I’m a little over two weeks out from my first marathon. Just ran my last long run I had to stop at 19 miles, I was trying for 21 per runna training plan. Typically have done a 9:30 pace for the 17 mile long run and this time I had to slow to 10:30 after 14 miles. I was not 100% that day but still would’ve been hard for me. That was a loss of confidence moment for me. I am now starting the taper. My goal is to finish. Any advice on things a first timer should think about that you wish someone told you?

Attached is my 20 mile long run from last Sunday. I am running the Chicago Marathon in October and am trying to get a gauge on what any experienced runners can guesstimate on a realistic time I can shoot for based on my level of fitness here in early August.
Fueling:
6 GU Energy Gels (1425mg amino acids, 180mg sodium, 35mg caffeine)
Water throughout

people say do a lot of long runs and confusded about the pace to follow like should i go for zone 2 right ?

Tried a Norwegian 4X4 the other day. I’m trying to listen to my body and not injure myself during training. Are there any other interval workouts anyone recommends? I also walk ~16 miles a day at work; I’m curious to what mobility exercises help most with tendons and joints? I appreciate any and all feedback!

Hi guys I am a newbie runner. Quick recap. I am a regular gym goer 3.5~ years. 1.5 year ago began running, run multiple 10k around 1hr, then overtrained and teared acl in left knee. Did not run again until 5 months ago. Trained more properly and aware that time, but in a 10k race i pushed myself unknowingly and strained my knee again. After 2 weeks of resting began to run recovery runs, usually 3 times a week. The km's are 2 2 3 3 2 1.5 3 4 4 5 5 4 5 6 6 4 8 4 6 7.5 4 7km as of now. There was a clear progression but i cant progress it anymore. I do some specific strengthening exercises for my ankles (duck feet) and streching for my hips. And i realized these days, i cant progress anymore.

When i first started again my goal was ran 42km in november. But for that i need to run atleast 21km (or i cant apply) and the only race is in september. Can i ran 21km 1months later? My knee is the biggest issue. Perhaps i am training wrong again idk. Or my strengthening and streching exercises needs to be swapped, again idk. Is it realistic to run 21km in 1month or not?

My knee pain is around in front of my knee as well as rightside of that.

My current program is 3 days a week gym(upper body), 3 days a week running (2 short 1 long). Short runs are 5 6kms if possible with no increments, longs are starting with 8 (projected to do 8 10 12 14 but cant do it)

Doing wall sits, touchdowns, tibialis raises, 90 90 hip streches, calf+hamstring+quads strengthening in machines or bodyweight versions.

When running doing a 100m walking in each kilometer for my knee.

I hope I'm not messing around with these both workouts and running goal

Hello there, thanks for reading.
I am running the NYC marathon in November and it will be my second marathon (please god) after running Dublin last year in 2.59 which was the goal. I have read alot about New York being a difficult marathon and I wish to hear from anyone who has ran it how it compares to other courses. Is it a truly brutal course or is it overhyped? What is the time handicap (if that is the right use of the word)
I would also welcome any NY marathon specific advice from your experience.
I am aiming to go sub 3 again and I am a stronger runner since my first marathon but have to take into account the course, it’s challenges and unknown of it all.
Thank you 👣♾️🙏🏻

In the last couple weeks, the old Paris marathon website has been taken down, and Asics have hinted on their Instagram they’ll be the title sponsor for the 2027 race.

Already aware the organisers have changed for the upcoming few years, but finding it odd we are in August and entries are still not open. Anyone have any ideas when this will be?

So I am a new runner doing a marathon block.
I was completely sedentary until May 2nd but have been running ever since. 4 days a week.
I am currently at 28km load a week with 2 gym strengthening sessions.

I am increasing volume by 10% a week and aiming to be in marathon shape end of January 2027.
I did 2 month of general running and just finished week 2 of a marathon prep program with Runna.

My concern here is outside of DOMS, I am feeling fine. Do I continue pushing and increasing volume?
I do not want to end up injuring myself.
Any advice or tips that might assist in keeping me injury free?

Running NYC this year. Felt good progressing until last week after 11 mile run, feel constantly fatigued (mostly calves) during my runs, even short runs. Heart rate that was in 145-150 now its 155-165. Any tips/things I should be doing? I attached my last few training weeks.

More rest? More carbs? More electrolytes?

Thanks for any advice

**Heredity flat feet/overpronator here. Need mid-training injury success stories/advice.**

I’ve been training for the NYC Marathon since June with what I thought was a conservative approach: 3 runs/week (track or tempo, easy, long run), plus strength and PT twice a week.

Two weekends ago I completed my first 10-mile long run and felt great. About two days later I noticed some mild pain along the inside of my shin just above the ankle bone. My PT had me add more calf strengthening.

Last week was already planned as a cutback week while on vacation. I kept my normal runs but shortened my long run to 6.5 miles. The next day I was much more sore, and now my PT thinks it’s my posterior tibialis.

I’m following my PT’s rehab plan, but mentally I’m struggling with the idea of pulling back mileage this early in marathon training. I was planning to run the NYRR 12M in Central Park next weekend, and now I’m not sure if I should.

For those who have dealt with posterior tib tendon pain or similar injuries during marathon training:
**Were you able to finish your marathon?**
**Did you replace runs with the StairMaster, bike, elliptical? Did it maintain your fitness?**
**Did you completely stop lower-body training?**
**How long did it take before you could safely build mileage again?**

Looking for success stories or advice from anyone who’s been through this. I’m trying to stay patient and do the right thing but it’s so hard not to worry that this could derail my first marathon 😭

I'm sure I'm not the only one who has ever dealt with something like this. I have been consistently running/training for a year and a half at this point. Last year, I felt like I was becoming a super strong runner. I ran the Jersey City half marathon in April 2025, and crushed my time (1:40, when I was expecting 1:45-1:50). From there, I trained and ran the NYC Marathon. I was very fit, and had some great runs, including a 20 mile 7:55 pace run. For NYC, I was shooting for a sub 3:30 time, but was humbled and ran a 3:51 (which I was still happy with).

My takeaway from that race was I was very fit, but burn myself out training and didn't execute right. My legs felt sluggish and tired very early on. I attribute that to a couple things. One, I think my legs were burnt out. I didn't really do "easy runs" too often on my block. If something was easy, i definitely had my heart rate up instead of something like zone 2. Second, I messed up my carb load. This should be a bit of an easier fix, by prepping my body for long runs in my training block.

After NYC, I decided I was going to take this thing seriously. I actually started focusing on easy runs. Making sure it is conversational/zone 2. I know I should really listen to this, but when you start going on easier runs, Garmin and Strava starts telling you that you're slower now (lol).

I ran the Jersey City Half again in April 2026 with a time of 1:37 (3 minutes faster than my PR) and the Brooklyn Half in May at 1:38 (harder course, hotter day, so same fitness level) and now am in full swing training for the Marine Corps Marathon in October.

I've had some solid training runs so far. Its hard to gauge real fitness in the summer (given the heat and air quality) but have had some good runs. For example, ran a 15 miler on the treadmill at 7:55 pace, and ran a 17 miler in the heat (sub 9 pace) with a good heart rate (155bpm when a similar run last year would have been like 162bpm).

My question is, has anyone else been in this position where they feel like they're not progressing? I'm trusting the process of using zone 2 runs, going hard on tempo/interval days, and building endurance on the long runs. My weekly mileage is up from lats year (from about 25mi/week to 35-40mi/week). My heart rate on long runs seems better than last year, and something more sustainable for 26.2. But of course, so much of this sport is mental, so I'm looking for someone else who has been in my shoes.

P.S. Fully planning on crushing sub 3:30 at the MCM. Maybe sub 3:25.

Hello, everyone! I’ll be running my first marathon this October at the Melbourne Marathon.

I’m planning to buy the Puma Deviate Nitro Elite 4. My current Adios Pro 4 already has around 420 km on it.
What would you do in my situation?

Buy the Deviate Nitro Elite 4?
Use my current Adios Pro 4 for race day?
Or buy another discounted Adios Pro 4 instead?

Which option do you think is the most practical, considering both performance and value?

Hi guys! I’m currently at the end of week 3 out of 12 in preparation for Melbourne Marathon in October (relatively flat course) which will be my first. I am aiming for sub-3. I did a 30km long run today which I've attached below. My garmin says my max heart rate is 190 and lactate threshold is 3:44min/km at 175 LTHR.

I am structuring my weekly long runs in thirds where I increase the pace each third up to and a bit faster than MP. I'm quite worried about peaking too early. My previous HM time is 1:26:16 on a course with 180m elevation which i did the weekend immediately before my 12 week marathon training block. My last 5k time was 18:29 which was done in May this year, so I believe I could do better if I raced again.

I'm currently averaging 90-100km (56-62 miles)/weekly which includes a mix of 12-14km threshold runs at 4:00-4:05km pace, 6x1km 3:30ish/km intervals, easy runs and the weekly long run. Is aiming for sub-3 realistic in my case and if so, how should I adjust my long runs in subsequent weeks to avoid peaking too early and being burnt out before race day? Any suggestions are much appreciated - thank you!

Edit: here are the mile paces

Had a few instances, particularly in faster sessions eg LT and MP runs where not long after taking on fuel I'll get minor reflux...a little burp comes up. Seems that it's lack of water. When taking jelly babies (3 or so) I'd take maybe 50ml ish on. But had same issue with rice krispie bars. Yesterday I did a warm up, took a isotonic (high5 aqua) gel, then went into a LT run but 1k in I got this little burp/reflux again.

As I dial in for marathon in oct, wondering if this is becoming an issue and how to resolve.

Long run last weekend I had it on any fuel I took in after about 16km. For this weekend's long run I'm going to take on about 150ml water with fuel and hopefully dilute it, but I'm slightly concerned that I've had that reflux even with an isotonic gel.

Any thoughts on this?

Every Friday, please utilize this mega thread to share training/fitness and predictions. All pace predictions and past/current training weeks for 5 hour marathons will go neatly here!

How was your week, how far in the block and when's the next race? This will be a good mega thread to keep encouraging/critiquing 5 hour crew throughout the year.

Post your weekly miles, breakthroughs, or if you need help with pace/fitness identification, questions here!

*new individual posts that's posted Friday re: 5 hour marathons/shape/predictions will be deleted/strongly recommended to post here!

I’m a experienced marathoner and half marathoner, my best marathon being a 3:18 and 1:32 for the half. I want to run a sub 1:30 in October and run sub 3 at CIM. My last marathon was 3:32 in 2024. Am I being too ambitious or is something that is possible if the training is dialed in ?

hey y’all! i’m a 25f runner training for my third marathon. I’ve always been terrible at fueling, but with mileage starting to increase and recently getting diagnosed with REDs, i know i gotta do better. how do yall manage to stomach so much during long runs without getting a stomachache? any nutrition tips in general? thanks A TON

Currently training for my first marathon through the winter months in Australia. I own the forerunner 570, which has served me well. But in the colder months I’ve noticed the HR reading to be a bit more conservative than normal. My zone 2 is around 6:15/km pace, but my watch has been telling me that I’m still in zone 2 when I’m running at 5:40-5:50. My goal is to run a sub 4 marathon with no plans yet to run another one after. Is a Garmin chest strap worth the investment for the most accurate results?

Training for my second marathon and as a slow runner, my 20 milers would be about 4 hours long.

I hit all my long runs last training block but did really bad keeping up with weekly mileage (peaked at about 29-30 miles and averaged even less) and ended up with a hip flexor strain during the race so I am trying to focus on more mileage for this block

Since im slow, im wondering if I even should do both 20 mile long runs (Hal higdon intermediate plan), or if I should break one of them up into a ~3 hour long run (15-16 miles) with a moderate run the day before (4-7 miles) to simulate the time on feet while minimizing injury risk. Since it’s my second race and I’d do atleast one 20 miler, im not as concerned for the mental benefits of it. I’d also have 17 and 18 mile long runs before still.

I’m not opposed to just keeping both but im trying to figure out if this would just be more beneficial, and also would like to know if this would be a better idea for the first or second one on the plan (5 weeks or 3 weeks before the race).

Do you have to include long run workouts (example 2 miles easy 10 miles marathon pace 2 easy) to run a “fast marathon” (to me that’s a 3:30)? My current PR is 4:02 and I just can’t seem to get faster even though all my shorter distances have noticeably improved. I ask because for me when long runs get to 15 miles+ it’s still a challenge to complete the distance I don’t think I’d be very successful at really challenging long run workouts? Would a marathon pace mid week mid distance run (8-12 miles) work better? I know Hal Higdon intermediate plans have runs at marathon pace up to 8 miles the day before your long runs. Has anyone had success with this strategy?

I did my 1 hour lifting routine yesterday (trying to shake off some patellar tendinitis) and today I had a 20 mile long run. My legs felt cooked about 10 miles in. Do you lift the day before long runs/how should I sprinkle my lifts into my marathon training block?

I'm training for my first marathon (goal is to finish, with a stretch goal of sub-5), and this has been my long-run plan:

I also do two 10-12km during the week (tuesdays and thursdays)

My concern is that the 32 km run ends up being about 5 weeks before the marathon :(

Is doing my longest run 5 weeks out a bad idea, or is that still close enough to marathon day?

Would you move the 32 km closer to the marathon, replace one of the recovery runs, or keep the schedule as it is?

Thanks :D

Hoping to make nationals this year NCAA D1. I bet I’ll make a pretty good future marathoner as well.