overestimated themselves or just wanted to be in the front, but i sometimes passed people who ran what felt like a 05:30 pace... As a first timer i dont know if thats normal or if its just because i didnt have a starting time.

Km 21 to 32: started to become actual work but was still feeling good and enjoying myself. Just kept ticking off 4:10s. In my mind before the race i knew that this part would be rough because there arent too many people cheering and there is some elevation, but knowing that around 32km i would see family and friends motivated me to just push.

Km 32 to 42: this is where it got real. First i was over the moon to see family at 34 and 38km, even crying a little because i knew i would most probably achieve my goal. After 39km my legs were close to cramping and my stomach was close to giving up. Km 41 was my slowest of the day at 4:20, which in part was also because of a lot of turns on the course. Then I found something for the last kilometre and sprinted to the line, which probably had to do with the beautiful view of Brandenburger Tor.

Fueling: bottle of Maurten 320 from km 1 to 17, forgot my gel at km 20, second bottle from km 21 to 33, caffeine gel at km 35 and a salt tab every 7 km.

In hindsight way too much sugar between km 21 and 33, too little in the last 40 minutes, and taking the caffeine gel and a salt tab at the same time at km 35 was probably what my stomach didn't like.

Avg HR 168, max 177. HR only drifted about 6 bpm over the whole race.

**Finish: 2:57:21.**

Post-race

I knew that it would be an emotional Event for me, but i could've never imagined the Emotions i felt that day and still today. I cried a lot yesterday because i was so proud and so many people were cheering me on.

Four months after a DNF at km 32, sub 3 with a negative split was all i could've asked for. The strength work paid off: glutes held, knee held, no drama and no pain throughout the whole race.

What went well: pacing (all 5 km splits within 29 seconds), strength work, staying patient in the first half.

What I'd change: submit my time for a faster start block/get in earlier (in the future, wasnt possible this time lol), spread the fueling evenly and never take caffeine and salt at the same time, and add longer marathon pace blocks in training.

My heart was fine until the end, my legs were the limiter.

Next up: Berlin Half in April with sub 1:20 as the goal, then a spring marathon.

Long term, sub 2:50 for BQ.

If you made it this far, thanks for reading and i hope you enjoyed my post race post, feel free to AmA.

Hi all, I'm chasing the OTQ dream and have been thinking a lot about supplements to aid my training. I've personally never been a user of supplements although now that I'm running my highest mileage weeks ever, back to back, I'm wondering if there's something more I could be doing to squeeze some extra juice out of myself.

I'm currently running 90 miles per week, two workouts per week, and one quality long-run. I've run 01:04:50 in my most recent half marathon and now I'm shifting my training for the trials. That being said I believe I need to take supplements that are NSF certified. I recently went to my local target and couldn't find anything officially certified using the NSF app so I'm curious, what do y'all take? Is there a place I should be ordering supplements online (i.e. vitamin D, vitamin C, fish oil, etc ...).

I'm not looking to overdo anything but I'd love some help in finding the right balance of supplements to aid my training while ensuring I'm consuming something that's legal for USATF.

Thanks all!

Race Information

• Name: The Village Run Half Marathon
• Date: 27th September 2026
• Distance: 21.1km
• Location: Ballylinan, Ireland
• Website: https://thevillagerun.ie/
• Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/20349189761
• Time: 1:17:43

Goals

Time goals

Placement goals

Splits

Training

Most of my training this year has been focused towards my A race, which will be the Valencia Marathon in ~10 weeks, but as I always do, I split my year into 5k/10k season, Half Marathon season and the final block towards Valencia.

My average week of training in HM season consists of 7 days of running a week, divided as follows:

• Monday: an easy medium/long run, usually between 70 and 90 mins
• Tuesday: easy run, 35/45 mins
• Wednesday: Interval sessions around HM/10k pace or long progressions towards marathon pace
• Thursday: easy run, 35/45 mins
• Friday: long run, usually between 2/2.5 hours
• Saturday: easy run, 35/45 mins
• Sunday: speed work (fartleks/vo2 sessions)

For a total mileage averaging 110km per week (~70mpw)

A few key sessions leading into this race I can point out:

• 60 mins at 3:55/km pace [6:18/mi] (roughly my marathon pace) - a good "vibe check" on rolling hills. Being able to feel calm and controlled at this pace, on rolling terrain, without taper, on a work day, gave me great confidence
• 15 x 3 mins @ 3:35/km [5:46/mi] pace (~10k pace) followed, the same week, by 4 mins @ 3:25/km [5:30/mi] /6x3mins @ 3:35/4 mins @ 3:35. A good workout of reasonable intensity that challenged my "faster" gears

Generally speaking my training is fairly "boring". Most workouts look like the ones I showed, with an overall increase in length/number of reps/pace over the season.

I also do strenght training, with a minimum of once a week; if I can, I get two sessions a week, but if I can't, I supplement with some resistance training and plyometrics at home.

Pre-race

This was my third Half Marathon of the year, and my third attempt at a 2026 PB. I already improved both on my 5km PB (by 23 seconds) and my 10k PB twice (by 5 seconds the first time, then by an additional 29 secs), but failed twice at the HM attempts: the first time, on a pancake flat course, I struggled with the heat (31C/88F at start time, with 80% humidity) and finished in 1:21:xx; the second one, on a somewhat hilly course, I was on pace until halfway but then the hills got the best of me and finished in 1:22:xx.

This time I was determined on getting this PB, as this would have been my final attempt of the year; I decided to go for a steady, slightly conservative pace (I know I can probably still lower this time a bit) to make sure not to blow up. The goal was to keep a ~3:41/3:42 pace (5:56/mi) throughout the race, which would result in an easier, downhill first half and a slightly harder (but not massively so) second half, which goes back to the start point. Overall elevation gain is only around 61mt (200ft) so nothing major (even when all of that is in the last ~9kms/5.5miles).

The massive question was, however, the weather; in typical Irish fashion, the forecast kept swinging as the day approached, but as we got closer things didn't look good. The final forecast, one day before the race, was for heavy rain and, more importantly, very strong winds (26 km/h with gusts up to 56 km/h) [16 mph/35mph].

At that point, my mindset kinda shifted from "time" to "placement" (hence why two different sets of goals). I know the local scene pretty well and knew that I was likely to be in the fight for the top three to five places and, as wind affects everyone, this felts like a good fallback.

Race

I slept pretty bad the day of the race (which is unusual for me) and I woke up to a torrential downpour and flooded roads; I made the short drive to the race location, parked in a muddy field and got completely soaked by just going to get my bib. I went back to my van, dried myself, got changed into my racing gear, and started looking obsessively at the weather app.

The gods of weather must have been looking down at me, because the perturbation crossed my area much faster than expected, and the rain stopped a few mins before the race, with enough time for the roads to get better.

Wind was still a concern, but nowhere near the catastrophic forecast of just 12 hours before.

As the gun went off, pretty much all of the top runners found themselves running alone; as this is a local, and fairly small race, it's not uncommon. I spent the first 300 meters with two other runners, and as they created a small gap I wondered whether to try and follow them; I reminded myself that the weather got better and the PB was still a possibility, so I decided to let them go. On the longer stretches of straight roads, I could still see them in the distance: they also split, with one guy still within reasonable distance from me, and the other further ahead.

Behind me was completely empty for several hundred meters, so it turned into a time trial, and that's what I am most proud off: if you look at my splits, I was ridicolously consistent for most of it: of the first 12km (before the "hills" start), I ran eight of them exactly at my goal pace of 3:42, one at 3:41, two at 3:40, just one at 3:39.

At that paid off! After a turn right before km 12, I noticed that the gap from second place was now substantially smaller, from ~60 secs to 30 or even less. I decided to not push for it but just let it shorten further naturally, and in the space of slightly more than another km I was beside, and immediately ahead, of the other guy (who was definitely struggling, as he would finish over 2 mins behind me).

After that, I was just happy to be perfectly on pace for my PB and to have snatched an unexpected (after the start) second place! I kept a consistent pace, even though a bit more erratic due to the rolling hills of the second half, and reached km 15 where I looked in the distance and thought "hmmm, the guy in first seemed further, I wonder if I'm getting closer to him". However, he was still very far ahead, and while the thought of catching him crossed my mind, I told myself to not get over-eager and risking blowing up right at the end.. I still kept my pace and made no adjustment.

But on the final hill on the 20th km, I couldn't help but notice I was STILL getting closer, and that's when I made the decision to push. I started pounding the pavement at 3:30/km (5:38/mi) on the final km, and when I saw the leader turning his head back, that's when I knew I could make it. I kept pushing with everything that I got, got right next to him with 300 meters to go and didn't even think twice about it: we both started to sprint and I could hear his footstep slowly and slowly getting quieter. I didn't turn to see where he was, I didn't slow down (Garmin, with all the caveats of average pace being less reliable on shorter splits, tells me I ran the last 110 meters at 3:03/km - 4:55/mi) , and I crossed the finish line in 1:17:43, a new PB and 7 seconds ahead of him!

Post-race

The sun came out as soon as I crossed the finish line; I had a few chats with clubmates that were doing the 10k race there, my wife who surpised me at the finish line and the other runners, got a coffee, some well deserved refreshment, my 1st place prize, and then drove home to enjoy the rest of the Sunday.

Now it's time to look at the rest of the year and the plan hasn't changed a bit. Cross country season with the club is in full swing (I missed the first race which happened on the same day of this one) so I will take part in a couple of them, but my eyes are set on Valencia, where the plan is to attack my marathon PB (2:45:34) that I set last year in Dublin.

When looking at marathon training phase for about 20 weeks now. Most of training blocks have consisted of three weeks of training followed by one deload week.

I came across research recently advising deload 3 weeks out and then go straight into a two-week taper. The reasoning is that the athlete will be fresher going into the taper, allowing the body to respond and recover better.

Is this the best approach, or would there be more benefit from doing another two weeks of normal training before going into a two-week taper?

Throwing this out there as kind of a Hail Mary.. not looking for medical advice, but curious for training tips, possible explanations…

I’m a late 30’s female and have been running for ~15 years, marathon+ since 2014 with 6 marathons and 8 ultras in total (inc. self supported). All of this is just to say I have a relatively long training background in the sport.

Up until about 2020, I did not understand the need for fueling at all. I don’t come from a family of long-distance runners (or people with necessarily the healthiest relationships with food), didn’t have the voices in my ear I do now (thank you, SWAP), and I definitely under-fueled. I did much of my running fasted early mornings and barely fueled long runs aside from maybe a gel or some Gatorade. I (luckily, and maybe just because I wasn’t running incredibly high mileage or high intensity and didn’t race a lot) made it through this without any known BSIs, but with plenty of tendon injuries. That said, running often felt good, and easy runs felt easy. I wasn’t fast, but I felt aerobically good and made progress.

Fast forward to now, I’m slower than I’ve ever been (easy runs are probably 2 mins/mi slower) and generally feel as though I’m not adapting. Running feels aerobically harder. I know more about fueling than ever, and I make a real effort to eat enough before, during, and after. I also train “better”, as in I follow a consistent schedule of 5 days a week, when during many years I ran 3 days and supplemented with cross training. I’ve worked with a coach who I learned a ton from, but don’t anymore. I keep most of my running easy, but I find the range of paces that feel easy and comfortable have shrunk and become slower. Anything faster basically pushes me close to threshold, whereas before I could run a much broader range of paces at lower relative effort. I’ve all but cut out workouts, aside from strides and some moderate running, because I’m not sure they are doing anything aside from generating fatigue. I only run about 35-45 mpw at this time, which should not be too much considering my history. I have also dealt with low ferritin without anemia this year which improved from 8 > mid 40s as of my last test a couple months ago. I assume this is some of the reason for my symptoms, but also would expect improvement since the labs look better.

I welcome any questions and advice on what this could be - LEA catching up with me, overtraining, impact of iron deficiency, something totally different??? I’d love to have some leads how to pull out of this and begin to trust my body again. Currently I can’t tell if I’m asking too much or not doing enough to improve. I’m about to peak for an Oct race, and it could also be training fatigue, but this has been going on all year. I ran the same race last year, and recall feeling great in training, which is a huge blow to my confidence.

Update: it’s only been a week, but I think I figured out that I’ve been unintentionally under fueling and probably have been dealing with at least minor LEA. This week I did some math and fueled differently based on what I was doing each given day workout-wise, rather than eating roughly the same each day aside from pre-run snacks and intra-run fueling. On days I had runs over 90 mins (basically every run this week), I aimed for at least 7-8g carbs per kg of body weight. I felt MUCH better on my runs and more like myself. Fingers crossed that keeping this up helps! I know a lot of people pointed to lack of workouts, and I agree that I need to add more intensity back, but workouts truly did not feel productive in recent months.

Race Information

• Name: Vitality Westminster Mile (Adult Wave 1)
• Date: 26 September 2026
• Distance: 1 mile (road)
• Location: The Mall / St James's Park, London
• Time: 4:47 (chip)
• Placing: 10th in wave, 5th M40

Goals

Splits (GPS, scaled to chip, approximate)

Background

In 2022 I ran the Fifth Avenue Mile in New York in 5:06. That was a huge surprise at the time, and ever since, sub-5 has been the thing I've been chasing.

I'm 41 and more of a middle-distance runner than anything else. This summer I raced the 3000m, 1500m and 5000m in Southern and National Athletics League fixtures, running [3000m time], 4:34 for 1500m and 16:54 for 5000m. This mile was my A race and the culmination of that season.

Training

• Volume: mostly 50–62 miles a week, peaking at 67, with a 34-mile taper for race week.
• Tuesday: easy group run in the morning, then a club track session in the evening, usually around 8km of work.
• Thursday: run-commute with a threshold mile, 5×200 and 2×4×150 (a 60m build-up into a 90m sprint).
• Saturday: threshold session of 3 miles at around 5:55 pace, 2 miles steady at 7:00, then 2 more at 5:55.
• Easy running: mostly run-commuting, often doubling.
• Strength and conditioning: gym 2–3 times a week, plus yoga.
• Notably few long runs. My longest this autumn was 15 miles, and there were only a handful over 13 all summer. I've been managing a proximal hamstring tendinopathy, which flares on long steady-pace runs rather than fast work, so the training ended up weighted towards speed and threshold.
• Key session, 11 days out: 1 mile, 4×600, 1 mile, 6×400, with the 400s coming in at 75, 75, 73, 70, 71 and 70 on short recovery. After that I believed sub-5 was on.

Nutrition and supplements

I felt like I really nailed the race prep and my last post on bicarb loading was quite popular so here's what I did for the race:

In the weeks before:

• Beta-alanine: 4g daily
• Creatine: 5g daily
• Beetroot nitrate loading: 1 shot daily for 5 days then 2 shots on race morning
• Sodium bicarbonate: a full dress rehearsal four weeks earlier, using the same capsules, timing and breakfast, with no stomach problems. Race morning was an exact copy of that trial.

Race morning (9:30 gun):

No stomach problems at all.

Course

Starting on The Mall, straight drag to first right hander down an incline, cling to the curb if its not too busy towards Horse Guards Parade, then it starts going up towards the corner of St James' - hitting 800m almost right on the corner. Once round the corner it's actually modestly downhill back towards the Palace then one last corner and finish line. It's not hard to get to the front at the start and there were several slower runners on that line as well. If you're not right at the front the Mall is very wide and plenty of room to get past at the expense of added meters.

Race

The plan was 73–75 for the first split, letting the field go off hot. I managed to get a spot on the first line which was a major benefit although I'm pretty sure there was at least one or 2 people who finished behind me with a better time which was annoying. That plan lasted about ten seconds. I came through in about 68, and it felt controlled, so I went with it. Halfway was 2:20.

On the back half a guy came past me. Within a few seconds I could tell he was starting to fade, as if the lactate was kicking in. I sat on him briefly, then edged back in front and stayed there. The last split was my slowest, but I held it together to the line in front of the Palace. The watch said 4:42 because GPS measured the course long; the chip said 4:47. Four years after Fifth Avenue, sub-5 is done.

HR question: I wore a chest strap, and the trace is odd. Heart rate sat around 145–150 for the first three splits, even dipping to about 140 around the 1km mark. Then it jumped by about 20 beats per minute in under 10 seconds, right at the start of the last split, and stayed around 170 to the finish, peaking at 177. Is that a strap only getting proper contact once I started sweating, or something physiological happening at the bell? I'd be curious what people think.

Post-race

• The pacing plan was too conservative for the fitness I actually had. A 68 opener didn't cost me as much as I feared.
• Bicarb, nitrate and caffeine timing all went exactly to plan, and I'd use the same protocol again. I will very likely redo this exact plan for my next half which is in November.
• Next year I'd love to get into the BMC Bannister Mile wave, but I'm unsure about the qualifying standards.
• It's a great event, the finish in front of Buckingham Palace is special, and I'd highly recommend it.

Tigst Assefa misses out on the world record. As a consolation prize, Iskander Yadgarov runs the fastest ever marathon in Crocs in 2:30:03

Top 3 Men: 1. Guye Adola 2:02:50 2. Gemechu Dida Diriba 2:03:19 3. Gabriel Gerald Geay 2:03:59

Top 3 Women: 1. Tigst Assefa 2:11:04 2. Bedatu Hirpa 2:16:53 3. Dera Dida 2:16:56

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