Hi All, I this im mainly just looking for some reassurance and advice .

I have a marathon (1st) for 16 March 2025, which a goal of sub 3:45 and pushing to sub 3:30 if I can.

I have been following Runna built training plan, but my partner a few weeks ago went in to emergency surgery so things have been thrown in to a spin. I have done a few easy runs (maybe 4-5) over the past 3 weeks, between 10-15km @ 5:45/km ish, and a 29km km long run at average 5:34/km) and including 9km of race pace (4:55/km) last weekend. .

Long run felt really good - first one incorporating race pace and I managed well enough (last 5km were a struggle but thats to be expected)

However, did literally 0 runs all last week, missed long run on Sunday which I wanted to do but had to go to the hospital, and now am feeling like im gonna be underdone.

Partner is now at home and we both hope that this week will be a somewhat return to normal life, so im planning for 2-3 midweeks runs (1 tempo and rest easy) and then a 32km longie on the weekend. with 18km at race.

Do yall think I should be readjusting my goals, or is a few weeks off when I'm about 6 weeks out not going to be the death of me?

Surely I can at least go sub-4 (please say yes!)

I know there are a ton of these posts, but I don’t really have any running folks in my life that I can ask for advice. I’m 4 weeks out from my first marathon. This was my 2nd 20-mile run of this block with the last six miles at MP (between 7:50-8:00). I have one more long run before taper (scheduled for 22 miles but after spending some time on this sub I think I’ll cap it at 20 miles and just throw couple miles elsewhere to finish my peak week at 55 miles). Other than the normal aches a 20 mile run will bring on, I felt strong today, but I also know I ran a lot of the miles slower than MP. Is sub 3:30 possible?

Background - I’ve been running for 20ish years, have done 10 or so half marathons and my HM PR is 1:36:28 set during this training block 6 weeks ago. I spent most of 2024 building a solid base of 35-40 miles/week before I started this training block in November.

Planning to run my first marathon sometime in March. Did a pretty easy half today at 1:59 but feeling the lack of cushion in my current shoes, which are normal trainers for track. Any recommendations?

Best headphones for running?

Hey all. First post here. 35M, 5'11", 175 lbs (180cm, 77kg)

I have a (first) marathon booked for April 6. I'm in the meat of the training now and was wondering what some more experienced runners have to say regarding my potential readiness for a 3:59 finish. I can run 3 days a week and average around 45km a week right now.

Long run today - 23km at 6:00/km pace. I was wearing my worst shoes and it felt pretty easy

Last week - 22km with zero fueling before or during. I think I bonked? Threw up and was dizzy and out of it until I had some candy and Gatorade. 5:30 pace

One month ago - Long run was 14km and was at a 6:30 pace in supershoes

Two months ago - Ran a 30:00 5k

I plan on running with a vest absolutely stacked with gels and isotonic water.

What do you think? Am I going to be ready? I have a very active background in competitive sports and I've always been pretty fit, but have done nothing like this except a half I ran in 2018 with two weeks of training and did a 1:49

Tackled the SF HM for my first race and it was a blast! Miles 9 and 10 just about wiped me out since we went up hill and against some pretty strong winds but I’m glad I pushed through. Already looking forward to my next one!

I'm F(32) I have not really jogged for almost 2 years a little less. I got pregnant with twins in July 2023, had them in Feb 2024 and now that I'm done breastfeeding I would like to do a marathon with my sister end of August. Before I got pregnant I was on and off with jogging and running. I did a half back in 2018 with minimal training but 26 miles isnt something I can pull outta my butt. I'm hoping to hit almost 3 miles by March. Any tips or tricks for training for a marathon? If the marathon is Aug23rd do you think it's enough time to train?

Hi. I successfully completed a 20 miler last weekend. This weekend I got the flu. My marathon is scheduled for March 1st. How should I proceed from here? Do I begin my taper or try to fit in another 20 miler before race day?

And my legs are SHREDDED. Someone please tell me this taper is gonna work miracles for race day. Legs have been sore for weeks so I knew today would be rough, and sure enough I don’t think I could’ve completed a marathon today so my confidence isn’t very high for doing it in a few weeks.

Hey everyone, I’ve got less than 4 weeks until my first serious marathon and would love some feedback on my interval workouts. I’ve trained to hit 4:50/km pace on race day aiming for sub 3:30 with a buffer and want to structure my interval sessions to make that pace feel easy—without pushing too hard or risking injury this close to the race. For reference, I hit 10k @ 4:27/km on suboptimal conditions two weeks ago, so I could probably hit a bit faster on ideal conditions but let's take it as my current 10k pace.

Here’s what I have planned with the logic behind it:

1. 4 x 2 km @ 5:00, 4:50, 4:40, 4:30 (2 min rest) -- Tomorrow's workout.
2. 4 x 1.5 km @ 5:00, 4:50, 4:40, 4:30 (2 min rest) -- Similar but easier for less strain.
3. 6 x 800m @ 4:50, 4:45, 4:40, 4:35, 4:30, 4:25 (90s rest) -- Shorter and faster paces to make race pace feel breezy.
4. 3 x 1 km at 4:55, 4:50, 4:45 (2 min rest) (Race Week) -- Turning the legs on race week, easy enough to not risk injury but really settle in that race pace.

Would love to hear your thoughts—any tweaks you’d suggest?

Thanks in advance!

Happened to me today. Route signs and other guys' watches were reading 16 and my Ultra was on 19, then we got to half-way and the signs and the other guys' were at 21 and mine was above 24, etc, etc. All outiside, a bit of city streets and lots of surrounding local countryside. Clearly something wrong with settings somewhere....but what? Any ideas welcome. Thx.

I’ve been training since September to run my first half in 2 weeks and my first full in May. One week ago I started getting a pain in my left knee during my long run. At mile 6 I knew I knew it was game over. I stopped running and immediately knew I wouldn’t be able keep going. I limped to the nearest bench and waited for a friend to pick me up. I took a week off and focused on doing strengthening exercises and stretching along with icing and taking ibuprofen. I was feeling hopeful after a week of rest. I tried running again today and was feeling amazing but 1.5 miles in I started feeling the pain in my left knee again and was heartbroken. I think it’s IT band syndrome but not 100% sure. I’m going to try to see get in to see a PT this week, but I’m not hopeful I’m going to be able to run this half in 2 weeks. Has anyone had a similar experience? Am I out for my May marathon?

I'm 24 years old...my heart rate dropped to around 105-115 at 15km distance today.is this something to worry about or am i just built different ahaha.

Same thing happened to me atleast 2 times last year but not to this extense.

Hey all! I have my 2nd marathon February 9th and I was too lax with my training along with a vacation in the midst.

For reference:

• my 1st marathon was this EXACT same race a year ago, I finished 5:29 (12:36min/mile) and trained for 12 weeks instead of 15 like this year.
• my average pace this training is 10:30-11:30min/mile vs 11:30-12:30 last training.

-longest run was 18 miles this time -Running for fun

I just want to cross the finish line and hopefully PR by a few minutes, nothing crazy. Hoping for 5:15-5:25 but anything under 5:30 will be great. Going to try to stick with the 5:00 pacers but want to beat the 5:30 pacers.

I’m getting in my head because I totally messed up my taper by only running 3 miles this week and overall just fucking up my training. I think I under-fueled my last marathon because I bonked at mile 22 and ran/walked for 2 miles, but I did run most of it with walks at water station.

I guess I just need someone to tell me that I’ll be fine and to just fuel properly because I’ve done this before and I can do it again. OR to tell me to drop from the race because I’m a loser that can’t stick to the plan. Anything works LOL.

TLDR: for someone just trying to cross the finish line under 5:28, am I cooked?

I've been using the Aasics Gel Kayano for 400 miles now, including a marathon back in October. Really like the Shoes as someone who overpronates. I see Shoes usually have a shelf like of around 500 miles? Not sure when to buy a new pair, they feel good when running still. I've put some pics on as I'm still relatively new to taking running seriously. I don't want to part with another £180 before I need to! How do they look after 400 miles? Should I be looking to replace soon?

I am 12 weeks out from my first official half marathon race. Have a bit of a background in distance running but that is mostly from my high school days. I’m 32 now and have been back into running consistently since the end of October. This run was done this morning solo and I’m just wondering, with a 12 week program how much time can I realistically expect to cut come race day? Is a 7:30/mi pace feasible?

So i ran from Belgrade to New Now to support students!

Ps: my bigest km before this was marthon where i lost power on 35km.

Hello Everyone, I am a somewhat experienced runner. I have run one marathon (Cleveland- 2023), many half marathons, and many smaller races (10Ks and 5Ks). I am ready for the challenge of 2 marathons (Akron Marathon and Haunted Forest Marathon) in a year. I am a planner and am going to do the training program that is found on the Akron Marathon website. The other marathon is a month later. My question is, what does a training program look like with a month difference? How miles per week? What is my longest run? How much rest between?

Hello,

I’ve been working for more than 3 years now on a free Android app to help with planning weekly runs, and I’d love to get some more feedback.

I created this app because I wanted a simple way to input training plans, and easily change them when have to cancel some runs and reschedule. I tried to use some existing planning apps, but I found them too complicated and more suited to advanced runners (and also often expensive, with mandatory subscription).

Before I was often skipping warmups before my runs, so to help me stick to them, I included a Warmup Assistant feature that allows you to create your own custom warm-up plan. I also wanted a nice place to keep track and remember all my previous races, so I added that too.

A few weeks ago I also added a Widget so I can directly see on my home screen the run planned for today. And also the possibility to add instructions for runs (for example time and speed for intervals), that get copied from week to week.

If you want to give it a try, I made a website to explain all the main features: https://weeklyruns.web.app/

I’m updating the app regularly and would like to hear your thoughts! Let me know if you would like more features.

On the 5th week of my 16 week training block and Im absolutely gassed after my long run. I have a 15 mile run next week before I take a 10 mile break for the long run after that.

I'm a bit worried that I'll burn out way before my taper begins. Race is on the 4th of May so I have time to adjust and play with my miles.

My weekly mileage leading up was about 25 miles The week before was about 23 miles. Am I doing too much too fast or should I do the 10 mile early and follow up with a 15 mile run?

I’m 56 and have run 6 marathons. I used this book to train for my last two marathons so thought I’d share.

This method helped me improve my pace and race time in less than a year, without a coach.

I was due to run my first marathon in April. I did a half in December and took a couple weeks to recover, then started my marathon training at the start of January. In that four weeks, I injured my knee and got hit really bad with flu (I’m on week 3 of flu and still not back to normal). I don’t know what’s wrong with my knee but it stopped me completing all my long runs, and then when I had time to book a physio appointment I got ill so cancelled and I want to wait now until I’m back to feeling healthy again so I can figure out what pain is my knee and what aches were from being ill, and I don’t want to run properly again until Ive been seen in case I make things worse. I feel like these sound like excuses but I don’t want to stress my head and body out trying to train for a marathon and potentially injure myself more in the process. I’m annoyed I’ve pulled out but there is a bit of relief now there’s no pressure to go from not running to doing a marathon in 10 weeks time. I’m aiming to sign up for one later in the year.

Don’t know why I made this post, I think I just need to get my thoughts out idk

Today I ran a sub 90 minute half marathon in 1:29:40. I know I need to be faster on the half for a sub 3 full but how long does that typically take? I have been running again for four months and peaked at 45 miles per peak before this half marathon.

I am eyeing up a flat half marathon at the end of November and wondering if even considering a half 3 attempt is insane?

All you sub 3 marathoners out there! How was your journey to sub 3 after a sub 90 half?