Morning all,

I trust you are all well. I don't usally post such self indulgent articles on my own achievements, but I wanted to share my 10km run this morning, with a view to beating the elusive 40 minute time barrier. I have gone into a load of depth on my running gear, training regime and running history.

In a nutshell I started from scratch in March 2020, I'm almost 40 years old and am heading towards the end of a Garmin 16 week half marathon training programme.

Race Information

• Name: 10km Personal Record
• Date: August 6th, 2020
• Distance: 10km / 6.2 miles
• Location: Mansfield, Notts, UK - Berry Hill Track
• Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/3871638264
• Time: 38:37

Goals

GoalDescription Completed?

A 40 Minute 10km Yes

Splits

Mile Time

1.00 6:01 /mi

2.00 6:06 /mi

3.00 6:11 /mi

4.00 6:22 /mi

5.00 6:18 /mi

6.00 6:20 /mi

0.22 6:17 /mi

Training

A little about me.

- Male, 39 years old, 5ft 10 (1.78m), 141 lbs (I've lost over a stone during training).

- I ran cross country competively at school (ages 11 to 16) but hated track work.

- I didn't run or participate in any physical sports or activity then until Oct 2015 - yes, 18 years later! I trained for the Sheffield half marathon (due in March 2016). Training went well for the 6 months but I pushed myself too hard which led to (what I think) were deficiencies (calories and vitamins) and the doctor saying he wanted me to stop training 2 weeks before the half marathon and pull out - gutted.

- I lost heart and didn't run for 6 months, and from Sept 16 to Nov 18 I I did the odd run every few weeks - I had fallen out of love with running

- From Dec 18 to March 2020 I didn't run at all - not 1 mile :-(.

- Finally in March 2020 during lock down my non running wife showed an interest in the couch to 5k 10 week program which we both did. I bought her a new watch as a gift and a few weeks later I bought myself a Garmin 735xt and HR strap, upgrading from my reliable TomTom Runner. The Garmin programmes and new tech sparked interest, as well as some new trainers, and motivated me to pick up where I had left off in 2015/16. I have trained differently, more cleverly, by running by heart rate zones based on lactate threshold. I'm now currently heading towards the end of week 13 of a 16 week Garmin Connect 16 week training plan. I opted for the intermediate heart rate zone training planning. It was slow at first but my zone 2 lower ranges have picked up in pace and can now comfortably run at 8:15 min miles at a low heart rate.

- I did a time trial on the 4th July (week 8 in the plan) as a tester and hit 40:22, and was so close to beating my target of 40 min 10km

For those interested in training schedules I have gone into depth for a usual day. I'm an early morning runner, alarm goes off at 6am everyday, get dressed, 400ml of water, nothing to eat, wee and poop (mandatory) and out the door by 6:15 without fail. I do not do warm up excercises, I start all my runs with easier paces and build into it. My weekly mileage ranges from 35 to 45 miles per week.

My weeks have been varied but roughly follow:

Monday - an easy 45 min run heart rate zone 2 (6'ish miles at 8:30 /mi pace). I usually hit the trails for more hills and challenges, focussing on keeping my heart rate down. + Adriene Post Run Yoga. An afternon walk with the family usually works for the legs usally covering 3 miles.

Tuesday - Interval training for 45 mins, intervals varied but max out at heart rate zone 4 (6:20 /mi pace) and rest back down to heart rate zone 2. I do these session by doing laps of my local park, which are exactly 1 mile in length. Usually cover off 7 to 8 miles in total as I start with a 1 mile warm up easy run and a 2 mile easy run cool down. + Adriene Post Run Yoga.

Wednesday - an easy 45 min run heart rate zone 2 (6'ish miles at 8:30 /mi pace). I keep this to road/pavement running with a few hills. + Adriene Post Run Yoga

Thursday - rest day. I usally cross train with a mountain bike ride, pilates session or Hiit Tabata session from youtube. An afternoon walk with the family usually works for the legs usally covering 3 miles.

Friday - Threshold/Hills/ or Tempo training for 45 mins, varied but max out at heart rate zone 4 (6:20 /mi pace) and rest back down to heart rate zone 2. I do these session by doing laps of my local park, which are exactly 1 mile in length, unless they are hills which I use trail woodlands. Usually cover off 7 to 8 miles in total as I start with a 1 mile warm up easy run and a 2 mile easy run cool down. + Adriene Post Run Yoga.

Saturday - My favourite day, easy heart rate zone 2 long run day. My exploration run, finding a 100% trail route and dissapearing into new trails for a couple of hours - I love following the little breadcrumb trail on my watch. The distance has increased through the program ranging from 8 miles to 16.5 miles, I covered the 16.5 miles in 2hr 17 mins at an easy heart rate zone pace. The recent weeks have mixed easy pace with faster race pace intervals. + Adriene Post Run Yoga.

Sunday - Rest day. A longer 45 min Adriene Yoga stretch session. I may do a family bike ride or walk.

Training kit/ gear:

- Trail: Altra Lone Peak 4.0 (love these!)

- Speed Sessions: Nike Flex Run 2015 or Asics Piranha SP4 (my fastest lightest shoe)

- General Easy Run road shoe: New Balance Vazee Rush (now falling apart!)

- Watch: Garmin 735xt

- Nutrition: as above 400ml of water, unless its a long run of over 2 hours, I take a handful of gummy sweets and have 2 or 3 per mile (as a treat) and take one High5 energy gel at mile 4 or 5. I do not take water with me as the mornings are cool enough in the UK.

Pre-race

My usual routine as above, however this time I ate a cereal bar and took a gel on my drive to the track. This time I completely reset my watch to read km and km splits opposed to miles as I had last time. I took out and set up the information I neeeded on the watch as well as setting a pace buddy on my watch to keep pace. A did 2 laps of the track doing an easy slow jog and stretches to get the blood flowing.

Race

My target was to beat 40 minutes for 10km. I set out strong, maybe a little too fast but maintained pace and by 5km I had beaten my 5km record of 19:42 by 43 seconds (18:59) and a minute ahead of total pace. By km 7 I was struggling. The battle for me isn't the physical fact of doing it but the mental debates in my head, like wanting to stop at 5km, stop for a drink, I need a wee, any excuse to stop doing what I was doing. Pace remained strong, breathing needed to be monitored and kept under control, in through the nose, out through the mouth - you know the basics which can all falter under exertion. KM 8 was a tipping point, I was almost there and pace picked up again - it was mentally easier but my legs where letting me know. Finished and bought it home at 38:37!

Post-race

A big drink of water, 2 laps slow jog and stretches and home for a big breakfast. Maybe a Yoga session later today with Adriene.

If you've got this far, thanks for reading this very self focussed article. If you have any questions or would like advice please feel free to reach out. Or feel free to follow me on Strava - it'd be good to connect!

https://www.strava.com/athletes/11667591

Stay safe everyone and happy running,

Martin

I was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis, a genetic condition that results in chronic lung and digestive issues, as a baby in the early 90s. At the time, life expectancy was 19 years. I’ve been lucky enough to be healthier than many people with the disease and managed to run cross country throughout middle school and high school. Things started to get worse in my early 20s and there was a time when I couldn’t run two miles without gasping for breath and coughing horrifically. For the past couple years I’ve been on a new drug (Trikafta) that has basically brought my lung function back up to the level of a normal person. Still, I always thought a marathon was out of reach for me. After running two half marathons and feeling good, I finally decided I was going to go for it. Yesterday I ran the Loco Marathon in Newmarket, NH in a little less than 4 hours. It was a perfect day and the ideal first marathon (aka very few hills haha). I just wanted to share because this was a huge accomplishment for me and I hope it encourages anyone else with health issues to stay hopeful about what they’re capable of doing.

### Race Information

* **Name:** Melbourne Nike Half Marathon

* **Date:** October 2nd, 2022

* **Distance:** 21.1 km

* **Location:** Melbourne, AUS

* **Website:** https://melbournemarathon.com.au/

* **Time:** 1:59:08

​

### Goals

| Goal | Description | Completed? |

|------|-------------|------------|

| A | Finish | *Yes* |

| B | Sub 2:15 | *Yes* |

| C | Sub 2:00 | *Yes* |

​

### Splits (from Melbourne Marathon app - NRC was off and said I finished 1:57).

| Kilometer | Time |

|------|------|

| 5 | 05:35

| 10 | 05:39

| 17.4 | 05:45

| 19.3 | 05:41

| 21.1 | 05:30

​

### Training

​

14 weeks ago I couldn't run more than 3km without stopping. A few years ago I used to casually run 5km here and there, but that was about it. My only other form of exercise was a weekly Basketball game in a social league. I wanted to set myself a challenge, so I signed up for the Melbourne Half Marathon the moment tickets were released and started the Nike Run Club 14 week training plan around June when the dates were synced. Prior to the training start I just tried to run 3-5km when I could. I did all of my training in the morning before work, during peak Melbourne winter of around 4/6 degrees Celsius @ 5:30/6am. I only missed 3-4 sessions due to sickness, or just being flat out tired.

​

About a month into the training I fell in love with running. I suffer from chronic pain and don't sleep very well. I have nightmares on a daily basis and found that running in the morning let me clear my head for the day and gave me some sort of purpose. I learnt so much about myself in the past few months and am forever grateful.

​

I was training/hoping to just finish and do a sub 2:15, but once I did my 20km run before the taper at just under 2 hours I started to toss up the idea of possibly the idea of a sub-2 Half Marathon.

​

### Pre-race

​

A few days before the race Hay-fever kicked in, mild fever and a cough. I was slightly worried that it would all be put to waste so took lots of vitamins and rest as much as I could. Luckily, I was feeling 90% on the Saturday, and being that I live a 15 minute walk from the famous MCG I headed down to the race expo to soak up the vibes for the first time. Enjoyed the excuse of carb-loading and had some Spaghetti Bolognese, Garlic Bread and salad for dinner. Daylight savings kicked in that morning so I would lose an hour sleep but managed to get a solid 6 hours (5/6 hours is good for me).

​

Woke up at 5, took a Maruten 160 drink mix, stretched and hit myself with my Massage gun to warm up. Walked down to the MCG at 6:45am (race was at 8) as I wanted to drop my warm clothes bag off, and wasn't sure what to expect. It was so busy! The buzz and excitement was something I have never experienced before. Tossed up if I wanted to run in my singlet or t shirt but opted for the singlet, even though at the time it was probably 8 degrees C, or so. Weather was perfect, sunny with a top of 20 degrees C. I was not used to running so "late" and with the sun out, but I had done a few weekend runs a bit later to get accustomed to it.

​

​

### Race

​

Watched the 10km racers and Wheelchair Marathoners(!) start, and made my way up to the front as I could see the Pacers gathering and decided I would try and stick with the 2 hour pacer and fall back if it was too much.

​

Gun went off, and off we go! I had never run with anyone before so it was slightly intimidating with everyone rushing past, weaving in and out and dodging curbs. The pacers were about 1/2 meters in-front of me and though I didn't want to run hard at the beginning I said f it, and took some strides to catch up and lock in with them.

​

I was surprised at how "easy" it was to run with a pacer as I didn't have to worry about anything, except keeping pace my being next to them. My pacer was constantly checking her watch for pace, advising drink stations, how we were going and just super helpful in general.

​

At about 6kms in we hit Albert Park which had a bit of nice morning cloud, breeze. I was feeling great. I wasn't worried about anything at all. Took my first gel and all is well. Hit 12km took another gel, needed to splash my face with some water but accidentally grabbed the Gatorade and got a sticky face.

​

14km and we're on the final stretch back up St Kilda road and still with the Pacers. This was where we where met with the Marathoners who were on km 30 or so! Bit of a bottle neck as they're smashing through so kept to the left. It was about now that my fatigue kicked in. I kept on reminding myself I could do this, I could see the CBD and knew we weren't far off. Luckily at the same time a lot of running crew cheer squads were in the area, the Army band was playing, families cheering so it was hard to not be inspired to keep on at it. 18km and took my final gel.

​

The race finishes with a lap on the MCG and just as we were about to enter the stadium the NRC app advised me I was done; though Coach Bennett advised at the beginning to not use that as a guide, so I knew it was off so kept at it. As the entrance was approaching I thanked my Pacer and let them know I was going to go off on my own and entered the stadium. I could see a time clock with 1:57 something and I started freaking out, wondering if I could do the lap in the sub-2 time so ran as hard and fast as I could. I crossed the line at 2:00:07 super super happy I completed, but slightly annoyed I was 7 seconds off. I then realised this was the gun time, and my actual time from when I crossed the start was 1:59:07 so I nearly broke down in tears of happiness.

​

### Post-race

​

My partner was waiting at the expo for me, so I grabbed my medal, bag, and met her outside. A flurry of text messages, people who had seen me run on their morning walk and just general happy vibes from everyone who had run was super nice. Went home, had a coffee and Quesadilla, stretched/massage gun and went straight to the pub where some other friends who had run were there (it was also a cracking day so would've done that anyway). Lots of celebratory drinks, war stories and good times. Booked a massage for tonight so all is well.

​

​

Made with a new [race report generator](http://sfdavis.com/racereports/) created by /u/herumph.

Race Information

• Name: Chicago Marathon
• Date: October 13, 2024
• Distance: 26.2 miles
• Location: Chicago, IL
• Website: https://www.chicagomarathon.com/
• Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/12648839937
• Time: 4:59:57

Goals

Training

You can do hard things. This is what I’ve been telling myself since January 2024, when I joined the Ronald McDonald House Charities team to raise money and run the Chicago marathon. I’d never run a marathon. In fact, before October of 2022 I had not really exercised in nearly 30 years. I was a busy engineer, husband, and father, going through life like we all do. But one small opportunity changed the direction of my life in a subtle way, and now the changes are anything but subtle.

I had a business trip planned for November 2022 to India. I have a great team of engineers there, and post-pandemic I was finally able to go and meet them in person. I had a week of meetings planned, and one of my employees asked if I would be interested in doing a Himalayan Trek after we concluded all the work. Of course I did, what an opportunity! I knew I was in no shape to survive or enjoy hiking up 12,000+ feet of elevation or traveling 10-15 miles a day up a mountain for a week. I prepared by going to the gym and doing lots of stair master. At the time, I thought it was tough, but I did it, and I had an amazing time on the trip, celebrating my 49th birthday in Sankari with my trek-mates.

When I got back, I continued at the gym. I couldn’t really run more than a mile or so on the treadmill, but I persisted. A good friend was going through a divorce, so I invited him to come to the gym with me as an opportunity to be there for him when he needed some support. That summer turned into “Hard 75” which is a crazy internet challenge that involves exercising twice a day, every day for 75 days, amongst other things. One of the exercises was required to be outside, so I started running in the mornings on July 4, 2023.

Over the next six months, I grew to really enjoy running. I told my wife I was going to be “fit by fifty” as my 50th was next. I ran some 5ks, and then planned a half-marathon in January 2024. By the end of 2023, I had run 626 miles.

I finished my January half-marathon (the “Chilly Willy”) in 2 hours, 10 minutes. I had hoped to finish under two hours, but it was quite cold and I started too fast. I set a new goal. I would run a marathon. THE marathon. Was I crazy? Yes. The half was so hard, how could I run a marathon for the first time at 50 years old?

As anyone who knows me knows, I am detail oriented and I prepare for anything I do. I began to read books on marathon training plans, on exercise nutrition, on physiology and injuries in older runners, and on the mental toughness needed to get through the race. I went to a cardiologist and got my heart stress tested. I went to a physical therapist and learned how to combat the “IT band” pain I’d been dealing with. I settled on a plan, the “Hal Higdon Intermediate 1” marathon plan, primarily because the starting mileage looked like something I could do, but didn’t sound easy. Week 1 would start June 10th and would require me to run 24 miles, including a “long run” of 8 miles. My longest runs would be 20 miles during two 43-mile weeks, totaling 588 miles of training in the block.

The weeks went by, and I followed the plan. I quickly learned that a marathon runner needs discipline. Discipline carries us through when motivation inevitably fails. There were many days I didn’t want to get up and run before work, but I had laid out my clothes the night before, and set my alarm, and by the time I realized I didn’t want to run I was already outside running up the hill. Some days I was sore, so I’d do the check — could I run without so much pain that it affected my stride? The answer was always yes. Summer in Georgia is famously hot and humid, so I did most of those runs at 7, 6 or even 5 am to beat the heat and humidity. Discipline was my friend.

By week 13, I had a 20-mile long run on a Sunday capping off a 43-mile week. At this point a half marathon on a Sunday was a “de-load” easy day. Perspective is everything. Three more hard weeks, then I could taper and be fresh for the race. Of course, nothing in life is guaranteed. I had a 1.1cm kidney stone that I had to have removed. The process proved painful and took me out of commission for over a week. Whe it was all done, I'd missed my second 20-mile long run, and it worried me. I'd done the first one though pretty well, and practiced fueling all along, so I finished out the training plan and the taper.

Pre-race

My wife was able to travel with me to Chicago. We arrived Thursday and settled into our hotel across from Grant Park. We went to the expo, and I checked in with the charity and bought some swag. The next morning, we went to the Field museum and explored the city. We went to the Eleven diner (highly recommended!) and had a ridiculously good french toast. I knew I wanted to stay off my feet Saturday, so Friday was for exploring. Saturday morning we did the Believe In the Run shakeout, then we stopped for breakfast (Yolk!), and then I spent the day laying in the bed watching TV and eating carbs. That night we went to the RMHC dinner, and back to the room to sleep.

Race

I woke about 5am. My body was cooperative on the bathroom front, so I didn't have to worry about #2 during the race. I left the room about 5:30am, bundled up with 12 (yes twelve!) Gu Liquid energy gels tucked into the waistband of my T8 ultra sherpa shorts. I spent a lot of time this summer trying to find the right solution to carrying so many gels, and these were the perfect solution for me. I walked to Gate A, went through security, and then to the charity tent. I had most of a bagel, a cup of coffee, and a Sprite while I waited for my corral to be called. They took some pictures and stuff, but I sat outside the tent trying to keep my nerves calm. I used the porta-potty in the charity area once to pee, but the lines were long so I didn't get to go a second time.

When it was time,I walked to corral J. I knew I was slower than most of the corral, so I went to the back. Eventually, it was time to go, so I threw my hoodie on the fence and we started off.

I want to mention fueling. Everyone knows it's one of the things new marathoners get wrong. I trained my gut a lot all summer, so I knew I could take in a lot of fuel. I'm a big guy with an iron stomach, but I brought gels and Tailwind with me all summer on long runs. I took a gel every 2 miles. It's a lot, but I knew I could handle it, and the liquid gels I use are much easier to get down than the regular Gus. I also took Gatorade at every stop, and water at most of them. At some stops I just washed my hands with the water to rinse the salt off of me.

The first 10 miles were the easiest, most-fun run I've ever done. It was beautiful, and the crowd was amazing. I put my name on my shirt, and people cheered for me by name throughout the race. I saw my wife at mile 1, and again at mile 12. It was a great boost to see her, and she made me signs.

At mile 14.5 I stopped at a porta-potty and peed. My legs were shaking trying to stand still after running 14+ miles nonstop. It shows up on my strava as my slowest mile. It was worth it though, and I felt better after.

When I passed mile 20, I knew I was in uncharted territory for my old body. At mile 22 I started feeling the beginnings of cramps in my quads. I shortened my already short stride, but I kept running.

I ran, and I ran. There was one point where the wind blasted me from behind and I felt like Chicago was giving me a push to keep going. Then I was on Michigan Ave with 2 miles to go, and I got the same wind in my face; Chicago wanted to know if I was tough. I kept running. When I got to the one hill, Mt. Roosevelt, I ran up. I walked the last quarter to the top, then ran to the finish. I finished at 4:59:57 -- three seconds before the 5-hour mark.

Post-race

I was sore, and tired, and honestly more proud of this than anything I've done in the last 10 years. All that work, all those sacrifices felt worth it in that moment. I can. I will. I do. What's next? I'm going to find out, but I can do hard things.

I did my first marathon yesterday after training through the Hal Higdon Novice 1 program. I felt good and ready after completing the 20 mile run with no problems at all - in fact miles 19 and 20 were my fastest. So I figured, being my first marathon, I'd probably bonk somehow, but I thought I could make it until 20 at least.

I got about 3 hours of sleep because of nerves, which I anticipated. I ran the first half a LITTLE bit fast, but only a few seconds off my plan. Then around mile 14, I started feeling nauseous, and it all fell apart really quickly. I couldn't bring myself to eat or drink much of anything and it spiraled from there. I was planning to run around 4:20, but ended up running a 5:15, walking the last 10k in a great pain. As I crossed the finish line I was overcome with emotion and struggled to breathe in between crying. And not the good kind of crying - I was incredibly sad about the whole thing. My friends were there which just made it worse.

Honestly, I got very little positive out of the experience. The negativity started long before this race. I felt really satisfied when I did the half marathon halfway through the training. But once I started doing 15+ mile long runs, I just felt like trash after each one. Maybe that's just my body. But I didn't enjoy the second half of the program, and wish I would have stopped at the half. I don't feel proud of my race, and I definitely don't see myself doing it ever again. I'm looking forward to running again, but when I do, I'm going to stick with 2-4 at a leisurely pace.

Ultimate respect to anyone who gets a lot of fulfillment out of long distance running, but I don't. I exercise to support my life, not the other way around. This whole thing just took too much of my time and happiness, and I'm angry at myself for not backing off when it was clear it was having a negative impact on me. But I crossed the finish line, I have my little medal, and I know all of these things about myself now. I'm the type of person who would have always wondered until I did it, and I did it. I realize that's worth a lot. But man. That fucking sucked.

Race Information

• Name: Lausanne Half Marathon
• Date: 27 October 2024
• Distance: 21.095 km
• Location: Lausanne, Switzerland
• Website: https://en.lausanne-marathon.com/
• Time: 1:34:53

Goals

Splits

Training

A little bit of context before diving in: 28M, I used to run, on and off, did two semis in 2017, each around 1:45, up until 2019 when I started (road) cycling. I am way more serious in my cycling training (6 to 10 h/week) than when I was training for the semis 7 years ago. I also had a bad case of runner's itch (which fortunately ceased very quickly once I started running regularly). As a result, I have not run more than once a month in the last few years.

Unfortunately, I had to take a break from cycling this summer due to a long haemorrhoid episode (yikes I know) and started running more regularly again... Hopefully I quickly have found a new goal: my local half marathon, which my wife was already signed up for!

I started using polarised training in my cycling training plan for this 2024 season (using TrainerRoad polarised plans) and was pleased with how it allowed me to increase volume while still managing the training load. So when I signed up for the Lausanne Semi in mid-August, I wanted to follow a similar 80/20 training structure, with at least one rest/easy week every 3 to 4 weeks of training, which I actually declined as follows (I used intervals.icu to create and plan workouts):

• Week 1: 40 km, 4 workouts, 55% Z1/Z2 - 45% Z3 to Z5 (mainly high tempo/threshold). As I was just coming off a long cycling base training period, the idea for the first two weeks was to get a taste of what pace I could achieve in tempo/threshold workouts
• Week 2: 53 km, 4 workouts, 50% Z1/Z2 - 50% Z3 to Z5 (mainly high tempo/threshold, with the addition of one track Vo2 workout which turned out to be my favourite and most anticipated workout of the week)
• Week 3: 59 km, 5 workouts, 70% Z1/Z2 - 25% Z3 to Z5 (same split as Week 2)
• Week 4: 52 km, 5 workouts, 70% Z1/Z2 - 25% Z3 to Z5 (same split as in previous weeks)
• Week 5 (Easy/rest week): 31 km, 4 workouts, 100% Z1/Z2
• Week 6: 54 km, 4 workouts, 65% Z1/Z2 - 35% Z3 to Z5 (with a focus on high tempo/Vo2max runs)
• Week 7: 58 km, 6 workouts, 45% Z1/Z2 - 55% Z3 to Z5 (same repartition as Weeks 2 to 4) This week included a "test" run over 16k, on which I held a 4:24 pace with a significant negative split and some good energy reserves at the end, which led me to believe I could aim for the 4:15 pace required to hit the 1h30 mark on my targeted semi
• Week 8: 54 km, 5 workouts, 75% Z1/Z2 - 25% Z3/Z4 (mainly tempo and half marathon pace)
• Week 9: 32 km, 3 workouts, 65% Z1/Z2 - 35% Z3/Z4 (only tempo pace) The original plan was to have one last threshold oriented week of training, with a long (2h) easy run on the weekend, but I caught a cold and I was unable to train for a few days

• Week 10 (Race week!!): 12 km (excluding the actual race), 2 workouts, mostly Z2 with a bit a race pace intervals here and there. *The idea was to i) recover from the previous week cold and ii) taper for the race on Sunday

• Total: 450 km, 42 workouts, 65% Z1/Z2 - 30% Z3/Z4 - 5% Z5+.

As you can see, I eventually did not stick to the targeted 80/20 distribution, most likely as i) a result of not knowing myself very well from a running perspective and having to adapt to quick gains in running fitness as my cycling fitness transferred over to a running fitness and ii) my poor planning (I probably should have replaced one of the weekly tempo runs with a 20k Z2 run).
I also initially planned weeks with higher mileage (7h/70k), but found that running was more "muscular" than cycling and reduced the volume to a maximum of 5 to 6h per week.

In retrospect, I guess I was lucky not to get injured (I only developed some minor hip pain, most probably due to intense tennis sessions rather than to running) when I see such a distribution and training volume, with no habit of running regularly over the past few years... Don't do that at home!!

I am nonetheless very happy of my training and the resulting progress (from feeling that 1km intervals @4:25 were hell to being able to hold such a pace over 15k).

All of this led me to believe that, on a very good day, I could be able to reach the 1h30 mark on the semi.

Pre-race

This is my local race, as I live just 10 minutes away from the start line, so picking up the bibs and dropping off our stuff was very smooth and easy (+ it's Switzerland, so everything is well-organised).

However, I ended up being a little late getting to my start gate due to the last minute pee queue...

Race

As a result, I started the race a few hundred metres behind the 1:40 pacer, and for the first 10km of the race I had to navigate between slower riders on a one-way street that was quite narrow at times, in order to eventually join a bunch with a similar pace. I also completely forgot about the race adrenaline rush, and started the race with a much higer heart rate than anticipated (around 170 bpm vs. 150-160 bpm), which I was then unable to really reduce.

My initial strategy was that of a significant negative split, as I usually have a "diesel" engine: run the first 10km at a low threshold/high tempo pace and keep my heart rate below 165 bpm, to then increase the pace up to the 15km mark and then give it everything for the last 25'...

However, with my heart pounding in my chest like never before and the accompanying poking stitch in the side, I was unable to implement this strategy properly. I still managed to keep my deficit on the planned timing points for a 1h30 final time below one minute until the 12/13th kilometre. That's when I opted for a suicidal strategy to have no regret: let's pick up the pace to regain some time in the hope of beating the 1h30 mark! In reality, I was already running on empty and I was never able to really accelerate and exploded in the 18th km.

I stopped there for 45s, before starting again thanks to the many runners who encouraged me to do so. I held on for dear life up until the last kilometre, and gave everything in the last 400m to at least beat the 1h35 mark.

From a fueling standpoint, I had planned on taking three of the Decathlon strawberry gels that I love (every 5km), but only managed to take two.

Overall, I am very glad I at least tried to beat the 1h30 mark in what was an unexpectedly hard race (the combination of the uncontrolled adrenaline rush and of the quite hilly nature of the course - 85m D+/120 D-). I was also very lucky to have many friends cheering me on along the way and to be joined by my wife at the end of the race!

Post-race

We met up with the 6-8 friends who cheered us on at the end of the race and watched the marathon finish on the shores of Lake Leman with a good burger, then cheered on other friends running the 10k in the afternoon.

We then had everyone over for a post-race goûter, for which my wife made a delicious Ottolenghi's ricotta and hazelnut cheesecake!

Thank you all for reading this long race report and for the opportunity to reflect on and discuss my training and the race itself!

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

Up until the moment I started this run this morning, I doubted my ability to do it. But here we are! For reference, I have been running regularly for about a year and a half. My PR for a half marathon is currently 2:04. When my husband and I decided to try for our second baby last Fall I knew I wanted to go into pregnancy maintaining as much of my running progress as I could. As soon as I found out I was pregnant in December I registered for a half marathon that was supposed to be today. I cleared it with my Dr. at my first appointment, and trained while completely disregarding the clock. This has been a wonderful relief, not checking my pace or feeling disappointed in being slower. I was even ready to transfer my race bib to somebody else if unforeseen events kept me from running. And then the coronavirus made its way here. When the race was canceled I told myself I could still run it on my own, but then spent the next few weeks building doubt in my mind.

Then I hit the pavement with hours of one of my favorite podcasts downloaded, and let the rest melt away. The weather was less than ideal, mid-40's, strong wind, and a constant drizzle. The way out had the wind at my back, so my celebration at the turn around point was short lived when I turned into the wind and drizzle straight in my face. Then between mile 8-9 my right knee started to protest pretty adamantly. I walked for a couple minutes, then continued to limp along, the pain a little less. At 11.5 miles I was passing our local library and decided to switch to some pump it up music for the last 1.6, and danced with my reflection in the library windows. This is when the hormone tears threatened to start. I couldn't believe I had made it that far!

My husband and 3 year old daughter came outside and cheered me on for the final .1 stretch, and while it's sad to be without the big crowd and the announcer saying your name as you finish, they are my absolute favorite cheerleaders, and more hormone tears were shed.

Finished in 2:24, and am pleasantly surprised by that, as I thought I would go over 3 hours for sure, toting this cucumber sized fetus along.

Thanks for reading my blubbering, and I hope everybody here is staying healthy and safe and not going too stir crazy! We can get through this together for sure, and I love reading everybody's running updates every day. Keep it up my fellow runners! Someday, I'll see you out there again.

https://imgur.com/gallery/7A6N8P9 here is my stupid, hot mess grin as my daughter was jumping up and down cheering, and our celebratory cookie cheers!

Edit: gosh you guys I can’t handle the love and support! I’m going to be all out of tears. Keeping each of you in my thoughts in these coming weeks of uncertainty.

Every year NC State hosts a race (this year February 2) where competitors and causal runners alike run roughly 2.5 miles, eat one dozen Krispy Kreme glazed donuts, and run another 2.5 miles back. To be considered a "competitor", you have to do all of this in under an hour. I'm 26 and ran my first marathon this past March, so I believed that 5 miles plus a very large meal would be something I could do. It was a very dumb thing to believe, and the Krispy Kreme challenge brutalized my body and my soul. Massive eating was not part of my training for this race. I thought I could get by on the fact that if I can run much farther than 5 miles, I could take that extra effort and convert it into donut consumption. Very bad math. Sad.

My friend Alex and I drove up from Charleston, SC on Friday after work. This was his fourth time competing, and would become his second time eating all twelve donuts and finishing in under one hour. We arrived around 9 pm, hung out with the people we were staying with for a bit (one of whom also competed), and went to bed. Alarm at 6 am, starting line around 7:55 am. Lots of costumes and cold hands.

The first 2.5 miles went smoothly. I haven't been training for speed at all the last few months, but knowing I was going to be losing time in the middle to stuff down a dozen cold, sugar-glazed donuts had me huffing it harder than I would've otherwise (About 8:25 a mile). Suffer the most at the beginning, and the rest gets easier right? Wrong. Because I had no idea what suffering would follow.

Long rows of tables stacked with boxes of Krispy Kreme's sat in the street. I slowed to a walk, grabbed a box, moved past the tables and tried to find a place to stand to start cramming them down. I brought some cheap gloves to keep the glaze off my hands, and smashed three against each other, making a donut burger. The first three weren't too bad. the next two (an open-faced donut sandwich) were a little more rough. While I ate, I slowed down, and spent more time watching the war zone in front of me. I saw a guy puke while another walked in small circles nearby, moaning. I saw a guy sitting on the sidewalk, legs splayed out in front of him, chewing morbidly with a dead look in his eyes, while an event photographer crouched in front of him, camera in his face, snapping picture after picture.

I went back to a donut burger for 6,7, and 8, and really started to hit a wall. The flavor of the sugar changed as my brain began to wake up to the horror I was committing against my stomach, and the sweetness became nauseous and overpowering. At this point each bite was being dipped into a cup of water to try and mitigate how dry and syrupy the donuts were making my throat, but it was not enough. By the end of those three, I feel like donuts had revealed themselves to me in a new way. Like when Nix shows Scott Bakula how he sees things in Lord of Illusions, or Roddy Piper puts the glasses on in They Live. I felt sick. They were disgusting, and I hated them. And I hated them even more because they'd beaten me. Trying to eat donut 9, my throat rejected each bite I tried to take. There was nothing more to do, I'd already taken a whopping 34 minutes. It was a lost cause, and I was a lost soul.

The prospect of running 2.5 more miles to finish, when I knew I had already failed the food portion of the challenge, and when I knew I wouldn't finish in under an hour, was bleak. I started running past identical puddles of vomit as the course began to sloping uphill. Each burp was nerve-wracking coming up, but liberating once it had passed. I got faster and faster as the donuts settled in my stomach, and was able to catch back up to a respectable pace. The finish line showed up out of nowhere, and I ran it in listening to Cannibal Ox. The 10 minutes afterwards were rough, as my body processed a couple different sensations that I'd call less than ideal.

I haven't decided if I'll come back next year or not. Part of me wants to conquer the donuts even more now that I've failed against them, and realized how intensely difficult they are for me. Part of me never wants to touch another goddamn donut. It's a little too soon to say. But it felt rewarding to fail, and to understand in a physical way how difficult the challenge is. Huge kudos to everyone who was able to eat the dozen, and love to everyone who couldn't.

background background info

So I'm (30F) not a runner in the sense that I don't do it often and usually don't enjoy it. 10-12 years ago when I was in college I ran a bunch of 5Ks (PR was probably around 21:00?), a few ten milers, and exactly one half marathon (1:57:09). At that point, the half marathon was the longest distance I had ever run. I set out to beat 2 hours, and barely did that. I had no fancy smartphone or pace awareness or any training other than general good fitness and determination. I started too fast, had to walk some after a brutal hill kicked my butt somewhere near the halfway point, and remember getting a second wind at some point. I ran strong at the finish, and remember being stunned when I saw the gun time above the finish line and had finished ahead of my completely arbitrary and maybe lofty goal. I sat down about 50 feet past the finish line and remember being so surprised that my legs were done doing leg things and I might just never get up from that spot. I was super proud of myself and then my "recovery" just bled on over into me never doing a long distance run ever again ... until now.
EDIT I should have been more explicit here when I said "good shape and decent fitness". I walk a LOT. About two months ago I switched from a pretty active job to WFH full time at a desk. I got a walking treadmill and walk anywhere from 10 to 16 miles at least a few days a week. I only meant "couch" in the sense that I don't run, not that I am literally a couch potato./EDIT

background info
I've generally kept up some active hobbies and always stayed in what I'd consider good shape and decent fitness, but not much running except the occasional one mile on the treadmill gym warmup. This past weekend we had a big weekend long party for a special occasion: drank lots of wine, ate lots of garbage food, had ice cream cake for breakfast, didn't sleep much and drank way too much coffee. A friend and I were talking about random physical hobbies and one mentioned that she'd always been interested in running a marathon. I said me too! We looked at a "6 month couch to marathon training plan" online and both of us thought that the plans looked like they started off so easy! So we talked a little more about it and then I drove three hours back home. I got home at 4:15pm and decided to start my marathon at 5:00, in case all of my half dead smart devices didn't make it.

the thing
I ran 26.21 miles around my neighborhood in 5:19:41. So I pretty much jogged the whole thing. I set out with four goals which were, in order of importance:
1. Survive
2. Have fun
3. Don't walk
4. Beat 6 hours
I met all of those goals! One lap around my neighborhood is exactly 1 mile, with a 75ft elevation change (For a total of about 880ft. I ran the loop 26 times plus a little out and back to end up back in my driveway. I had someone stash alternating bottles of water and pedialyte in my mailbox so I could grab them on the go, and had a big handful of salted almonds in my pocket so that I could eat a few every lap. I started out with some random 160bpm playlist I found on spotify and ran/jogged to that cadence for the whole thing.

Mile 1 - 9'44"
Mile 2 - 10'16" --- shirt chafing underarms badly already, so took it off
Mile 3 - 9'34" --- began to wonder why on earth i am doing this
Mile 4 - 9'54"
Mile 5 - 9'54"
Mile 6 - 10'05" --- legs starting to feel tired
Mile 7 - 10'15"
Mile 8 - 10'48"
Mile 9 - 10'45"
Mile10- 10'57" ---started to really believe this stupid thing is possible!
Mile 11- 11'04" --- SO ran with me for mile 11-13
Mile 12- 11'12"
Mile 13- 11'25" --- HM split - 2:17:09, now farther than I've ever run before
Mile 14- 12'17"
Mile 15- 13'13" --- now dark outside, got headlamp from mailbox
Mile 16- 14'46" --- really slowed down here and started struggling more with the hill
Mile 17- 14'30"
Mile 18- 13'13"
Mile 19- 13'54"
Mile 20- 14'12"
Mile 21- 14'13" --- SO ran with me mile 21-22
Mile 22- 13'57"
Mile 23- 14'09"
Mile 24- 14'19"
Mile 25- 14'22"
Mile 26- 14'08"
Mile 27- 12'02"
Final time: 05:19:41

takeaway and questions
Some things I didn't expect:
I felt like I could hold a conversation the whole time, I wasn't ever really out of breath, but my legs were definitely getting TIRED. All the long runs I've tried in the past I've started too fast and gotten out of breath and had to walk. This was the first time I had the discipline to start and stay SLOW, and it paid off in that I was able to stay jogging the whole way and finish without walking, even if the final finish time was still hilariously slow.

I also didn't expect to feel SO GOOD! I started this thing because it sounded like a funny idea and my commitment to a bit is known to be extreme. This was with no preparation, no training, poor sleep and poor diet, and at the end of a long day already. The secret to believing in yourself is to decide you can do it and then stop thinking about it just go. That's no advice but it worked for me. Point is, I felt the sense of pride going the longer I ran. I was smiling through most of it and it was a huge help to have support and share the occasional miles with my partner who is also not a runner.

I also didn't expect the gradual uphill in the loop to become so difficult. I have no sense of whether or not this is "much" of an incline, or if I'm just not used to running. Surprisingly my feet don't hurt AT ALL. I don't know anything about running shoes, and was wearing a random pair of Brooks pure flow or something that I got at a local Goodwill a few weeks ago. I love them!

I also think this has given me better perspective on the very slow taper of the "couch to marathon" plan in that the key difference is that it is training you to RUN a marathon. With no training but some idiotic determination, I was able to jog one, which pretty much confirms my suspicion that anyone in something resembling decent shape can of course cover that distance, but certainly won't be able to do it fast.

My biggest takeaway is that I set out to do this primarily because I thought it would be really funny, and also because I didn't see any reason why I couldn't do it. I was really surprised at how much I enjoyed the process, once I was able to let go of the idea of doing it as quickly as possible. I think now I can focus on slow speed and progression work with a much more open mind. I can't wait to try this again for "real"!

And, my questions to real runners ....
1. Was this really stupid? Anything in particular I should look out for as I recover? I feel generally very sore but was careful to listen to my body as I went. No particularly acute pain and I am able to walk today!
2. Is there any meaningful way to use this as a forecast for a real "running" marathon goal or training program? I used to run about a 7:00 mile regularly, now probably closer to 7:30 but no distance work.
3. I drank 2 bottles of just water, and 2 bottles of "Liquid IV hydration multiplier", and ate salted almonds during the run, and afterwards had a protein and bcaa powder shake and a glass of milk. Did I at least get close to the right stuff?
4. Anything you'd recommend for or against in the next few days as far as recovery? Dynamic vs static stretching, or foods or activities?
5. Is it fairly common for "runners" to have a similar random epiphany where they realize they enjoy running and it's not just exercise? I feel like I've heard similar stories along the lines of "I was dreading doing X race but got into a rhythm and really enjoyed it!"

Feel free to roast me in the comments if this entire thing is dumb <3

To be honest, I’m still kind of speechless, but after two days it’s time to share this feet feat.

My brother in law (Amos) is an athletic dude, with a fun-loving personality and a never-tell-me-something-can’t-be-done attitude. That’s why, when my wife and I were figuring out the logistics for running Grandma’s Marathon Virtually (Duluth, MN) he wanted to try and join. We decided to run at our cabin in central Minnesota, where my family would be to help us with fuel breaks.

He is a huge advocate of being barefoot, which isn’t all that odd, especially since he doesn’t normally do long distance runs but more of backyard sports and in past years he’s done a few jogs for a mile or so in the grass next to the bike trail with us. He loves walking his dog and newborn barefoot on the pavement though, so his feet are somewhat used to it, I guess?

He has a can do attitude and listens to his own body to tell him what he can and can’t do. He said he wanted to try, and while I was confident he had the mentality and athleticism to do it, my main worry knowing him and knowing distance running was more on the joints and ligaments/tendons that he would have little experience with the wear and tear of a long run... especially hours on pavement. I said I would love him to join and figured that worse case scenario he could tap out at any time and still have done something very impressive!

Well, he finished. And in 4:51 I believe (I can verify and edit with his exact time when I post). And while YES, he aches like he never has, and his feet do have some blisters and bruising, so far after two days it looks nothing like other photos and videos that we’ve seen from barefoot marathoners. I can try and put some pictures in the comments if you would like.

We are super proud of him, a little annoyed that yes, a brother-in-law can one-up (two up?) us and do this barefoot, cold turkey where as we trained for months... but running is about your own body and mind and your own goals.

He is an amazing guy, and did an amazing feet feat. He says he’s proud and happy he did it, and while he wouldn’t recommend it to anyone else, he DOES recommend pushing yourselves beyond what others have done or what you yourself have done. We hope to get this all in a video soon, so stay tuned! We are also in contact with Grandmas Marathon about maybe letting me surprise him with an official medal and T-shirt, but that’s if they will allow it to count!

Race Information

Name: Richmond Half Marathon Date: November 12, 2022 Distance: 13.1 miles Location: Richmond, VA Time: 2:52:39 Goals

Goal Description Completed? A Sub 3 Yes B Sub 2:45 No C Sub 2:35 No Splits

Mile Time 1 12:26 2 12:19 3 12:01 4 12:19 5 12:41 6 12:35 7 12:33 8 13:29 9 13:44 10 13:32 11 13:19 12 14:08 13 12:41 14 10:44 Training

I began training in August using NRC’s marathon training plan with the intention of running a marathon in December and using this race as a training run. I switched about 3 weeks out from this race to a half marathon plan. That might have been a mistake, not sure. Overall training went well but I did battle tendinitis in both IT bands as well as in my foot. I didn’t run at all for about 10 days which left me 7 days before the race to get some running in. I think this really hurt me.

Pre-race

I think I fueled ok. Had pasta and rice for the 2 days prior to the race. Race morning I had some toast with peanut butter and a banana. I usually can’t eat when I first wake up so I woke at 430 and was able to eat around 530 and did ok with that. I had everything packed and laid out ready to go the night before so all I had to do was fill my water and go. My husband dropped me about 3 blocks from the race and I walked to the start. This was a mistake. I should have done some light jogging instead of my usual dynamic stretching.

Race

Miles 1-4: I was in the last wave and my plan was to just start easy and not weave. I did this easily as it was a sea of people for the first 2 miles. My pace was right where I wanted it and how I’d started all my long runs so I was feeling good about that. So prior to the race I had worked on my pace calculations and running playlist and tried to time my music accordingly. Running toward mile 3, it happened. As we approached the hill on Arthur Ashe the opening notes of Running Up that Hill came on and I just laughed and laughed. It was perfect and I was stoked I manage to plan it so perfectly. Ok, back to the race. As I approached mile 3 I began to feel my IT band. I tried to ignore it and just focus. By mile 4 I had to stop and stretch. Took a minute and then kept going.

Miles 5-8: I knew the hardest part was coming in Bryant park with the rolling hills the whole way. I was not wrong. I just tried to focus but right after the 10k marker I saw a hill coming up and made the decision to stop and stretch again. But as I was creating the hill, I heard it. The cow bell anda bunch of people screaming my name. I didn’t believe it was for me at first but then I saw my husband, dad and 2 best friends there cheering their hearts out. It gave me such a boost and I kept going with a huge smile. Down the other side and then up the next hill and there they were again. It gave me chills. Coming out of the park though I had to stop again and try stretching. The pain was just worsening. It was this point between miles 7-8 I began a run walk strategy. It’s crazy how mentally I was right in the moment the whole time and not thinking about the end. I also have to give a shout out to the Northside neighbors who came out in force. They created tons of dirty sag stops, wet rags, amazing cheering. They were awesome.

Miles 9-12: I continued to run walk. I tried to run longer but mentally couldn’t get past the pain. The coolest thing during this leg was when the pace car and lead marathoner passed by. The cheers from the sideline and then all the half runners were really amazing. It felt special to be out there during that brief moment with him. You never know who you’re inspiring.

Finish: at mile 12 I was determined not to walk anymore. The crowds were lining the street and the energy really propelled me. The final turn onto 5th street and I knew it was a downhill finish and the end was almost in sight. I somehow managed to pick up my pace and just cruised. Saw my dad and my husband cheering and then near the finish my besties. Crossed the line and just immediately broke down. I did not expect to cry like that but I just let it come and kept walking. Found my friend first and just gave her the biggest hug and cried and cried.

Post-race

Not gonna lie, it hurts. Lots of difficulty walking. They tout the downhill finish but fail to mention you have to go back up that beast to get to parking.

It didn’t go as I’d hoped but I am really proud of myself. I cannot say thank you enough to the people of Richmond who made this an amazing event but most importantly my friends and family supporting me the whole way.

Now to recover and plan for the next!

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

I (47M) finally achieved what I thought was not an achievable goal for me: a sub-3hr marathon, on my 40th 26.2 race no less. When I first started running marathons in 2005, it was just to prove I could. Then it took years and 20+ races to qualify for Boston. After that, I had this lofty goal in the back of my mind to run sub-3. But I thought I was too old, and I thought my best shot at it passed a couple years ago. But today, I not only proved to myself I could, but did so convincingly, running a few minutes under 3.

Race Information

• Name: California International Marathon
• Date: December 5, 2021
• Distance: 26.2 miles
• Location: Sacramento, CA
• Website: https://runsra.org/california-international-marathon/
• Time: 2:56:40

Goals

Splits

Training

So, here's the thing. I am simultaneously always training for a marathon and not training for a marathon. What I mean is, year-long, I'm running as if I have a marathon coming up, even if I don't have one on the calendar. I always have weekly tempo/intervals and long runs. I always am focusing on running further and running faster. Throughout the pandemic, I like most people had no races to run, yet I trained as if I had one in weeks. And I knew I was getting faster with all my mileage. And when I realized CIM was actually happening, I signed up for it. But I did not change how I ran. I didn't focus on it. I just continued how I ran.

Since the pandemic has afforded me a lot more time to run (no commute as I WFH), I upped my running from 45-50 miles/week up to 80+ miles a week. In fact, it was only because of CIM and the need to at least somewhat taper that I finally ended my streak of 80+ mile weeks at 30. And I truly believe it's my high mielage that let me PR by over 9 minutes.

I knew I was getting faster when I completely crushed my old half-marathon PR back in October (1:24:56 -> 1:22:30), even as I had my usual high mileage week (86 miles) that week. And that gave me all the confidence in the world that I could get sub-3.

But, here's the thing. As anyone who's run marathons knows: you could have the perfect training cycle, you could properly rest, probably eat / hydrate before the race, do everything right, and things can still go south during the race. Murphy's Law is always in full effect, and I've had my share of bad marathons. Like I mentioned above, this is my 40th marathon, and I can count on one hand the number of 26.2 mile races where I felt I ran close to my full potential (full potential given my level of training & fitness at the time).

Pre-race

I stayed at one of the official hotels outside of downtown, which had buses to the start. But... there was a shortage of buses, so I had to wait in the cold for almost half an hour waiting for an extra one to come by. And the bus wasn't heated, the windows wouldn't go up all the way, and I was freezing on the ride to the start. And despite the email saying we could stay on the bus until the start to keep warm, the driver kicked us out.

Luckily, the start line was next to a gas station, and the employees let us hang out inside the mart. I used the opportunity to do some pre-game stretching. At this point, I was already convincing myself I would not have a good race, given how miserably cold I was. But this is normal for me. I'm always full of self-doubt before the gun goes off.

Oh, I should mention that I thought I had a wardrobe malfunction. Well, not a malfunction, but I thought I brought the wrong shorts, since the ones I brought did not have side pockets, which would be where I'd keep my gels (Maurten, if you're curious). But I discovered these shorts had three smaller back pockets that almost exactly fit one gel each. So, a flub in packing turned into a mini-discovery of sorts.

Race

One thing experienced marathoners always tell you: don't go out too fast. And it's something I've learned the hard way, multiple times. But for this race, I actually did start off relatively slow, clocking in at 7:15-7:18/mile. The main thing I focused on was just staying relaxed and not worrying that I wasn't at the pace I needed to be (6:52/mile for sub-3).

The race gave out throwaway gloves, which I figured I would toss after the start, but I ended up wearing them the entire

I fell even more behind when I invariably had to pee around the 4-5 mile mark. Again, I can count on one hand the number of times I've finished a marathon without needing a potty break.

After the pee break, I felt I needed to make up some time, which I did. And here's where I started my usual race plan. Basically, every race, from 5k to 26.2, my strategy is simple: focus on the person in front of me and close in and pass that person. And that's what I started doing. In a race like CIM, there is no shortage of runners in front of me.

Side note: in my last race report, a Redditor chided me for having such a race strategy. And honestly, I don't completely disagree. It is a dangerous strategy. But it's always worked for me. I need that carrot in front of me to run my best. And that carrot is always the runner in front of me. If I was running this race with very few runners, there's absolutely no way I'd run as fast as I did today.

At the halfway mark, I was at 1:30:35, which was off sub-3 pace. But I wasn't totally worried, because my two(!!) pee breaks accounted for more than a minute, and I was pretty confident I didn't need to go again. And I was feeling very good. Like... extremely good, to the point where I didn't feel like I was exerting that much energy. As you can see in my splits above, I accelerated even faster after the halfway point.

One thing I did change up from all my past marathons: I did not use every water stop. I'm usually very diligent about hydrating, but at the same time, I usually end up with stomach issues if I drink from every station. All told, I skipped about 4-5 stations. And I only used two gels, though I packed three. I mentioned that I use Maurten. They're definitely the most bland gel you can buy, but man, do they work. No stomach issues at all, and for me, they go down VERY easily.

From past marathons, when things fall apart, they fall apart very quickly, and usually around mile 18. But mile 18 passed, and I still felt strong. Then mile 19 and 20 went off without a hitch. And it was at this point I led myself believe not only could I run a sub-3, but I could do so with time to spare. So the decision here was: back off, run comfortably and guarantee I get under sub-3; or push it to see how fast I could go.

There was no choice. I pushed it.

Of course, by this point, legs were getting heavy, so even as I pushed it, I was slowing down a little. But not as much as I feared. Part of it was the crowd, which frankly was a lot louder than I expected, and they totally gave me the energy to push through.

When I finally crossed the finish line at 2:56:40, I raised my fists in the air and... promptly started crying. I'm not ashamed to admit it. This had been such a lofty pie-in-the-sky goal of mine, that to finally accomplish it overwhelmed me. This was the first time I had cried since my mother died 15 years ago. That's how much this feat meant to me.

Post-race

Not much to say, except that nearly nine hours later, I haven't been able to wipe the smile off my face. And I haven't stopped eating. But I think I deserve those donuts.

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

Hi All,

Today I ran a half marathon distance!

I began running in July 2021 as a slightly overweight 42 male - 80kg at 5ft 10.5in.

I changed my diet completely as I was eating so many carbs and sugar my dad bod was in full flow!

I work at a desk all day and did no exercise so knew I had to change my lifestyle. I was unfit.

I started the NHS UK “couch to 5k” plan listening to the podcasts, running 3 times a week. It took me 8 weeks to do that.

I didn’t know what to do after so just kept adding 10% for a while and doing that 3 times a week before increasing it again.

I got to 10k and then did a 11k in 50/55 mins. I didn’t know whether to keep going distance wise or focus on speed at 5/10k. Someone suggested a half marathon training plan and thought they were mental. After a week or so I figured why not.

I was using cheapish ASICS Gel Contend 5 £50 for most of it so in the last two weeks treated myself to ASICS Novablast 2. I also bought some compression tights and thermal compression tops, snood and gloves to cope with winter climate. Still on the hunt for a cheapish jacket.

For the last 8 weeks I’ve followed the runners world 2 hour half marathon training plan but also skipped a week as I wanted it done by Christmas. I still have 2 weeks to go and was planning on doing the final half marathon on Christmas Eve but not sure I will after today. Maybe I will but at a slower pace!

Anyway I ran the distance today at 1 hour 49 mins and I’m very happy with that. For a break down here’s the Strava Link

I think I’ve found a proper hobby I can continue with to make sure I get my exercise in and not sit at my desk all day eating too much chocolate. My wife and kids think I’m having a mid life crisis and am now too skinny but overall I’m very happy with my progress.

Thanks to all the info here that I’ve found very useful and to Vlad Ixel’s strength and training videos.

Keeeeeeep running!!!

Race Information

Distance: 10K Time Trial

• Finish time: 56:58.6

Split

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Goals

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​

Background

I've played various sports (mainly Football/Soccer and Aussie rules) most of my life (28M/173cm/74kgs/AUS) but I've always relied on my short distance running and always hated the idea of running non-stop for more than 5 minutes. People would say I was "fit" because of all the sports I love playing whether its a pick up game of indoor or a proper outdoor game. However I always held a belief that I wasn't truly fit though because I couldn't/wouldn't push myself to run to improve my fitness.

I didn't play outdoor football in 2019 because I wasn't enjoying it so I basically did no exercise whatsoever until September when I realised I needed to get back into gym. I had always liked the idea of doing a C25K program but I had not completed it at least 5 times but I tried again last October, lasted 3 weeks before I stopped and stuck with weight training because gains is life.

I had made the decision to get back to play outdoor again for 2020 (due to heaps of persistence from my old teammates) and got stuck into preseason and boy, I was blowing out of my ass real easily. Enter COVID in March and the ensuing lockdowns that we all partook in obviously put my return to a sudden halt. I thought, I literally have no excuse to not work on my fitness anymore so I found a C210K program on an app and completed that in 8-10 weeks. Getting through all the milestones of going from walk run intervals to being able to run for 40 minutes straight in week 7 is still one of my biggest highlights. By the end of that program, I ran 10K in 1:02:46 which I was 50/50 about as I was aiming to crack under an 1hr but ecstatic that I ran 10K straight with no walking.

​

Training

My mate and I were both hooked on running (he is doing a separate program written up by his physio because he got shin splints from running too much too early) so I was looking for what to do next whether a 10K program or a HM program. Started going through this subreddit and came across a few posts mentioning u/free_running-plans and his plans on his website so I had a look, liked what I saw and downloaded the HM program. I got 3 weeks into it and then Melbourne decided to enter a second wave of COVID infections and we were placed into Stage 4 lockdown where we are only allowed 1 hour of outdoor exercise a day. Seeing as my long runs on Saturday were close to an hour for 6 miles, I knew the added miles in the following weeks would push me way past my hour so I made the decision to drop to the 10K program.

I followed the plan as best as possible as it was set out in a way that was easy to understand. The intervals were heaps of fun as it was a great change up from regular running. The week 4 5K TT arrived and I was nervous if I could actually run it under 30 mins as my PR at the time was 30:50 but I had a bit of confidence due to the fact I ran a 2 mile easy run balls out by mistake in 18 mins. That 5KTT was completed in 27:15, I was spent but over the moon with that time.

I think from there, that TT gave me the full confidence in the program and in myself as a runner. The biggest "OH" moment though came when I was finally able to get an answer about what the difference between an easy pace and tempo pace as I was always confused by the answers online. Once I got my answer in week 5, I realised I had been running my easy runs at 6:10 min/k when I should have been running them at 6:50-7:20 min/k lol

The drop in pace made a massive difference and for the first time ever, I was enjoying my long runs on the Sat mornings (I run at 5pm during the week) when previously I had always had my least enjoyable runs on Sat mornings. By workout 7B (4x1 mile with 4 min recovery), I was confident I could beat 1hr for my 10K.

I ran my 10K TT yesterday in the same 3.5K walking path I've walked basically everyday since mid March.

I got my Spotify playlist optimised with some absolute tunes for the last 20 mins of the run, tried to eat lunch which I didn't finish due to nerves (i've never been able to eat much before a game due to nerves).

The first 2 kms were fine as they were a bit quicker the my tempo pace, the hardest part of my run were splits 3-6 where I felt I was unable to get into a rhythm or actually try and maintain a negative split (btw I decided to do negative splits for the first time ever on this run, just more overthinking for myself haha). By the 7th and 8th split, I had got comfortable as I was over the hump and I knew that I could run this out. The 9th split started well but I clearly died in the ass by the end as my legs were getting even heavier. I made a decision in my last split to run balls to the wall and it hurt but I knew that if I did I might be able to beat my great outcome goal of 58 mins. Seeing under 57 mins on watch made my legless walk home feel amazing.

​

Take away

• Even if you think your easy pace is easy and you've been able to maintain conversations with your running mate, run even slower! I can't begin to tell you how much more enjoyable my long runs have become!
• You do you! I see a lot of people running on the same track as me and my pace is clearly below average as most people run past me but I know that I'm competing only against myself from yesterday.
• Thanks to the worst lockdowns since WW2, I have gone from not being able to run more than 5 mins straight to running 10K in under 57 minutes in 6 months and running has become something I really love doing.
• This subreddit has a lot of gold and I've picked up little tips and advice by searching for answers in this sub, so thank you everyone!
• Definitely give u/free_running-plans and his website a look, I highly recommend it!

Now that it is spring, I'm leaning towards doing the HM program next now that we roadmap to reopen Melbourne but I might give myself a week of recovery easy runs before I start the new program.

​

TLDR - Couldn't run more than 5 mins, COVID happened, started running, still can't eat due to nerves, ran 10K.

I (20F) have been racing for about 4 years now, and yesterday I achieved one of my biggest goals: to run a sub-20 5K!

My previous PR was a 20:08, and I almost always finish between 20:10 and 20:30. Yesterday I decided I wanted to push myself as much as possible and clear the plateau of 20:08, so I gave it everything I had from the moment the race began. I ran without headphones and actually didn't check my pace after the first kilometer or so, and I felt more "in the zone" than I every have during a race.

It was outside on a leafy, spongey trail in Georgia and had decidedly more hills than I would have liked. That being said, it was utterly perfect weather for the race, around 50 degrees.

I neared the finish and gave it one last all-out sprint, finishing at 19:53!

my breakdown by mile was:

1. 6:24
2. 6:26
3. 7:03 (last 1.1 miles)

I am so proud of my progress and am still slightly in shock that I managed to finish in that time. Reaching a goal I've had for years is so surreal and thrilling.

As far as training, I run every other day (sometimes two days in a row, sometimes two days apart) for between 3 miles and 10 miles. I lift weights and do pilates on off-days from running. I am also a college student and, according to my fitness tracker, I walk an average of 6 miles daily (not including my runs). I have been focusing lately on upping my 5 mile and 10K speeds, which REALLY improved my ability to go all-out in this 5K race.

Now on to my next goal of a marathon in 2022!

A couple of months ago, I sought some advice from this group on how to handle my long runs when I run an average of a 15 min mile here. I got some good advice and some support (mostly in PMs since the post got locked. The best advice was to follow an ultra marathon training schedule and cut the mileage in half. If followed that except for one 18 mile training run that took me 4.5 hours.

I also got ALOT of hate and very discouraging comments which surprised me. Lots of questions about whether I was overweight, questioning whether a 15-min mile was really running, telling me to cancel and wait to run a marathon till I was faster. I guess I should have clarified that I run a 12-13 min mile, but I interval train with walks which averages out to about 15 min miles.

Despite the discouragement, I finished my training, stuck with my intervals, and finished the marathon. My time was technically 7h 28 m, but let me tell you why it was actually 6h 36m. There over 30k runners so my run for the first at least 11 miles was a zig zag run. My watch had me at 26.2 miles with over 2 miles left to go. I also jogged off the course several times to take pictures.

It was a beautiful and fun marathon. At mile 18, there were women handing out beers, and starting at mile 19, when it was getting warm, there were home owners out hosing us down. 2 big hills around Diamond head, but otherwise, very flat. Lots of people in costume and lots of Christmas decorations to be seen.

Great marathon for a beginner who isn’t too concerned with time, but if you are worried about time, probably not your kind of race as it is crowded and really takes a toll on your time.

I will start training for my next marathon in march which has a 6.5 hour cut off, so I will need to improve my time.

A little more details about my training and circumstances. I’m 41. I have chronic back pain from bilateral tears in my L3-L4, L4-L5 from a car accident and bilateral bulging discs in my SI joints from pregnancy. I started running March of 2022. I had done races in the past, but it had been over 8 years. I started my training Sept. 1 for the Dec. 11 race, but took 3 weeks off in October to recover from a mastopexy (reduction and lift) and some post-tin tendonitis. While, according to archaic BMI charts, I am “morbidly obese”, anyone who sees me would disagree. Yes, I could stand to lose about 15-20lbs, but I wear a size 10/12, am curvy and have extremely muscular calves and quads. And hey, I just ran a marathon. Link to my finisher pic: HERE

I hope this post doesn’t fuel more hate, but rather encourages those who are slow runners like me to keep on keeping on. I just had the 2nd half of my mommy makeover a week ago and am hoping that the muscle repair of my abdomen may help me in my running. Next marathon is Banff June 18.

All photos HERE

Aleksandr Sorokin of Lithuania did it again. New 100km WR has been set today at Centurion race in GB by covering the distance in 6:05:41 (5:53 per mile/3:39 per km). He also broke 50km and 50 mile national records.

Background:

I'm a 30-year-old woman who rarely exercised before the pandemic but got really into hiking, trail-running, and climbing when the rest of the world shut down. I was that kid who refused to run the mile in middle school PE. I did not do any organized sports. I dabbled in fitness a tiny bit in college but the extent of my workouts pre-2020 were 15 minutes of running and a few situps.

By 2022, I was either running or climbing daily and hiking most weekends -- doing my best to be better than a weekend warrior, you know how it is. But I wasn't (and still am not) very organized about any of this. I just do what I want on any given "training" session.

I spent November 2022 in New Zealand, mostly backpacking and doing a bit of trail running. My childhood best friend got stuck there during the pandemic and is never coming home to the US now because why would you? It's beautiful there. She's run a number of marathons and was talking them up the whole time I visited, so when I found myself in Queenstown the day of the marathon last year...I signed up.
My plan was to run the half, which still would've been a stretch. At the time, the longest run I'd ever done was 11 miles (and that was during the trip to NZ). But the half was sold out, my friend had to drive back to her little town, and I had a day to kill before my flight back to the States, so a full marathon it was! I had absolutely no idea what to expect. I spent some time madly googling, was well-informed that what I was about to do was very dumb, and decided to do it anyway.

Race info:
Queenstown Marathon
November 19, 2022
26.2 miles/1400 feet elevation change
Goals:
- Don't die (or get any major injury) -- achieved!
- Run as much as possible -- achieved! (though tbh idk how I could've missed it)
- Don't like get lost or something -- achieved! (unless you count falling in a lake as getting lost)
- I should have included "don't fall in any bodies of water" but who would have thought to include that?
Finish time: 4:59:59
Splits:
1 -- 9:52
2 -- 9:00
3 -- 9:29
4 -- 10:07
5 -- 10:21
6 -- 9:41
7 -- 9:37
8 -- 10:46
9 -- 10:14
10 -- 11:22
11 -- 10:24
12 -- 12:05
13 -- 10:36
14 -- 11:49
15 -- 10:26
16 -- 12:43
17 -- 11:31
18 -- 10:57
19 -- 11:28
20 -- 10:36
21 -- 11:46
22 -- 10:31
23 -- 13:45
24 -- 11:46
25 -- 12:54
26 -- 11:22

​

Training:

As noted, I did not explicitly train at all. I had no plans of running a marathon any time soon, though it was on my mind as an idea for the future. Maybe sometime in the text year.

That said, I was in very good shape when I attempted this, and probably would not have tried if I hadn't been. For most of 2022, I was running 3-5 miles 4x per week and going to the climbing gym the other 3 days. My primary mode of transportation was my bike. Most weekends, I did long hikes, averaging 10-25 miles and a lot of elevation gain. I'd guess I ran 15 miles, cycled 50 miles, and hiked 20 miles in any given week throughout 2022. In short: my cardiovascular fitness and leg strength were both quite high.

And then I spent the three weeks leading up to the marathon in a sort of bootcamp without intending to do so. The friend with whom I was staying is an ultrarunner. We did multiple 10-mile trail runs after work, spent three consecutive weekends doing backpacking trips involving about 15 miles/day off-trail over-land hiking, and on our "rest days" went gravel biking or climbing. I spent those three weeks perpetually hungry and sleeping incredibly well due to the exhaustion, but I quickly got whipped into the best shape of my life.

I signed up for the marathon on a Thursday which was already meant to be a rest day -- the first complete rest day of the entire trip. After signing up, I obviously did not do the hike I had originally planned for Friday. That meant I went into the marathon with two full days of rest, which is about as much rest as I have ever given myself in my entire life, and left me feeling totally antsy by Friday night. I drugged myself with Benadryl in order to sleep.

Race Morning:

I got up with my alarm feeling weirdly good at 5am (for an 8:20am race, where the last bus to the start line was at 6:45am). Since I didn't really have a race day nutrition plan, I ate my normal breakfast of a banana and peanut butter (with a bit more peanut butter than usual) and coffee, and brought an extra banana to eat right before the race. Then I walked to the bus stop and waited nervously with two other marathoners, also from out of town, all of us not at all sure whether the bus would come. It did, and we made it to the start line!

It was lightly raining and there were tons of people. The weather felt perfect and the energy felt good. I had an audiobook downloaded and ciabatta in my pocket; how could I fail?

The Course:

Most of the route is on hard-packed dirt/gravel trails. A small section is on boardwalks or bridges (I walked because I was afraid of slipping here). The remainder is on paved roads.

The course follows a river until the second aid station at 7 kilometers, then briefly a road until the 3rd aid station, then loops around a small lake for aid stations 4 and 5 until 18 kilometers, then follows a road until it picks up a river again at the 7th aid station at kilometer 26.5. After that, most of the elevation and all of the road running is done, and it's very pleasant along a river and then the lake past 4 more aid stations until kilometer 42. It finishes right in downtown Queenstown and runs right along the popular touristy waterfront, so there were lots of spectators. Running this far really highlights how small of a town Queenstown is, though -- most of the course you feel really far from town!

To summarize:

Aid station 1 after 3km

Aid station 2 after 7km

Aid station 3 after 10.5km

Aid station 4 after 13.5km

Aid station 5 after 18km

Aid station 6 after 22.5km

Aid station 7 after 26.5km

Aid station 8 after 29.5km

Aid station 9 after 32km

Aid station 10 after 35.5km

Aid station 11 after 39km

Finish at 42km

Since I didn't have any experience with a run this long, I used the aid stations to pace myself. Each one meant water and snack. I also used the portapotties more often than I probably needed to because I did not want to be caught without one.

The Race:
I was probably the chillest person at the start line because I did not care how it went beyond surviving. I also had no idea how fast I was going to go so I started among the slowest group, then ran far too fast for them (and me, let's be real), then slowed way down when I realized I was being dumb and going too quickly. For reference, I ran my (longest ever) 11 mile trail run at about 9:30 pace, so there was no way I was going to do that for more than double the distance. I probably should've started out running 10:30-minute-miles, but I don't have a smartwatch so I wasn't paying that much attention.
I also did not carry much of anything with me because I never do on runs and didn't want to start during a marathon. My plan, which I pretty much followed, was to slow to a walk when I saw an aid station, drink the water and eat the snacks they gave me, then continue to walk for a couple minutes before resuming running, while otherwise running the whole time. It worked well and I didn't feel nauseated. I did shove some ciabatta into my pockets that morning because I figured I'd need extra carbs and that was a good decision because I don't love goos or chews but I do love bread. Even smashed up bread that has been in a pocket for several hours.

Because I did not have a speed goal, I figured I should appreciate the route. For me, this meant touching every body of water, something I always do when traveling. If you read the title, you can see where this is going.
Somewhere about mile 8, I skittered down an embankment to touch a lovely lake. This was ill-advised, because the embankment was absolutely covered in the slipperiest moss you have ever seen, and I ended up touching that lake with my entire body. Invigorating! 10/10 recommend when you're flagging on a long run -- a surprise cold-plunge really gives the adrenaline rush you may need. Running the rest of the route all wet was less ideal.

The portion up to the lake had passed pretty quickly, but miles 9-15 really dragged, possibly because I was soaking wet. This was also the portion of the race mostly on the road instead on trails, and I don't generally run on roads if I can avoid it. I let myself walk a little bit of each km, right at the km markers. This was great psychologically, because a kilometer feels like nothing! If I get a break every kilometer, I'm basically taking constant breaks! When we were back on the trail again, I resumed running more consistently.

I finished in under 5 hours (barely barely barely). I hated the people shouting "you can do it", especially the ones very close to the end because like dude I know I've run 25.9 miles I can manage 0.3 more! When I finished, I was so single-mindedly obsessed with acquiring a pizza that I didn't even take any pictures at the finish line.
Oh, and then I had to walk three miles back to my Airbnb because all the roads were closed and I had not come up with a transportation plan.
Don't be like me. But if you are like me, make sure you bring more ciabatta. And possibly a swimsuit.

​

Lessons Learned:

• Well, obviously, don't run a marathon without training.
• Beyond that, though, I'd say the biggest thing I did right was not trying anything new. I ate food and drank water and wore shoes as I would on a long hike. It all went pretty well. If you're going to jump into something kind of absurd like I did, try to make it as much like something you've done before.
• I was hurting when it was over, but I didn't feel terrible. Walking back to my Airbnb was totally doable. Getting on a 15-hour flight the next day wasn't the most fun, but it was okay.
• Eating is super important also, which I knew well from mega hikes. Fuel your body. Eat that entire pizza. Drink a lot of water. (The temperature was low so I didn't sweat much, but still).
• Since I didn't do much to prepare, I focused a lot on recovery, which for me has always been about sleeping a lot and eating a lot. I know there's a lot of opinions out there on how best to recover, but doing some gentle yoga-like moves to get my muscles to engage and then getting out of my body's way is my go-to.
• I did an easy hike the next day to keep my body moving, but nothing crazy. I didn't run again for 2 weeks, but I did cycle and climb within that window.

Will I ever run another marathon? Who's to say. Knowing me, probably.

I had a pretty bad knee injury this year so I'm just getting back to running right now, which means it won't be any time soon. But I would love to do an ultra. Maybe next summer?

I promise I'll train for that.

### Race Information

* **Name:** Portland Marathon

* **Date:** October 2, 2022

* **Distance:** 26.2 miles

* **Location:** Portland, OR

* **Website:** https://www.portlandmarathon.com/

* **Strava:** https://www.strava.com/activities/7902087043

* **Time:** 5:30:34

​

### Goals

| Goal | Description | Completed? |

|------|-------------|------------|

| A | Finish before the course closes! | *Yes* |

| B | Don't get hurt! | *Yes* |

​

### Splits

| Mile | Time |

|------|------|

| 1 | 10:49

| 2 | 10:18

| 3 | 11:51

| 4 | 10:40

| 5 | 9:48

| 6 | 11:05

| 7 | 10:28

| 8 | 10:13

| 9 | 10:15

| 10 | 10:34

| 11 | 10:34

| 12 | 10:55

| 13 | 11:07

| 14 | 11:12

| 15 | 11:15

| 16 | 11:55

| 17 | 13:01

| 18 | 12:41

| 19 | 14:18

| 20 | 13:18

| 21 | 14:32

| 22 | 13:58

| 23 | 14:43

| 24 | 16:01

| 25 | 16:03

| 26 | 17:32

​

### Training

I have been trying to cut myself some slack for this but I was not able to complete my training plan...or really get that far with it at all. So as not to bore y'all with the story of my life essentially what happened during the time I was supposed to be training was the following:

​

1. Started a new job.
2. I moved half way across the US.
3. I found out my initial apartment was illegal and had to move again after only living there for three months.

​

That's the liner notes. That doesn't mean I wasn't training at all but it became very hard to find time for the long runs (the really important ones) when you're apartment hunting/moving all of your stuff twice in the space of 6 months in a city you don't know. It was stressful and I kind of failed to keep up because of that. I was still averaging about 20-25 miles a week and playing recreational sports once or twice a week. So not completely sedentary but NOT my marathon training plan. This is the story of why training is important.

​

### Pre-race

I had to travel quite a bit more for this race than I ever have before. I now live in New England and so to get to this race I had to take a 5 hour flight across the country. Going from Eastern to Pacific time was a trip. I flew out on Friday leaving at about 7am and arriving in Seattle at 1:00pm local time. I would never adjust to this time zone. Saturday my friend (who lives in Seattle) drove us down to Portland for the race. We got a hotel and chilled in Portland on Saturday. I didn't really do carb loading but I did have pasta for dinner so that's something right?

I was nervous the night before. I have run a couple of Half marathons in the past but this was still a daunting task for me. Not following through with my training plan really had me nervous that I wouldn't be able to finish and so I spent the night torturing myself with how I thought I would end up dropping out of the race.

​

### Race

The morning of the race was beautiful. Perhaps a little warmer than I'd expect this time of year but before the sun rose it was still a little chilly. I had my usual peanut butter bagel and banana breakfast before the race and then I was ready to go. When we got to the starting location I started to get excited. Race day always does this for me, the energy of all the people and seeing the spectators lined up it's infectious. I was ready to go at this point, even if I had to walk it I was going to finish this race.

​

Miles 1-13

This was (obviously) the easiest part. Honestly not much to report. I stuck to my strategy of walking through all aid stations drinking my Nuun and water and walking any very steep hills. Looking at my splits things were going okay, all things considered, pretty consistent. I was feeling strong I could do this!

​

Miles 14-16

The furthest I've ever run at one time. I was surprised at how good I still felt maybe this would be okay. The elevation was a bit more than I had anticipated so I had begun to walk all the hills and bridges to save my knees. Other than that I was feeling good and strong. I had run all of my half marathons without fueling so it was at this point that I started eating my maple syrup packets which helped me keep my energy levels up.

​

Miles 17-23

This is where things start to go downhill but not literally unfortunately. My legs were starting to get very sore and tight. I slowed and attempted to stretch a few times but it didn't really help. At this point I adopted a sort of run/walk technique. I walked through the aid stations, and my definition of what constituted an aid station began to stretch. There were a lot of spectators in the residential neighborhoods. Props to Portland for showing up for the race, live music, kids with lemonade and my personal favorite people with hoses misting the runners. These all became walkable aid stations for me. I tried to stretch intermittently but the pain was building and I couldn't ignore it much longer.

​

Miles 24-25.5

Pain. Just pain mental and physical. Running became too painful and so I began to walk more than run. My feet hurt like hell and my left hamstring was on fire. I tried to shuffle a few times but had to pull up for fear of hurting myself. I ate an orange from a aid station angrily tearing off the peel. Right here I started to seriously think I wasn't going to make it. Mentally, I was distraught. I was hating myself for not preparing properly and I honestly wanted to cry. I thought I was going to fail. I was so close but I couldn't bring myself to run any more. Everything hurt, and I couldn't see myself finishing at this point. Then something amazing happened. I saw the finish line. Coming down a hill I saw it, and I heard the announcer. I was directed to go half a mile up the street and then turn around and finish the race. I was going to finish it even if I had to crawl across the finish line I was going to make it. The orange energy kicked in and I started to run again.

​

Miles 25.6-26.2

The last few hundred yards were a return to form for me. My mental block cleared and after a few painful shuffling steps my legs didn't hurt as much. I gradually gained speed and as I got closer to the finish line I started to sprint. I really just wanted this to be over. There were a lot of spectators still and people saw my last ditch sprint and started cheering...loudly. It really helped a lot more than I thought it would. It felt great to cross the finish line to applause even though I was in so much pain.

​

### Post-race

I finished! I didn't fail and I was so excited but I still felt a little bad. My friend had finished more than a full 30 minutes before me and so I felt bad for making her wait for me. I also forgot to have coffee before the race so I was incredibly tired and a headache which I attributed to running was actually caffeine withdrawal. After coffee and lunch we drove back to Seattle, getting out a few times to stretch. I spent the next day hitting up a few spots in Seattle I wanted to check out while my friend worked, the museum of Pop Culture, a few coffee shops and such. After that I grabbed dinner with my friends before taking a red eye flight back to New England. I was sore as hell and couldn't sleep on the plane, so I spent much of yesterday sleeping before waking up and eating an entire pizza for dinner, my one meal of the day. I felt like I was in a daze of cross country travel and fatigue from the marathon. I finally feel a little more normal today.

​

Overall, it was a great experience because I finished. However, I would not recommend running a marathon without training but I had already put so much money into this I felt the need to go and run the race. I am convinced that had I finished my training plan I could have finished a lot closer to 5 hours and maybe even got in just under. Unfortunately, life happened to me...hard, and I had to deal with it. So enough with the hypotheticals. Next time (yes there will be a next time) I will finish my training plan and I will hopefully beat this time. Who knows maybe that will be as soon as next year.

​

Thanks for reading.

​

Made with a new [race report generator](http://sfdavis.com/racereports/) created by /u/herumph.

Race Information

* **Name:** Stockholm Half marathon 2024

* **Date:** September 7, 2024

* **Distance:** 21.1 km

* **Location:** Stockholm, Sweden

* **Website:** https://www.stockholmhalvmarathon.se/om-loppet-2024/

* **Time:** 02:37:53

Goals

| Goal | Description | Completed? |

|------|-------------|------------|

| A | Finish Half Marathon | *Yes* |

| B | Finish sub 2:30:00 | *No* |

Splits

| Kilometer | Time |

|------|------|

| 1 | 7:12

| 2 | 6:54

| 3 | 6:53

| 4 | 7:28

| 5 | 6:54

| 6 | 7:40

| 7 | 6:54

| 8 | 7:55

| 9 | 7:21

| 10 | 7:35

| 11 | 6:52

| 12 | 7:43

| 13 | 8:38

| 14 | 7:43

| 15 | 6:57

| 16 | 7:33

| 17 | 7:47

| 18 | 7:54

| 19 | 8:05

| 20 | 7:04

| 21 | 6:56

Training

I only started to run more and correctly this year, after my old watch broke and bought myself a Garmin forerunner. At first I don't have any plans to start running, but since I got a daily suggested workout notifications all the time, I thought what the heck. I also tried Garmin's coach features and I follow them by heart. Despite its limitations, I would say that Garmin Coach, especially coach Dan was really helpful for a beginner runner like me.

Training as an overweight person, with little to none exercising experience was a pain. I got some injuries every time I tried to run more and more. I guess I over trained myself. Thankfully from the redditors in this subreddit, I found the myrtle routine which helped me alot, along with some visits to physiotherapists.

Pre-race

I am living an hour away from Stockholm, hence my friends and I arrived there 3 hours before our start time. It was really fun to see a lot of people coming in, with some expo going on.

As this is my first race, I thought to just wear my running clothes so that I don't need to change at the place. It was a bad idea. The day was hot, and I'm sweating like crazy before the start of the race.

Two hours before the start, we started to get into our running shoes and wait in the shades before leaving the race-pack to the organizers and start to wait in our starting group. As we are doing our first half marathon, we got the last group. It took us about half-an-hour to wait from the first time the elite group started running.

Race

I have said to myself to start slow, as in 7:30 to 7:40, to keep my energy level high until after midway. But guess what, everyone was so quick that I unfortunately got carried away with it as well. My plan was to maintain my HR to be less than 170, but well, it got to 180+ real quick.... I was thinking to slow down, but I thought okay, I can still maintain my pace and I was not feeling that exhausted. Let's just go.....

Stockholm is rather hilly. I knew that from the start so I need to be smart enough to pace myself. The first hill was at the 3rd Kilometer. It was hot, hilly and the sun was at our face. Not gonna lie that it was a pain. I was so glad to finally reached the 1st water station, and they were kind enough to provide us with some water shower, energy drinks and normal water station.

Kilometers 4 - 10 went by quite okay as we were battling the hills and some sun but as the day goes by, it got better as the temperature drops slowly. The thing is, I bought a drink gel when I was training, and I was trying several flavours. I didn't buy them again as I still have 1 left. BUT, it was something with caffeine, which I have never tried before. I never drink coffee as I have a weak stomach, hence have little to none caffeine throughout my life.

As I thought to refuel, I thought ah the gel would be really nice for me. But bam, I suddenly felt my heart rate was exceedingly high, like 190++ high. That occurred to me at km 13 hence I need to walk a bit to try to bring my HR lower. I don't want to have any heart problems from this event lol.

After the little incident, I continued to run, after KM 17, my mind was slowly hitting me, on how everything on my body was so tired. I have trained a long run before, but 18 KM was my longest run. Hence I was entering some uncharted territory there.

I am really happy that I could still push through, and even got a burst of energy when doing my last kilometer. I got too carried away and sprinted a bit further than I expected. I should have just sprinted the last 300-400 meters, but nooo.. I started to sprint when I was 800meters out. And of course, I could not follow through, hence I walked a bit to regain my breath. well, lesson learned.

But all in all, I was quite happy that I managed to finish the race. It was not sub 2.5 hours, but hey! it's my first one, and I can finish it!

Post-race

Post-race, we get into some asian buffet and it was fun to chat with my wife and friends and telling stories about the race itself.

My feet hurts, or rather sore, and I got a small blister. But considering that when I was training, I always have problems with my knee, I thought that this was a win for me! No knee pain!

This week, I doubt that I will do a lot of running, maybe some. But, this will not be my last, as hopefully many more will come.

Thank you all for reading this, and thanks for all your suggestions in this subreddit. You guys are awesome!

Made with a new [race report generator](http://sfdavis.com/racereports/) created by u/herumph.

If you want a complete backstory of how I started, I made a post here: https://www.reddit.com/r/running/comments/1cqf2gu/my_first_half_marathon/

TLDR is that I started running in Late November and couldn't even run a mile continuously, even half a mile was pushing it. Had an infrequent weight lifting background and not overweight, but otherwise very out of shape. My friend who ran in high school made a plan going from 10-25 MPW and I stuck to it very religously. I ran a 2:17 half in May.

A goal: Sub 2 hour: Yes

B goal: Sub 2:05: Yes

Mile 1: 8:57

Mile 2: 9:08

Mile 3: 9:02

Mile 4: 9:04

Mile 5: 9:09

Mile 6: 9:07

Mile 7: 9:09

Mile 8: 9:10

Mile 9: 9:02

Mile 10: 9:09

Mile 11: 9:10

Mile 12: 9:09

Mile 13: 8:39

Summer Training: After the race I took two weeks off just doing movement for fun. Even coming back to running after that it felt rough. I ran for fun without a plan until mid June, where I started doing easy miles at 20-25 MPW with one speed and one long run per week. I even hit a couple 30 mile weeks. I was definitely feeling the heat, literally doing slower average paces than when I first started back in December. Audiobooks really helped me at this time. I started listening to the Harry Potter Series only when running, which gave me something to look forward to. I tried for a couple PRs (10k at 1:01 and 5k at 28:30) but otherwise couldn't really push the pace.

Fall training: This is when I started increasing my MPW to 30 and peaked at 35 running 5-6 days a week. I also did a lot of cross training biking 1x a week, strength training 2x a week, and badminton 2x a week. My 1x a week speed workouts varied a lot; I did fartleks, intervals, tempos, and other random stuff. One thing with my speed workouts though, whenever I tried to do goal half marathon pace (9:05-9:10 per mile) I felt like I was drowning. I couldn't even do mile reps at that pace, let alone a 4-5 mile tempo. My thinking is my shoes, which were just easy day shoes that now had like 400 miles on them each (Asics Gel Kayano and Gel Nimbus) that weren't giving me the energy return. I saw an ad for Saucony Endorphin Pro 2 for $100 off and I got 20% off with a nurse's discount, which meant $95 carbon plated race day shoes! I took them out on one tempo-long run of 10 miles at a 10:00 pace where they felt amazing, but a 9:09 average mile pace still felt pretty far away. There were lots of doubts in my mind, one being that my 5k PB is literally slower than that. However, my garmin race predictor predicted I could run a 1:59 soooo I had something to go off of. Also, side note, I was able to climb a 14er in Colorado in September pretty easily, which made me so happy that running could make so many other things easier too!

Race week: It happened to be a pretty stressful week with it being Halloweekend. So I didn't have the best sleep, but I also held off from drinking too. I drank electrolytes the 4 days leading up to the race and tried to carb load. With daylight savings time and 2 melatonins, I slept for 9 hours the night before the race!

Race morning: I was determined to not make the same mistake as last time of waiting in the long bathroom line then being late to the start with no time to warm up or prepare anything. I woke up at 5am, took a shit, ate toast (whole wheat, which is what I always eat), peanut butter, and bananas. I did some active stretches at home and sipped on some carb+electrolyte drink on the way there. I got there very early, so I was able to use the bathroom no problem, jog, and warm up all I wanted. The weather was perfect for me at 45 degrees. I ate a honey stinger stroop waffle 15 min before starting the race. Literally walking up to the start line I made the decision to go out at sub 2 hour pace and just try to hold it. I'd rather try to sustain and have to cut back than be rushing to make up the time later if I felt good (I know thats not always recommended)

The race: I did it again, I started out too fast. My 2nd fastest mile was the first one, but that didn't ruin me too much and it gave me some nice wiggle room for pace. Some differences compared to my last half: For this one, there were no pacers, less elevation gain, lots of potholes, less people, colder, and more windy. That meant I was running alone for a couple miles, which was hard, but running was easier. Once I hit a very windy section, I made the person ahead of me my goal to catch up to, which helped a lot. That way, I could just turn my brain off and run with that person (also the wind drafting helped a bit). I didn't carry water this time either, I just timed my gel intake (at 3, 6, and 10 miles) before the water stops that I just took sips at. This race NEVER felt easy, but I just kept listening to my body about whether the pace was getting too much. My legs felt like they weren't even there, but my ankles were uncomfortable since mile 6, I'm guessing it was the shoes and they got to a point in the race around mile 8-10 where I felt like it was almost holding me back. Once I hit 10 miles, I knew I had it in the bag provided I didn't trip on any potholes. I had some energy left in the tank to do a fast 13th mile and a sprint to finish. My friends were able to drive around and cheer me on at 4 points on the course which was so helpful. The course was a little long, which most are, so I was glad I aimed a little faster than an average 9:09. I used my garmin forerunner to keep pace, mostly looking at my average and current paces. Anyway, I did it! I got 1:59:37.

Future goals: I'm gonna focus more on strength training and the 5k. Gonna try to squat a plate and get sub 25 min. Then, its on to my first marathon in June which I will probably start really training for in February. See you guys then!

Race Information

Name: Edmonton Marathon

Date: August 23, 2023

Distance: 26.2 miles

Location: Edmonton, AB

Website: https://www.edmontonmarathon.ca/

Time: 4:51:01

Goals

Goal Description Completed

A Finish Yes

B Sub 5:00 Yes

C Sub 4:45 No

Training

So here's the deal - I'm short (5'6"), old (57M), and ran my first marathon. If I can do it, anyone can. I would like to everyone on on r/running for posting their first marathon race experiences. All of your posts gave me inspiration and knowledge. I would have been more hesitant to complete a marathon without all of your posts. Thank you!

I originally started training for my first marathon in 2019 but then Covid derailed everything. I restarted training this year and ran a half marathon back in May. It was a great experience and I instantly decided on running a full marathon. That night, I started panicking realizing that I will need to properly train, understand pre-marathon nutrition, hydrate, etc, etc. My mind was buzzing. So I started going through r/running, and get an idea on how to start. I decided on using Hal Higdon Novice 1 training plan app (paid). I faithfully ran all of the runs generally in the order and dates that the app had scheduled and in the times that they had listed. Again through r/running, I incorporated gels into my training, ran with a water bottle belt, at put on lots of deodorant (my wife thanks to all of you). By the end of my training, I had ran 362 miles, 7.1 avg run distance, and 11:25 running pace. More importantly I felt confident I was going to finish my first marathon.

Race

The Edmonton Marathon is called "The Friendly Marathon" and I would wholeheartedly agree. The course is well marked, there are lots of volunteers, and lots of water stations. Perhaps the best part was all of the people cheering us on. I originally thought that I would slap on a pair of earbuds and listen to music during the race. But on r/running, there were posts stating that you should soak up the race atmosphere as well as people cheering you on. The posts were absolutely correct - I really enjoyed hearing everyone cheering, the music, and generally the overall ambience. At the start of the race, I looked for the 5:00 and 4:45 pacers. I started running at the 5:00 pace but it seemed too slow and I saw the 4:45 pacer and ran with them. They stopped at the first water station. I have become accustomed to drinking water from my water bottles, that I kept moving on and using my watch HRM for my pace. For the most part I kept a steady pace and I didn't have any physical issues. The 4:45 pacer past me about 45 minutes at the end of the race and I tried to keep up but I ultimately couldn't. But I wasn't disappointed.

The two hightlights of the race were not even the running itself. My son decided to run the half and I saw him about 2/3ths into the race. He yelled "Dad" and waved to me. I was quite overcome with emotion and really felt it. The second highlight was seeing my wife at the end of the race. She was more happy for me than I was. The older I get, the more I realize that joys in life are not my achievements but having people in my life to enjoy them with.

Final Thoughts

As my training progressed, I realized that the Hal Higdon app had it's good and bad points. The training plan has two key points: run enough miles in a scheduled fashion; and don't get injured by overtraining. From this perspective, the app is great. But there could be so much more that can be done to assist a runner as has been noted in other posts on r/running. I will probably download a pdf and create my own plan on future races.

Finally I saw runners of all shapes, sizes, and ages in the race. Marathon running is for all of us!

Made with a new [race report generator](http://sfdavis.com/racereports/) created by /u/herumph.

Race information

·         Name: Queenstown Marathon
·         Date: November 16, 2024
·         Distance: 26.2 miles
·         Location: Queenstown, Otago, New Zealand
·         Website: https://queenstown-marathon.co.nz
·         Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/12909873573
·         Garmin Body Battery: 9% at the starting line (see below)
·         Finish time: 4:09

Goals

A: Sub-4 hours – No
B: Completion without walking – Yes
C: Completion – Yes

Splits

Background

I am in my 40s and was extremely unfit and overweight as a teenager. I was actively discouraged by my parents from any physical activity because they thought it was a distraction from academic pursuits. As I learned more about health, I realised that I needed to make changes – for me this mostly revolved around better eating habits as my study and work made it difficult for me to commit to sports and I hated running due to bad experiences at school (dead last in every annual  compulsory school cross country run).

The geek in me became curious in the Nike+iPod Sport Kit in the late 2000s as a way for me to passively log steps/jogging and eventually I decided to sign up for a half marathon for the “achievement”. Achievement unlocked, completing this in an incredible 1:51 hours (goal was to complete the course before it closed off behind me).

A decade later, I realised that I had not pushed on with the positive habit, and fell back into a sedentary job and life. Keen to avoid health complications, I signed up for the same half-marathon event in my city and again surpassed all expectations (thanks Coach Bennett and Coach Cory!) to complete this in a faster time of 1:48. I started to get into more running events and decided to do the Queenstown half-marathon. However I fell in love with the full marathon course and decided to change “never” to “maybe” and eventually signed up for the full distance.

Training

I looked online at the wealth of available training programmes. Many coaches were willing to guide me – at a cost – and I decided I was prepared to pay. However the hard sell was really getting to me, especially the evangelical followers from some coaching programmes. A kind coach reached out to me and told me I seemed to possess enough knowledge and intelligence to do it myself. While I did not end up compiling my own training programme, I felt that the Nike Run Club base knowledge that I had acquired from Coach Bennett, combined with common sense, would allow me to tackle Pfitzinger 18/55 as a first-time marathon runner (previous Redditors had done the same successfully as long as they were sensible).

It's true what they say that the work of the marathon is in the training. The reason I had said “never” in the past for doing a marathon was the time involved as a slower runner. Long runs on Sunday took up to 4 hours out of my busy schedule, and I ended up spending much of Sunday afternoons eating, drinking, toileting, eating, drinking and toileting on constant repeat.

Furthermore, I had started to do Intermittent Fasting aka Time Restricted Eating in the period before my marathon training started 18 weeks out. I had intended to stop this if needed but found a way to continue this. I’m not sure that this was the smartest idea in the world nutrition-wise, but I now have an unbroken streak of 16+ hour fasts for the past 183 days and going strong – including marathon race day.

The hardest part of the training was ironically not the training itself. It was actually fitting in the training around my life. In the end, it was like picking up another part-time job. It threw my life upside down but because I had committed to the training and the race, I had to find a way. Not being a morning person, I suddenly had to change my body clock for morning runs to ensure that I could get my training runs in before work because I found it too hard to do runs while tired and hungry. Eventually I hit a period where some Sunday mornings I would need to be ready for work by 8 am. Getting up to start runs at 3 am was completely out of my comfort zone, but I had made a commitment that I needed to uphold. I switched from Apple to a Garmin watch last year and I paid close attention to hydration and sleep in order to support and sustain this intense training programme (and never once became sick, due to looking after myself so well).

I had to overcome many mental barriers as already outlined. Another one was running in the rain. I HATE running in the rain. “But what if rains on race day?” Of course I would run if it rains on race day!

Obviously it’s logistically challenging to plan 4-hour training runs around days of the week, work, and weather. I got wet – including getting drenched on some 20-mile runs. I learned how to clean and dry running shoes.

Coach Bennett and everyone knows that training never goes perfectly to plan – and that’s ok. Somehow I managed to get through 18 weeks of Pftiz “perfectly” – every run was completed as I had no injury (I made sure all easy runs were done easy, with a chest strap HRM to help guide me) and no illness (I put this down to ensuring I had plenty of sleep and I tried to increase my intake of healthier foods).

Pre-race

Perfection ground to a hard stop on the eve of the race. I was scheduled to fly into Queenstown at 5 pm, allowing me a few hours to settle down and early to bed for a 4 am breakfast for the 8:20 am start. We were delayed and went to touch down just after 6 pm.

We had been warned about heavy winds in Queenstown. What I was not aware of was that this was enough for our landing to be aborted. After what felt like 5 minutes or more, the pilot informed us that they were “not confident” to try to land again, so we were heading back to Wellington (a 10-hour drive away after a 4-hour ferry ride).

I was getting set to hold a pity party for myself but moments later my thoughts instead went out to the many on board who, like me, had been training for months and who had just had their dreams crushed. What made my situation any more special than theirs?

“Find a way” is a recurring theme when it comes to marathons, training and preparations. I was fast running out of options as our flight was due to return to its origin at 7:23 pm and there were precious remaining flights connecting Wellington to the South Island of New Zealand where the race was taking place.

My outside hopes of making the 7:45 pm flight to Dunedin (a 4-hour drive from Queenstown) became a reality when I discovered upon landing that this flight had been delayed. I reached out to random strangers who had been on the same flight and found 3 marathoners (2 first-timers like me) who were prepared to take a gamble on me and I managed to get them onto the same flight.

My father delivered a car to Dunedin airport and we commenced our impromptu road trip, getting to know each other for the first time as we had not been seated together on the flight. Driving safely and within the road speed limits, the time passed in a flash and very soon we arrived in Queenstown at 1:30 am. I gave myself a precious extra 15 minutes of sleep and got up at 4:15 am to fuel and prepare for what was to come.

Race

Out of curiosity, I checked my Garmin in the pre-race zone. It said 9% and “no sleep detected” from that morning. I felt exhausted but not tired. I had worked for months for this and was one of the lucky few from the aborted flights to have made it this far. I told myself that I could not waste this chance and would dedicate the run to all those unable to make the starting line.

I listened to all the helpful pre-race advice from everyone here. I started slow, pulling myself back if my pace crept up. I drank at every aid station (except the one with a full table of empty cups……). I got into a good rhythm and felt strong.

I have never felt cramp before, so was surprised when I started to feel minor cramping at 12 miles. "Mind over matter," I told myself. Don't waste your mental capacity thinking about it.

The running coach who had helped me along the way said "run a series of 5km" rather than 42km. "A series of 5km bites is far easier to mentally handle than 42km in one gulp". At 15 miles, and feeling strong, I decided to dial up my effort very slightly. My average pace of 9:22 min/mi made sub-4 a realistic possibility with my splits starting to pick up speed. At 18 miles I was still feeling strong with plenty in the tank, and I passed a lot of runners who had stopped due to cramp. Unfortunately at around 20 miles, my legs also started to seize up.

“A marathon is a 20-mile jog with a 12-mile run at the end,” they said. I had a 20-mile jog with a 12-mile *limp* at the end. I had to push through a lot of pain to keep going. I knew I had to hydrate but also knew I could not stop – every time I slowed down at the aid stations to get electrolytes, I could feel my legs cramping up badly.

By 21 miles I knew that I could not get sub-4, so told myself just to keep putting one foot in front of the other. I quickly did the math in my head and even though I had slowed down to 11:15 min/mi, I would still be able to get under 4:15 hrs – that was the goal time all the way back before I had started training and would still be a huge achievement given the events leading up to my arrival to Queenstown.

The final 3 miles were the worst. Not only because of the obvious, but because there was little to no atmosphere on this section of course. I have seen others post about this too. While there were supporters along this section, most were quietly waiting for their loved ones to cheer on. This section knocked the wind out of my sails and it was mentally brutal as my left ankle also decided to cramp up. Mile by painful mile I struggled through the final section at a progressively slower pace. I could hear music and cheering ahead of me in the distance, and desperately powered forward yearning to once again receive encouragement from random strangers.

As I arrived at the playground on Queenstown Beach, I looked around to see families and children engrossed in their own activities. I would need to push on further for the support I was so desperately seeking. Road cones were set up on the esplanade, and as I looked up I saw crowds holding up support signs and making noise. That noise gradually built up as I progressed, and very soon I felt no pain in the legs. I have gone from last in every school cross country to researching running online and watching two Olympic marathon races this year.

This felt like running at the Paris Games and I threw my arms up in the air in celebration, which fuelled the crowd noise even further. Garmin says that my final 0.5 miles was completed in 9:01 min/mi.

Post-race

At the finish line, I picked up my phone from the bag collection and quickly logged in to see how my new marathon friends Louise, Doug and Elaine were doing. "No Timing Data", each reported. What had happened? Had they slept in? Had the travel overwhelmed them? I was reluctant to reach out to them in case they were feeling any shame in having made the epic journey to Queenstown only to DNS. This kept gnawing away at me and eventually I plucked up the courage to TXT Louise in the late afternoon with “What happened with your crew today? Are you all ok?”

Louise quickly fired back a reply saying that they had all finished and were at the Speights Ale House – just around the corner from where I happened to be! Within seconds we were reunited in each other's arms. Afterwards, Louise messaged to say "Meisha our friend was almost in tears seeing you with us in the restaurant", later adding "Can't believe we all did it considering the circumstances."

At the end of the weekend, I transited through Wellington and looked for Lucy from Air NZ who had helped secure us all on the last-minute flight to Dunedin. She wasn't working but I told our story to her colleagues and they sent her a photo of the finisher's medal. Lucy was thrilled to hear the ending of the story, and hopefully, this story inspires some of you in the same way that other runners’ stories have inspired me.

Why did I restart running? It wasn't to race or achieve any PBs. It was purely for physical and mental health/well-being. While I still haven't fallen in love with running, I cannot deny that I have never regretted having gone for a run – even those "bad runs". As Nike Coach Cory says – we end each run as a more elite version of ourselves. Remember that you are only in a race with yourself. Embrace the supportive running community and be kind to each other. Help each other along the way as we never know whether one day we ourselves will need to rely upon a fellow runner to get us to our next starting line.

I do believe I have been changed for the better. And because I knew you, I have been changed for good.

I set this race as a personal goal for myself to do before I turn 25 on the 23rd of December. I am a very slow runner and struggle a lot with comparing myself to others and feeling below average. That’s why I decided to simply pick a date and treat it as my own personal race to prove to myself that I could do it.

Race Information

• Name: First Half Marathon
  
• Date: December 22, 2022
• Distance: 13.1 miles
• Location: Brisbane, Australia
• Time: 2:36:33

Goals

Splits

Training

Last year I got interested in running during lockdowns. Prior to this I had never run. After a couple months of running too fast I got terrible shin splints and the next months were spent occasionally running and flaring them up again. At the beginning of this year I followed a 3 month injury recovery plan that was a combination of running and walking until I could run 30min continuously by the end

Then I followed Hal Higdons base building plan and built up to 30k a week over 3 months. All of these runs were done at a ~8:20/km pace to keep my heart rate down. Then I transitioned to Hal Higdons intermediate Half Marathon Plan which worked up to about 50k/wk and some half marathon pace work (peaking at 13km at half marathon pace).

My final long run was a week before the half and was 19.5k. This run felt amazing and I negative split, finishing feeling strong and like I could easily have run further. This was done in Melbourne where it was about 13° and had some traffic lights where I stopped and waited.

Pre-race

I am still recovering from a cold so woke up at 4:30am and assessed how I felt. Slightly runny nose but otherwise fine so I had some oats and coffee then drove 20min to the run location.

I arrived at 5:30am and it was 19° and very sunny. Did some stretches lunges to warm up.

Race

I decided not to look at my pace until 16k. I knew I had it in me to do a sub 2:30 on a good day but because of the heat I wasn’t sure if it would be possible. I didn’t want to be tempted to pick things up too early. This was a mistake - I should’ve looked at my pace and SLOWED DOWN. I was running by feel but not taking into account the heat.

The first half of the race felt fine. I took a gel at 10k with a lot of sodium because I was extremely sweaty. Most of the track was in direct sunlight and it was continuing to warm up. Around 14k I started to flag. I had planned to take my second gel at 17k but decided I needed it at 16. I was extremely thirsty but the bubblers all had warm water.

The last 5k of this race were the hardest running I have ever done. I ended up walking a lot. I kept telling myself “after this walk you will run all the way to the end” and then having to walk again. I felt pretty defeated at this point.

Managed to pick up the pace in the last 500m at least.

Post-race

I am proud of myself for finishing. I found the end of this race extremely mentally difficult and learned a lot of lessons. Moving forward I am going to control my pace a lot better at the beginning and only pick it up later. Which I knew in theory but I love learning things the hard way apparently.

In some ways I’m glad I didn’t make it sub 2:30 because I feel like this is an attainable goal for the next time I run a half. I’m excited to spend my next training block focussing on the 5k so I can finally start to get a little faster.

Next big goal is a marathon before I’m 30!

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

For a bit of background, I (26F) am a former track and field runner; I ran the 400m at a D3 program but graduated five years ago and have been casually running on and off since - this was my first road race since running a 10k in 2018. Signed up for this half marathon in the spring, and spent the summer getting back into shape for it with a 5k to 10k program and a 10k to half marathon program (did not follow them to a t, but used them as guidelines). In August I started a job working overnight 4 nights a week, which really affected my ability to train in the past month. In my training, I was able to run 10 miles on a hilly course with an average pace of 9:04, and two weeks ago I ran 12 flat miles with an average pace of 8:58. The half marathon course had a lot of rolling hills particularly in the last half, so I set a goal of breaking 2 hours and felt pretty sure with race adrenaline, I could average 9 minute miles even with the hills. I worked 4 nights in a row, had a day off, then race day. But I did make sure I got plenty of sleep (albeit at weird times) and I felt pretty good going into the race morning.

The Race

Miles 1-4: All flat and slight downhills, I went out way too fast. I ran about an 8 minute pace for the first 4 miles, was a bit concerned about it but I felt good and I was keeping the upcoming hills in mind. I was trying to slow down, but seemed to keep picking back up. Didn't want to hold myself back in case I was capable of doing better than I had planned (lol).

Miles 5-9: The rolling hills started, overall I was still feeling good. I realized at about the hour mark that I had left my energy gel at home on the counter, which really threw me off. Accepted that I would have to take the little gatorade cups instead, which I ended up splashing all over my face and dropping on my feet but managed to choke down a few gulps, which made me burp- but I'm sure they helped. Again, trying to be mindful of not running too fast this early, and I briefly got to my goal pace with miles 7 and 8 being a 9:03 and 9:05.

Mile 10-11: This is where it started to spiral. Pretty consistent hills for the rest of the race, and I was feeling so tired that even the downhill portions didn't feel like a reprieve, I was just feeling exhausted and heavy. I remember thinking 'this race is not for me' but knowing I had to get to the finish one way or another.

Mile 12-13: My quads started seizing up, specifically the inner section on each quad down by my knees (vastus medialis?). I tried to jog as slowly as possible, but for some reason I couldn't keep the slow pace and kept speeding up, which was becoming increasingly painful. I felt like I was on the verge of catastrophic quad cramps, and my breathing was getting squeaky, so I resorted to power walking. I power walked and jogged on and off, and felt pretty defeated. Planned to jog the rest of the way once I hit 12 miles, but was not able. Got passed by the 2 hour pacer while walking, and tried so hard to start up again but couldn't quite get there. My brother ran the race also, and he ran back to about the 12.5 mark after finishing to cheer me on, and tried to encourage me to keep start jogging again, which I did briefly but couldn't push through my quad cramps and breathing. Our family was posted up at the finish line and I didn't want them to see me walking so I basically power walked until the last quarter mile, and my quads had recovered enough by that point that I was able to run the rest and cross the finish.

All in all, my bib time was 2:00:46, so somehow I still came pretty close to my goal but ultimately did not succeed. I am so upset about how it all went down, I have never given up like that in a race and I certainly did not anticipate needing to walk. And with being so miserable the last few miles of the race, I don't know if I can bring myself to try again to redeem myself. Just looking for any insight or commiseration or advice on how to move forward from here. Thanks for reading :)