Who knows if he even gets or reads any of the responses but had to let him know what’s on my mind. 🤷🏻♂️
It’s at my grandma’s house and she wants to get rid of it so I’m wondering if I should take it. It’s giving mcm vibes.
I think I found my fall marathon but just curious for people’s opinions on the training leading up to the race and the course itself.
Last year I was training to run Marine Corpse but ended up not being able to run it. Anyway, the summer training was kind of brutal. It was so hot and humid, I kept bonking at mile 10-13 on my long runs, I just felt like I was not doing well with my training. Some days were better than others but my god, it was definitely bot training in winter for a spring marathon.
What are you guys doing to help with summer training? I tried waking up early before but I am legit not a morning person and it takes me at minimum 2 to 3 hours to get ready for my long runs. I tried running when the sun was setting as well. I ran in the middle of the day mostly because you will hardly ever see me get up early on a Saturday or Sunday.
Also the course: It looks super twisty turny. There’s a few straight sections but it just looks like you’re weaving a lot. How does that affect your overall pacing? There was over 15k people that ran last year. How in the world did you manage to run with that many people, especially with the turns? The course overall looks pretty flat with some slight elevation changes but nothing too bad? Anything else unique I should know about the course?
Ideally I’d like to do a December marathon as that would make me peak 60 mpw all Oct into Nov instead of Sept into Oct but there’s not many big races in December worth it that are not sold out.
TLDR: How’s the race and how did you deal with summer training with high mileage?
I live in Pa and I’m looking at doing a winter 2026 marathon and a spring 2027 marathon.
I just did the Pittsburgh marathon for the second time in a row and as much as I love my city it’s time for another race. There’s so many out there and I have all the time to run it another time.
I guess some context for better recommendations: I don’t mind some traveling. I would like one of them to be a PR course. Ideally races that have a pretty medals (yeah yeah shun me). Would like to do a race that is pretty scenic too.
For some reason my brain keeps saying do Big Sur in the spring next year but that looks like one hell of a race, but also it’s a lottery with no given that I would get chosen. I tried doing Marine Corpse last year but I ended up buying a house and that got in the way of training so I waisted 300 dollars but the summer long runs were kicking my ass so I’m not sure how well I would have done anyway?
I’m all eyes and ears! What’s your favorite and why? Sell my on why you think that marathon should be my next marathon.
Yesterday was my second marathon! I want to say one thing before I get into it, I learned *a lot* from my first marathon to implement on my second that worked and I am so incredibly proud of my accomplishment! 🙂↕️
Last year I hit the wall at 19, not even a small wall, just smacked face first which left mile 20-25 feeling terrible. I went out too fast, didn’t have enough electrolytes, and didn’t have as strong of a training plan.
This year I took it upon myself to train a lot more than last year. Last year I had only 1 peak week at 43 mpw and 1-20 mile long run. This year I had 3 peak weeks at 50 mpw and 3-20 mile long runs. Each of those 20’s had some sort of MP embedded within along with a 12 mile speed workout in the middle of the week. My fueling strategy was much better too. 130 grams of carbs an hour - 1 honey stinger gummy packet every half hour and 2 scoops of premixed tailwind every hour.
I was hoping for sub 4 but I’m clocking the 8 seconds of the 4:00:08 official time as an error. 😬 (Would have been a minute faster but I had to pee so bad during the race because I made it to the coral late and the porta potty lines were so long so I just told myself I’ll pee during the race.) 😭
My overall goal this year was to *NOT HIT THE WALL* like I did last year as that was something I never wanted to encounter again. It was agonizing. My secondary goal this year was sub 4. I remember getting to mile 18 this time and was like, “Time to find out if my training and fueling strategy worked”. I was terrified but mile 18 turned into 19 turned into mile 20. I saw the 20 mile sign and yelled our “only 6 miles guys!” and so many spectators were screaming and clapping and supporting! I was still scared but I knew it was time to pick up the pace. 20 turned into 21 turned into 22 and I was starting to cry a bit knowing this was working. I was worrying I’d bonk at mile 23 or 24 but mile 24 quickly turned into 25 and suddenly I was really picking up the pace. I ran through downtown like a greyhound as I was passing runners left and right till I was sprinting the last half a mile.
I “don’t know how” I paced this marathon so well but I also know exactly how I did. I am in shock, that was absolutely incredible. Not only did I not hit the wall, I literally kicked through that thing like the kool aid man through the house to only do a *HALF MILE* sprint at the end! I am still in shock. I am in disbelief with *HOW WELL* this marathon went.
I put full trust into my training and prior knowledge from my first marathon knowing I can do this as planned. Now here I am! 4 hours EVEN with no bonk with super consistent miles. You can actually see how I kept slowly progressing and getting quicker and quicker with those splits.
I am so so soooo proud of myself! 🙌🏻🙂↕️🥲
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Now time to decide what my next marathon is going to be to be because I want to do a fall/winter marathon. 🏃🏻♂️