Good morning, Runnit! Another weekend of races is approaching, so let's take a minute to see if any other Runnitors will be laying down those miles with us!

If you're racing this weekend, put a top-level comment below with the race details to help find other members of the community. See a race mentioned that looks interesting? Ask questions! Running your favorite race of the year? Tell us what makes it so awesome!

This thread is just an easy way to help Runnitors find each other in some sort of organized manner and help cheer each other on!

Hey runners, it's another day and it is time to post your accomplishments you'd like to share - big or small.

Note: No need to preface YOUR accomplishments with something like, "this may not be an accomplishment to most of you...". Be proud of your achievement.

With over 3,025,000 subscribers, there are a lot of posts that come in everyday that are often repeats of questions previously asked or covered in the FAQ.

With that in mind, this post can be a place for any questions (especially those that may not deserve their own thread). Hopefully this is successful and helps to lower clutter and repeating posts here.

If you are new to the sub or to running, this Intro post is a good resource.

##As always don't forget to check the FAQ.

####And please take advantage of the search bar or Google's subreddit limited search.

We're trying to take advantage of one of New Reddit's features, collections. It lets the mods group posts into Collections. We're giving it a try on posts that get good feedback that would be useful for future users. We've setup some common topic Collections and will add new posts to these as they arise as well as start new Collections as needed. Here's the link to the wiki with a list of the current Collections.

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Please note, Collections only works for New Reddit and the Reddit mobile app for iOS.

I have a COROS watch and I’m debating signing up for my first marathon, I was wondering if people have found the marathon training plans any good. For reference I’ll be doing the intermediate one.

I've been fascinated by Russ Cook's incredible achievement of running the entire length of Africa without experiencing injury. Does anyone have insights into how he managed to pull off such a feat? I've scoured the internet but can't seem to find details on his warmup/recovery routine. Any information or speculation would be greatly appreciated!

I’m 3 months post partum and slowly starting again. When did you guys run your first marathon after baby? How did you work up to it? I’d like to run one in around 6 months, would you consider that safe? Thanks in advance! Any anecdotes welcome

So, to preface, I'm pretty heavy at 5'10 235 lbs. I've been in and out of the gym and yo-yo'd in weight since high school, and I've learned a lot. It's a little hobby of mine to look into the science of exercise, but I don't always practice it. Though most of what I know is about strength based workouts and not a ton of cardio.

One thing that always puzzles me is the 10k steps for health. This hardly feels like enough. I work a hotel job, and I go to class on a big campus, and I easily walk 12k-15k steps a day. The studies say there is a tapering effect on the reduction of all cause mortality past 10k steps and doesn't do a whole lot after. Walking that much and more, I feel pretty unfit, at least from what I used to be. Being 235 obviously doesn't help much, but when it comes to dedicated cardio, I have so much room for improvement.

I've read so much about how excercise, specficially anerobic, is one of the very few things that prevents so many neurological diseases and general decline (sleep seems to have the largest impact, then exercise then nutriton (assuming no real deficines)).

So why does some literature state that 10k steps is enough when that leaves out dedicated cardio, which would surely have a larger impact. When I was running and swimming a lot even around the same weight I felt so much more fit.

Are the guidelines for fitness like that just some sort of marketing ploy? I know originally it was to sell pedometers, but it seems to be backed up with some data. I know it's easier to preach to the masses 10k steps a day is a good, but surely it can't be enough?

Are there even real guidelines for fitness? Bodies differ so much from one another, but there has to be some sort of general averge that's good. They say 150 mins of week of moderate intensity is good, but there's a lot of interpretation to that. Are there publications that show the minimum level of fitness (however they define that) that produce a majority of health benefits (say 80-90%)

Edit: I should clarify that this isn't about losing weight. I'm on track for losing 1.5 lbs a week. I was just looking for the next fitness standard and was wondering if 10k really is enough.

TLDR: 10K steps doesn't feel like enough. What is?

I have a race coming up and i don’t know much about my opponents.I expect to be in the lead pack but due to it being my first race I’m not sure when to kick.Except for a few bends and turns on the course not much elevation.Any tips on how to race being in the lead pack?

How’s your week of running going? Got any Complaints? Anything to add as a Confession? How about any Uncomplaints?

Race Information

• Name: Schneider Electric Marathon de Paris 2024
• Date: April 7, 2024
• Distance: 42.12 kilometers
• Location: Paris, France
• Time: 03:53:xx

Goals

Splits

Training

I have always been a rather casual runner, sometimes picking it up for a couple of weeks/months with a few runs here and there (never more than 2-3 week a week). However, last year, after getting motived to join a half-marathon by my friends, I signed up for the Paris HM and had some loose unstructured training with 2-3 runs a week that led to a time of 1:53h. Because the last 5 km felt horrible, I was sure that my training must have been sub-optimal. I signed up for another half later that year and finally followed structured beginner plan included with my Garmin watch to run a HM at 1:44h in October. This motivated me to sign up for my first marathon on my 32nd birthday.

I started my training a couple of weeks after the half, now using the Runna app with a 16-week marathon training plan, preceded by a 5 weeks marathon base plan. I aimed for 4 runs week, with one tempo, one interval, one easy and one long run, with varying intensities over the weeks. The app gave me a predicted marathon pace of 4:50-5:00min/km. Slowly building up over the weeks, I averaged about 50km per week, with peak weeks of 80 and 77kms.

The first half of the plan went great, I hit all length and time goals and felt fresh and motived. However, half-way through the plan, at a time the distance was going into unknown territory for the first time (26+ km), I got ill with a nasty virus and could not really run other than 2 counterproductive 7k attempts. It took me a whole 10 days to be back on track, but it luckily coincided with my down week, yet I did miss a long-run just before.

When coming back to the training, I probably did too much too fast. I quickly went back into the long-runs, running 26k a couple of days afterward, followed by 30k the week after that. At that time I developed some annoying arch pain in my right foot, which was likely a mild plantar fasciitis and the result of also completely ignoring strength training. It didn't stop me from training, but reduced my intensity noticeably in the following weeks. I kept the training up, and the pain got slowly better (also with the help of a good physio).

Now about one month out from the marathon, I ran a HM race at high, but not all-out intensity. I set a new PR of 1:39h, which made me feel really really good about the race to come. The race unfortunately fell onto the day/week of my peak 35k long-run that was supposed to include 25k at marathon pace. To adjust for this, I added 3k to my 32k the previous week and assumed the 21k at a faster pace would make up for that.

I had another 32k run with a large portion at marathon pace after this, which still felt good. However, all other speed work in the following weeks felt like a dread and incredibly hard, leading me to adjust my pace goals downward. This felt quite demoralizing, and going into the taper I felt less sure about being able to hit my pace goals for the race.

Pre-race

Prior to the race, I had an incredibly stressful week of work and less than optimal sleep. Even though I was fully motivated and looking forward to the race prior to this, I did really dread the thought of having to race on the weekend. In any case, carb loading in the 3 days before the race went fine, with a lot of rice, white bread, pasta, Maurten 320 drink mix and so on. My shakeout run the day before the race was ok, but given that it was a really hot day it did not feel as easy as it should have.

I struggled to have my usual breakfast of oats the morning of the race and probably did not drink enough water beyond the 500ml with my Maurten 160 mix. With the Adios Pro 3s on my feet, I then made it to the starting line at the very end of the 3:30h corral, still dreading the fact that I would be out there torturing myself for 3.5h+. The weather cooled down a little, but was still well above my preferred 8 degrees Celsius and the projected light rain that I hoped for never really came down. I did not spot a pacer in my box, which I found a little odd, but they probably departed a little earlier.

Race

The race started and I could immediately feel that today was not the day. I made sure to not go out too fast, but could quickly feel that I would not be able to hit anywhere near the pace goal my app predicted, and was quickly aware that it would neither be the sub 3:40h one (the -3 performance condition alert from my Garmin did NOT help, this never really ever happened before). I started my fueling, consisting of Maurten 100 gel every 25 min, which never gave me any digestive problems, but I was already having a little bit of unrelated acid reflux from prior to the race which did not feel great.

In any case, with an adjusted time goal of perhaps 3:45h, I kept on stomping the ground km after km. The crowds on the first 10km were great, but there was some noticeable elevation going into the 10-18km stretch through the Bois de Vincennes, that I knew well from the half marathon. A quick pee break on the side and with a slightly slowed pace, I made my way up the hill feeling quite ok, but lacking the support from the seriously thinned out crowd of spectators. I crossed the half-marathon mark and felt confident I could hold my 5:20\km or so pace for the rest of the race.

We were going downhill for quite a bit, which felt good but I did not manage to really speed up. Back to the city, the number of spectators increased tremendously. Up until kilometer 27 I still felt ok, and was able to spot some friends along the road. However, shortly after that point, we entered the horrible portion consisting of multiple downs and ups through tunnels which really took a toll on me and made my legs feel very very heavy. I decided to really slow down on the last one of the tunnels, but it didn't help me to recover. I also felt really thirsty at this point, despite carrying the small water bottles handed at the stations for me for a few kilometers, while sipping every few hundred meters until they were done. This was followed by a long stretch of the last 10km down to Boulogne, leading into the forest, first through cobbled streets and then uphill. Here I also started to struggle with people crossing the street, once requiring me to stop sharply as a bike crossed the road right in front of me.

Honestly, starting from km 32 I could already see so many people struggling after the tunnels, with many walking or cramping on the side. This only got worse when going into the forest, which really felt like hell, with everyone fighting for survival amidst very sparse crowds of spectators. It looked like a good third of all runners were walking at this point and I too started to walk for a short 40-60 sec at the two fueling stations. My pace when actually running was still close to what it was before, but in retrospective I really regret walking for these short moments as it probably cost me the sub 3:50h finish. However, I think the short stops helped to keep my HR relatively stable, fluctuating between 182-186 bpm over the entire race (NB: I do have a really high max HR, hit 205+ several times before and ran the entire HM in March at 190bpm without a problem). At the second to last station, I popped an electrolyte tablet into my small water bottle, hoping it would revive me, not sure if it really did anything.

Coming out of the forest, there was a last hill up to La Muette/Passy, which was tough but close enough to the finish to power trough. After reaching Trocadero and entering the section with huge amounts of spectators, I knew it would only be 2km that I had to run hard and I took all my reserves to speed up, unsure whether I would be good in time for a sub-4h finish (my ability to do simple calculations in my head really disappears under physical exertion, so I didn't notice that was a goal now impossible to miss). Closer and closer to the finish line, it required a little self-talk to keep on speeding, but I managed to cross the finish line with a nice little sprint after spotting my gf cheering on me before the last turn.

And then it was over all of a sudden. I can't say that I am content with my time and pace, but I am still happy I finished my first marathon on, what I can tell from others, is a relatively tough course to run on. I should have powered through some of my low moments and probably could have hit the sub 3:50 B-goal in that case.

Post-race

My gf picked me after the finish line and surprised me with a nice cold beer which tasted like the nectar of the gods. It was a little tough to go down the stairs of the metro, but I managed to not sit down until I was finally out of the shower at home.

I am usually super hungry after a long run, but I struggled to eat a lot over the rest of the day. The last couple of days I naturally struggled with DOMS, particularly in my thighs (was never sore there before!). I had a few very busy days at work in the early week as well, but this is finally over now, giving me the time to write this short report and feeling much better. I will probably take 1-2 weeks off from running and slowly get back into it.

Given the problems I had with my training and the pre-race week, I am motived to try another race later this or next year, but probably on a flatter course! I am also still unsure what the bottleneck for my performance was. Hard to see whether it was the illness midway through the block, the mild plantar fasciitis, lack of strength training, the stressful work week and suboptimal sleep or other factors. It was probably the combination of all of these.

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

Hey runners, it's another day and it is time to post your accomplishments you'd like to share - big or small.

Note: No need to preface YOUR accomplishments with something like, "this may not be an accomplishment to most of you...". Be proud of your achievement.

With over 3,025,000 subscribers, there are a lot of posts that come in everyday that are often repeats of questions previously asked or covered in the FAQ.

With that in mind, this post can be a place for any questions (especially those that may not deserve their own thread). Hopefully this is successful and helps to lower clutter and repeating posts here.

If you are new to the sub or to running, this Intro post is a good resource.

##As always don't forget to check the FAQ.

####And please take advantage of the search bar or Google's subreddit limited search.

We're trying to take advantage of one of New Reddit's features, collections. It lets the mods group posts into Collections. We're giving it a try on posts that get good feedback that would be useful for future users. We've setup some common topic Collections and will add new posts to these as they arise as well as start new Collections as needed. Here's the link to the wiki with a list of the current Collections.

https://www.reddit.com/r/running/wiki/faq/collections/

Please note, Collections only works for New Reddit and the Reddit mobile app for iOS.

Hey r/running! Long time lurker, first time poster ;-) I ran the Mt. Charleston half this past weekend, and since I used a few past posts in this sub about the race when I was prepping, I thought I'd add my voice to the chorus in case it's useful to other runners in the future!

Race Info
Name: REVEL Mt. Charleston Marathon/Half Marathon
Date: April 6, 2024
How far? 13.1 Miles
Finish Time: 01:58:10

Race Splits (the first several miles of the half are downhill, and the final few are flat)
1 mi - 9:11

2 mi - 8:50

3 mi - 8:44

4 mi - 8:41

5 mi - 8:43

6 mi - 9:00

7 mi - 8:58

8 mi - 8:51

9 mi - 9:01

10 mi - 9:13

11 mi - 9:33

12 mi - 9:25

13 mi - 8:50

Overall pace - 9:01

Goal:

A: Finish at sub-2 hours: Yes

B: Finish with overall pace of sub-9 minutes: No (this one was a mid-race goal that I set when I realized my pace might make it possible - wasn't too disappointed when it didn't happen :) )

Background:

I ran one half marathon prior to this one (the Urban Cow in Sacramento, in October 2023) and finished that one ~2:05. I almost immediately jumped back into training with the goal of running Mt. Charleston, and the goal of hitting sub-2. To be completely honest, I think having just run the other half made me a bit over-confident; my longest run leading up to Mt. Charleston was 10 miles, and I was only averaging about ~15 miles per week. I was really relying on my lingering cardio fitness from the last half and staying relatively consistent (if low mileage) since then. I also did a VO2 max in the week before the race, and felt pretty confident based on that result that I could hit my goal!

Training:

I knew I should be building in some downhill training based on Mt. Charleston's significant elevation drop, but I didn't have many places near me I could do that, so I sort of just went into it hoping that my research on "tactics" to minimize the impact of the downhill would work out (short, quick strides; leaning forward a bit more than usual; not going out too fast based on the fact that the downhill would peter out in the last few miles and I'd be extra tired if I didn't pace it right). That mostly worked out fine, although I was SO sore for multiple days after the race, which I don't remember happening after my first half, so I'm chalking that up to the downhill effort.

Pre-race:

I arrived the evening before the race, ate a pasta dinner, and went to bed early.

Everyone had to take a shuttle to the start line (no drop off), so I was dropped off in the shuttle lot at 4:15 morning-of (as a total night owl, this was BRUTAl for me). I ate a protein bar about an hour before the start, and carried three Maurten gels with me for the race. Since it was so early/still dark/~4,500 feet of elevation at the start location, it was FREEZING. I was glad to have a space blanket, and debated really hard on whether to put my hoodie in the drop bag when they were collecting those (5:35 am for the 6:00 start time). I ended up hanging onto the hoodie/wearing it at the start of the race and I was glad I did because it was SO. COLD. (I'm also from CA so maybe a bit of a wimp when it comes to weather :) ) Luckily I also had a very nice stranger on the bus to the starting line give me a pair of hot hands, which saved my bacon waiting for the start!

The sections set up for finding your pacer were done well/not too crowded, although I will say I didn't see the actual pacer until ~3 miles into the race (not sure if I just missed them or they started further in?)

Race:
Miles 1-4: The feeling of an easy start given the downhill was so real. I felt like these first few miles absolutely flew by and I was happy to just be bopping along to my music and enjoying the sunrise over the snowy mountains. The roads were in good condition, but we only had access to one lane so it felt a bit crowded in some points. I had just been reminded by my new bus friend that it would be very easy to go out too fast on the downhill portion, so I focused a lot on breathing/cadence/form through this segment to get myself off on the right foot. I took a caffeinated Maurten gel at Mile 4.

Miles 5-8: There was a bit of wind picking up, but I was still feeling good and trying to moderate my pace (even though it felt like it would be the easiest thing in the world to just let go and fly through these downhill miles!) I was so, so glad I followed my own advice and paced myself through this section. It helped to just stay consistently near the 2:00 hour pacer, although at some point I got a little ahead of them and never saw them again - which felt great, given my sub-2 goal!) Took another Maurten gel ~mile 7 and took a couple cups of Nuun through this segment.

Miles 9-11: Still feeling good, but now that I was off the downhill and into the flat, I definitely started to hit a little wall. Mile 10 in particular was tough; I started to feel some tightness in my rib cage/was breathing a little harder than I wanted, so I reminded myself that I had a bit of a buffer since my times in the first few miles were good, and I think this was actually the only reason I was able to finish under 2. If I had tried to keep pushing at the ~9:10 pace this whole way I think I may have burned myself out by Mile 12, so I gave myself some grace to slow down a bit and ended up never having to stop/walk.

Miles 12-13.1: Started to feel some REAL tightness in my calves here (was expecting it more in my quads, but maybe it hit me in the calves because I'd focused so much on short/quick steps?) Was breathing pretty hard and feeling very tired, but followed my practice of counting steps/breaths and telling myself I only had six more songs, then four more songs, etc.

Finish: One thing I prided myself on in my first half was my ability to really leave it all out there in the last little bit leading up to the finish, so I knew that was my plan here too. As I rounded the last corner I gave it everything I had and saw I was going to come in a full minute under 2 hours, which felt so, so good! This was the first/only time I got to see my husband/friends who came to cheer me on - in my first half, there were multiple spots on the course that I could get that pick-me-up, so this was the only semi-negative thing I felt about the race design. I got my medal, got my drop bag, took a few photos, and hobbled to the car and then home for a looooong nap!

As a self-proclaimed "recovering Type A," I was absolutely thrilled to hit my sub-2 goal and only felt a little badly about not coming in at a sub-9 minute pace. I cut a full :34 off my pace from the first half just a few months before, and that felt worth celebrating!

The organization of the race was stellar, and I'd highly recommend it for others hoping to PR. If I could go back in time, I'd add a little more downhill training into my regimen, but even without that the half was completely doable (just plan to be a little extra sore compared to a flat race).

Happy to answer any questions if anyone is interested in other race details!

Chicago Marathon just blasted out an email with all of the "add-ons". One that seems tempting to me is the Pre-Race Participant Fast Track: Ease your nerves pre-race by skipping the lines with Fast Track! This exclusive product offers expedited entrance into Grant Park through a dedicated Fast Track security lane at Michigan Avenue and Harrison Street, as well as access to private portable restrooms pre-race near each gear check tent.

I've never been to Chicago and I'll be staying at The LaSalle Chicago Hotel a few blocks away from this entry point. My wife is someone who pees like 5 times before a marathon and we'll likely check a bag.

Anyone think this is worth it?

Race Information

* **Name:**Generali Berlin Half Marathon
* **Date:** April 7, 2024
* **Distance:** 13.1 miles
* **Location:** Berlin, Germany
* **Time:** 2:13:39

Goals

Splits (from Strava)

Training

Background: 30W, 167m & roughly 62 kilo.

I only started my running journey in September 2023 using the nike run app (which I found so motivating and helpful for my first months of running). I was not consistent but that was not the initial goal - I just enjoyed it in addition to the other sports I regularly did (pilates, HIIT, cycling, yoga). Due to over-confidence I signed up for the half marathon in November and then realised I was committed to not just running, but learning how to run better. Figuring out what a 5k pace meant, what speed interval training was, and more. I ran 2x a week (mostly easy runs) until mid-november and then took a break until January as I was not convinced by the cold, nor had yet invested in the gear. In january I found a running buddy and started doing 1x week long run (10k-15k), and then 1-2x week easy runs. In February I was traveling the whole month in central america and did not train, but I did hike ca 160km at various elevations over between 2.000-3.500m, so I considered this supportive of my training. Back in March I raced to get ready, running 3x a week (in addition to pilates and cycling) - again with 1x long run and 1-2x speed intervals and 1x easy run.

In March I also got new/proper running shoes (Hoka Clifton 9) and bought gels to integrate into training (but never tried them.. whoopsies).

I wanted to approach my first half as more of an experiment and with curiosity to learn rather than as something I needed to perfect and conquer (as I did not know what to expect!). With that I set my goal to finish in 2:20 - which based on my research felt ambitious for a new runner.

Pre-race

As I am based in Berlin I did not have to travel. I focused on my nutrition the week before, making sure to eat lots of healthy carbs, bountiful veggies and stay hydrated. I did not work out or run the week before as I was on my period and out of energy (which was frustrating and disappointing), but I went on longer walks to stay active. The night before I had a huge bowl of ragu and some sports drinks and headed to bed early so I could rest.

Race

The race was so exciting! I was nervous, especially as I was running alone - but I was impressed with the organisation and kindness of all the staff. It was also impressive to see the diversity of all the participants and also a bit intimidating to see all those who appeared more seasoned and professional. I just reminded myself though this was an experiment and the goal was to have fun and see what my body and mind could do when pushed!

I tried to start slow, reminding myself I had a long way to go. I felt great until around km4 - thats when a blister started to develop (in a place I always get it!). It was distracting and painful but I was able to quiet my mind and retrain my focus to all the wonderful signs and cheerleaders at the race, that kept me smiling the whole 21 km!

I took my first gel anxiously at km 8 (before I started to feel fatigued), hoping for a calm stomach (there were no issues). I also drank fluids at each station and grabbed gels and bananas when offered. I really noticed how they impacted my body and energy levels, as normally before those stations, I would start to cramp in the right side of my abdomen and after consuming something, the cramp would disappear and my fatigue evaporate.

Things were going super smoothly throughout (I was on time for 2:20 with buffer), with my goal being to never stop moving. That was until the space between km 18 and 19. There I was greeted by one of my best friends cheering me on - which completely overwhelmed me with love and gratitude. I was crying as I ran (keep in mind, I was still on my period), and tripped over myself, falling onto my knees and spraining my ankle. Shocked, I gave myself no time to think about it or feel the pain and got up immediately and then kept going as I was not going to give up so close to the finish line. I was in pain (and questioning the intelligence behind this decision), but not long after more friends (and strangers who read your name) were cheering me on which gave me the push I needed to finish. I picked up the pace and when I turned the corner and saw the brandenburger tor appear, I started to cry again 😅 and sprint, because I was so close!

I crossed the finish line so proud and happy of myself and in quite a bit of pain. Grateful to my body for making it! Cue more crying 🙃 (I really underestimated how emotional it would be!).

Post-race

Had water, an alcohol free beer and banana then met my friends. Felt physically great and still able to run (apart from the ankle, which bummed me out). Grabbed burgers and then spent the day hobbling around and celebrating this achievement! Spent the monday at the hospital getting my ankle checked out. Good news, it seems to be a sprain only and I have been fitted with a brace and will most likely be cleared to run again in 4-6 weeks.
I wanted to share my race here to encourage others who have just started running to go for the half and because I finally had a race I could share! This community has really helped me along the way as I learn the ins and outs of running and has been a source of inspiration.

I am very much looking forward to the next half (goal is sub 2 hours) and eventually full - where I will invest even more into training now that I am hooked on the feeling :)

P.S. If you have advice on pervasive blisters (especially on the pad of your foot below the base of the big toe), I would be grateful as nothing has worked.

### Race Information

* **Name:** Berlin Half

* **Date:** April 7, 2024

* **Distance:** 13.1 miles

* **Location:** Berlin, Germany

* **Time:** 1:27:38

### Goals

| Goal | Description | Completed? |

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

| A | Sub 1:25 | *No* |

| B | Sub 1:27 | *No* |

| C | New PB | *Yes* |

### Splits

| Kilometer | Time |

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

| 1 | 4:02

| 2 | 4:06

| 3 | 4:04

| 4 | 4:07

| 5 | 4:06

| 6 | 4:10

| 7 | 4:03

| 8 | 4:13

| 9 | 4:07

| 10 | 4:09

| 11 | 4:12

| 12 | 4:05

| 13 | 4:05

| 14 | 4:19

| 15 | 4:11

| 16 | 4:08

| 17 | 4:08

| 18 | 4:13

| 19 | 4:18

| 20 | 4:09

| 21 | 3:37

### Training

Background: 6,4/194cm 77kg male runner. Did a 1:31 half in oct and used a 10km on the 31st of Dec as starting points for a 14 week build to Berlin.
I will attach a picture/link to the 14 weeks of training, but did 4h and 10 minutes on average per week (around 50km/week). Normally consisting of 1 long run, 2 easy runs (1/2 of those being to/from work commute, marked blue in overview) and one interval/tempo session.

Long runs progressed from just easy miles to include HMP/MP segments in the end to train running on tired legs. And intervals went from shorter to longer, though still trying to add some shorter faster ones once in a while to make sure speed is still there.
Tempo runs is probably where i "failed". Not doing enough/long enough ones or being a bit too happy to break them into e.g. 2x3km instead of 6km tempo. I just simply feel they are incredibly hard to do especially on tired legs so that is something i need to work on.
Anyway if anyone wants to look over my training overview and have any comments I would be happy to have any! My training is probably what people would call "low milage" and i would love to get up to 5 runs/week if time and body allows.
https://imgur.com/pVJ3DVC

### Pre-race

This also worked as a family vacation so drove to Berlin from Denmark on the Friday and did a few strides. Saturday was limited sightseen due to try and keep the legs fresh for the Sunday run. I think i managed that as good as you can without beeing too selfish. Recovery boots are amazing for this kind of thing!
Pre-race was fine, did 2,5km warmup with some strides as usual and took a gel 20 min before starting. Berlin was really good at seeding people, so nice not to have to run people over in the beginning! The biggest issue going into the race was the warm weather up to 24 degrees on race day, not optimal for racing fast! And it also turned out to be the biggest issue on the day...

### Race

The race started nicely i tried to keep pace chilled but you just get sucked into it. At the start it was also a bit cooler and a little downhill so i paced maybe a bit optimistically! KMs went by and things felt fine except heart rate was too high right from the start (or maybe my threshold has increased?).
First 5 km ticked by in just about sub 1:25 pace which with the heat was not a realistic target. I tried to pace as evenly as possible drink at every aid station and then take a gel at about km 13. For some reason Berlin offers warm tee in the depot??? And it was a bit hard to find out what was just water and where they had electrolyte/sportsmix water, something they could really improve on, same way as the gels they offered were at a stand alone depot without water.
Anyway i progressed and at km 8 i started to hurt i a little. After km 11 i catched a second wind and felt amazing for 2 km before hitting the sun and warm weather hard at 13. From there on it was just, try to keep pace honest, get something to drink, a gel (think i ended up eating almost 2 in the 13-16km time span probably a bit too much but i got insecure as i could not find the sportsdrink water!).
Pushed and pushed towards the finishline tried to find every kind of energy left in my system pushing 183 BPM last 20 minutes! In the end I made it across the finish line, somewhat happy with the result given the conditions.

### Post-race

Some water and a banana (still no electrolytes Berlin!) and i quickly felt suprisingly good! Starting to wonder if i gave everything but the numbers says i dug deeper than ever. So just tankful for a quick recovery, straight to the playground to find my family, get a burger to the hotel to chill there for an hour or two before exploring Berlin some more. No time to feel sorry for yourself with small kids around :D

Next stop CPH Marathon aiming for sub 3:20!

Any feedback on my training is grealy appreciated!

Hello to all of you runners !

For the context, I am a 47-year old woman, and I live in a small northern European country. I have two teenager kids, which leaves me with more time on my hands than ever before (all they ever want to do is spend time on their screens...), but at the same time I have entered pre-menopause, which means getting used to a different body, energy and recovery.

I used to run competitively from age 10 to 16, and I loved it. I was ranked in the top 10 nationally for 800 meters. But as I got older I got burnt out from all the training and decided to prioritize studies. Fast forward to my adult years, where an occasional run would appear once in a while, but never any race or any structure in my training.

Then after my divorce a few years ago I decided to run again at least twice a week, and last year I ran the 20 kms race in my city. This renewed my love for the sport, for the competition and the electric vibe during races. I then ran 2 half marathons, the last one end of November 2023, which I completed in 1h46 minutes.

I do not know how this idea slowly crept in my mind, but somehow I decided, foolishly, to try and do a marathon. The distance before seemed so unattainable, so scary and only reserved for the crazy, runner high addicted and lanky athletes hahaha

I believe muscles have a memory, and I used to have good endurance in my youth. Why would I feel like an imposter? A boost in my confidence was necessary, I needed to believe in me again, even though I am an older woman and could obviously not return to my youth fitness level. But I could maybe manage to run a marathon under 4 hours? Was I being not humble enough, and too greedy? ;-) I must admit that I have kept from my youth a competitive spirit (against myself, not the others), and I used to push myself and be strong mentally to manage the suffering that comes along.

I started in September 2023 training 4 times a week, and in January 2024 started my marathon training. Always 1 long run, one speed/interval or tempo run, and 2 easy runs (of 10 kms each). An additional training on the elliptical, doing sprints. The average week would be around 55-60 kms, and peaking at 72 kms.

The long runs were a delight to me. I would put on a podcast and completely enjoy this time for myself. A sort of bubble where I would come back home devoid of stress and appreciate the present time. I was also lucky not to experience any injury. I started to appreciate my body again, for its capacity to run and be healthy, and not just for vain pursuits. I was hungry all the time and even gained a few kilos ;-)

The taper was however a horrible experience, where my heart rate would be much higher than previously and feeling totally unfit. I was a pain to be around and was anxiously and nervously waiting for the marathon.

The day of the marathon arrived, and fortunately the weather was perfect, 14/15° and cloudy. I was however scared as hell, about the wall, about having digestive problem during the race ;-), about not being in a good day, about the hills etc etc..

But waiting in line for a bathroom stop made me relax a bit and even laugh when I saw some women on the side peeing freely, as the lines were way toooo long and not enough bathrooms were provided. ;-)

I read everything I could about the wall, so I decided to start very prudently the 5 first kms, at 5'40 pace. I was also ingesting a maurten gel every 30 min, and bananas at the feeding points.

The first kilometers were the hardest, mentally and physically. Wtf, still 38 kms to go? Will I ever manage to keep on? Then I slowly accelerated, feeling that going faster was easier for me, enjoying the quieter parts in Bois de Vincennes and I arrived at the half marathon in 1h58. Perfect for a sub 4 marathon.

Reaching the half marathon was a huge mental boost, knowing that from now more than half is already done. I kept on accelerating as the kms went on, going through the Paris tunnels (which I had read were difficult, but to me they were surprisingly short haha). Then the 30 kms mark arrived and I was scared shitless, thinking that the wall would descend upon me and that my legs would turn instantly into wood. But this did not happen and I continued accelerating, not even realizing that I had passed the dreaded hill at the 35 kms mark.

My legs were on automatic pilot, my mind as well, and I was just trying to slalom around the sea of people who were slowing down or walking. The sheer amount of runners was overwhelming and to me this was the most tiring mentally. I had to run through people or zig zag continuously, as the spectators crowds were narrowing the roads once we returned into central Paris. I was determined to reach my goal :-)

Reaching 38 kms was great, I knew I would manage to end this marathon, and better than the expected 3h56. I began running at a faster pace and launched a sprint in the last 2 kilometers... I was violet red at that point, but so happy to finish my marathon in 3h50:36.

As soon as I stopped running my legs turned into wood, but I felt so serene and so proud of myself. Even as a older woman I could still run and even get better with time. I was happy I did not experience any wall (even though I was really tired in the end, I will not lie !) or have an unhappy bathroom situations. Hell, I did not even need to pee once, me who normally goes to the bathroom every hour ;-)

According to my boyfriend, I was smelling like death ;-) when we managed to find each other again and it took me ages to walk back to the metro.

The day after the marathon, my legs were feeling better and I started thinking that maybe my strategy to start conservatively was maybe too conservative? My second half was done in 1h52 minutes, way faster than the first one in 1h58. Should I have started faster? Should I ? Could I reach 3h45? blablabla my mind has not stopped racing since Sunday haha

Here is my race report. I am so proud of having accomplished this marathon and so scared of boring my coworkers and family that I needed to write to a bunch of strangers. Hoped you enjoyed it :-)

​

I searched past threads and didn't see anything on bug repellent. Beginning of a new season here. I've loved the fall and winter running because.... No bugs. Around here we have black flies, deer flies and mosquitoes. Every time I slow down, I get eaten alive. So what do people use as bug repellent that works? I find most sprays disappear with sweating.

Tdlr; I am documenting the effects of HRT-E therapy on my running as I train for a PR in the 5K in October. HRT-E involves reducing the levels of Testosterone in my body and increasing that of Estrogen such that both fall into the range of a cis ("natal") female.

Link to my first post which outlines my overall goals/approach as well as results from the first month: https://www.reddit.com/r/running/comments/191p6x2/the_who_even_needs_testosterone_challenge_natasha/

Link to the original post (5 years old!) by Jocelyn which inspired this effort: https://www.reddit.com/r/running/comments/a7rfiq/the_who_even_needs_testosterone_challenge_an/

Well this block, from a running perspective, was rather boring -- I hit my distance goals without much drama. Let's jump right into the numbers

The following table shows my actual numbers along with a comparison to last year:

The last 2 weeks represents the 13 days I stopped running, cold turkey, for vacation. I had been hoping to get a few runs in on the last week before leaving on Wednesday but was only able to get out once.

The only thing of note was week three when I started really feeling it on the last, long, run. I was never really in danger of stopping but I did have to focus and do a bit of self-coaching in the last few miles. This was initially surprising because, in my mind, I had done a good number of 45+ weeks last year and even a few the year before. The key words, of course, were "in my mind". When I looked back over my logs I realized I had only hit 45+ for 7 of the weeks in total. And the year before I had actually run 0 (!) No wonder hitting 45 was tough -- it is not all that far from my (current) upper limit.

And this is why, if you are doing structured training, it is really important to keep logs - you just can't rely on your memory. Given the whole point of structured training is to feed past results into the current plan, accurate data is key.

---

My weight has stayed in the new range of 155-158 with a brief spike to 159 in week 3. This held even through the bad airport food and the (high carb) white rice that consisted my diet during my trip. The processes behind metabolism and weight continue to baffle me…

And, finally, after week 3, I completely dropped weight lifting -- it was just too difficult to find the time in the midst of last minute packing etc. My goal for next block is to drop into a 2x week maintenance mode -- at this point I don't think it's worth to try and work myself back to the 3x week heavy weights of previous blocks.

The "E" and "T" effects

In the first week of the block, I finally got my first (3 month) test results back - something which I was eagerly anticipating. And they showed … that I was far from being in the cis female range for both my T levels and my E. In fact I am just _slightly_ out of cis male range for both. I really, really wish now I had done a baseline so I could see if it changed at all :(

So how to interpret these results? It seems there are at least three schools of thought:

1. The thing to look at is not the levels but rather whether "feminization" is occurring. If it is, it means that the Spiro is doing its thing to block the testosterone from being absorbed -- even though the levels are high. Be patient, up the E dose from 4 to 6mg, and wait for the 6 month checkup.
2. The problem with (1) is that not all "feminization" is equal -- some things will occur even if testosterone is high _and_ being absorbed. Which means that is a false metric. In addition, the Spiro "blockade", like all blockades is leaky -- some percentage of testosterone is always going to get through and there is no way of knowing how much. The issue is likely the method of E ingestion (sublingual) and the amount of Spiro. Up the Spiro and switch to a non-oral method of E delivery.
3. The problem with 1 & 2 is the reliance on Spiro as a testosterone blocker. Most studies of effects of Spiro were done on CIS women who, obviously, don't have nearly as much T to deal with. At the T levels of a AMAB, Spiro is completely ineffective. While, true, that this is based on only one study, it does also make intuitive sense. Change to different T suppressant (only available outside the US) and up the E. And slap yourself for being a dumb American who succumbed to the confluence of big Pharma and SIC (the Spiro Industrial Complex).

Yeah confusing. In the end I am going with my doctor's advice and following (1). And praying month six comes with better results...

Looking ahead

I am super nervous of how my body is going to react, starting up again after such a long time off. 13 days off is the longest stretch I have ever had since I began running and I really don't have leeway, at this point, to get injured without it impacting my overall goals. Given that, I'm going to take the first week slow****** and aim for something like: 35/40/45/cutback. If I can make it through unscathed, that will set me up for a solid month of May of 45-50 with a gradual increase in intensity.

So that's it for this month. If you made it this far, thanks for reading. I hope this is was useful.

** If you've read my other entries you'll notice I have a pattern of opting for less risk when I have to make decisions like this. This is primarily due to my age - I don't feel I can count on even one more season after this (I am not anticipating -- I just don't take it for granted like I used to). If I was younger - say under 40 - I would definitely take on more risk.

Hey runners, it's another day and it is time to post your accomplishments you'd like to share - big or small.

Note: No need to preface YOUR accomplishments with something like, "this may not be an accomplishment to most of you...". Be proud of your achievement.

With over 3,025,000 subscribers, there are a lot of posts that come in everyday that are often repeats of questions previously asked or covered in the FAQ.

With that in mind, this post can be a place for any questions (especially those that may not deserve their own thread). Hopefully this is successful and helps to lower clutter and repeating posts here.

If you are new to the sub or to running, this Intro post is a good resource.

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We're trying to take advantage of one of New Reddit's features, collections. It lets the mods group posts into Collections. We're giving it a try on posts that get good feedback that would be useful for future users. We've setup some common topic Collections and will add new posts to these as they arise as well as start new Collections as needed. Here's the link to the wiki with a list of the current Collections.

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Please note, Collections only works for New Reddit and the Reddit mobile app for iOS.

It's that time of week already...the gear thread! What have you picked up lately? What's working for you now that it's whatever season you believe it to be in your particular location? What have you put through rigorous testing that's proved worthy of use? We want to know!

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Then what are you waiting for? Tell us all about yourself!

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Race Report: 2024 Los Angeles Marathon

Race Information

Name: Los Angeles Marathon

Date: March 17, 2024

Distance: 26.2 miles

Location: Los Angeles, CA

Time: 3:29:51

Goals

Goal Description Completed?

A Sub 3:30 Yes

B Sub 3:40 Yes

C PR (Sub 3:51) Yes

D Don't hit the wall Yes

E No bathroom stops Yes

Splits

1 8:15

2 7:41

3 7:56

4 7:58

5 8:39

6 8:36

7 7:48

8 &51

9 8:05

10 7:40

11 7:41

12 7:44

13 8:02

14 7:56

15 7:14

16 7:46

17 8:18

18 7:59

19 7:45

20 7:49

21 8:24

22 7:53

23 7:59

24 8:05

25 7:52

26 8:39

27 7:41

Background

Male, 32, 5'10", 175lbs
Former average high school swimmer and cross-country runner (for freshman and sophomore years only); recently got back into running via LA run clubs. Averaged 10-15 miles per week prior to March of 2023.
Last year, trained for first marathon ever - San Francisco Marathon on July 23rd, 2023 - Given my then 5k and 10k times of around 21 minutes and 45 minutes respectively, I figured a 4 hour marathon could be achievable even on a tougher marathon like SF with proper volume-focused training. I followed the Hanson's beginner marathon plan with a focus on 9:00/mile pace, and the race went fantastic. I managed to run a low 3:51, flying through the last 5 miles once I felt sure I wasn't going to bonk. This gave me a lot of confidence for my next goal marathon, my hometown LA Marathon in March 2024. The one goal I did not achieve in San Francisco was avoiding having to go #2 during the race, which I did have to stop for at mile 19. I hoped to maybe avoid this at LAM with the later start time (7am vs SF's starting time around 5am)

Training

Between the San Francisco Marathon and my LA Marathon training block, I kept my mileage to 25-35 miles per week (5 runs per week) so I wouldn't lose all my endurance gains earned from my first marathon. Most of this running was easy heart-rate based zone 2 running with some harder workouts sprinkled in, generally once a week. I also ran a couple trail races and set two new 5k PRs - 20:45 in September 2023, and then a 19:12 in November 2023.
I wanted a more aggressive yet achievable marathon goal for LAM, but I also wanted it to be smart as this race is difficult, with almost as much elevation gain as SFM. I found myself debating going for a sub-3:40 or sub-3:30, and in the end, I decided to go for a sub-3:30 following the Hanson's Marathon beginner plan as it worked so well for me on my last race. If the marathon-pace runs brought me too much into the red-zone, I would adjust to a sub-3:40 goal.
For those of you who don't know, the Hanson's plans are 18-week plans with long runs that max out at 16 miles, focusing on weekly volume and accumulated fatigue rather than super long weekend runs. The plan also calls for letting the training block catch up to you if you are already running more mileage than a training week calls for. Since I was already running around 30 miles per week, I didn't truly begin the plan until week 6 of training, and then I followed the plan almost religiously.
One major difference between my first go at Hanson's for SFM and my second go for LAM was what I perceived to be the most difficult parts of training. While training for SF, I found the long runs to be the most difficult, likely due to my lack of endurance and a conservative (for me) race goal. For LAM, I found the mid-week marathon-pace runs which start at 5 miles (with a mile warm up and cool down) and peak at 10 miles to be the most difficult workouts, which echoes much of the reports I've seen for others using this plan.
As for following the plan, I pretty much followed it to the T with only a few adjustments - occasional strides during easy runs,, more mileage the peak weak (peaked at 61 miles) through added warmups and cooldowns before my hard mid-week runs, and finally, I failed my second-to-last tempo run but found out after I had mostly asymptomatic Covid (got on Paxlovid the same day I diagnosed).
As for making a decision on what my final marathon goal pace would be, I generally noticed the following pattern: 2/3 of my tempo runs felt strong, while 1/3 would always suck. To explain further, the plan follows 3 weeks of each distance of tempo run (3 weeks of 5 miles, 3 weeks of 8 miles, 3 weeks of 9 miles, and 3 weeks of 10 miles). 1 of those runs always sucked, while the other two felt good, so while I was bit intimated with the 8:00/mile pace, I decided to go for it as I felt I had at least a 60% chance of the race going well, probably even more so after my taper.

Pre-race
10 days before: Began taper, reducing volume and intensity
5 days before: Limited drinking to 1 drink per day and healthy eating
3 days before: Focused on getting lots of carbs, eating breakfast (which I usually skip), less fiber, lots of sleep
2 days before: Went to the expo and picked up my bib; got drenched by pouring ran that came out of nowhere.
1 day before: 3 big carby meals, 2 sports drinks, dinner was poke with extra white rice, had a Maurten 320 and popcorn before bed.
Race morning
Woke up at 2:50am (ugh), took a shower, lubed up, put on the nip guards, drank coffee and ate cereal + a Maurten 160. Did my business, and got on the road by 3:30 to head into Dodger Stadium.
For those of you thinking of doing this race, getting to the start line is a bit stressful if you're not prepared. It's better to be early and get less sleep IMO than to be stressed out trying to wait out the line of cars on race day. Your other decent options are taking a shuttle in from the finish line in Century City or from Union Station/DTLA hotels. I had a lot of difficulty making the decision here, but ultimately decided I would rather be in control, wake up earlier, and drive in. This worked fine, as there was little traffic and ample parking when I arrived around 3:45am. By around 5am, however, it was a different story for people driving in; traffic jams and fears of not making it to the start/gear check/porta-potties in time. Do yourself a favor if you run this race and take one of the shuttles or get there early and take a nap in your car like I did. A lot of sleep's not that important to performance the night before anyway if you've managed to bank lot of sleep the few days before the race (in my limited experience).
I was also lucky in that I got free access to the Dodger Stadium charity suites prior to the race for free through my run club and had warm air and normal toilets. This was unexpected and made for a wonderful pre-race experience.
Prior to the start, I managed to take care of business again, warmed up with some light dynamic movements, checked my gear, and then headed to Corral C with my pacing partner.

Race
Race start: 7am
For LAM I opted to watch keep my watch in net time and average pace rather than lap pace. With 8/mile as my average race pace, it was fairly easy for me to do the math for where I needed to be with each mile, half mile, and quarter mile. LAM is a hard race to pace as it is almost never flat, with any downhills, uphills, and constant rollers. I found it easier to just focus on staying around my pace, knowing I would likely get a little behind after taking the large uphills out of downtown LA and that I would be able to make it up later. This was largely the case, and I believe it paid dividends later given many other fellow runners I knew burned out at the very challenging finish of the course.
I also fueled and hydrated early and often. I am a bit larger for a runner of my pace, and I also have not ever had stomach issues with gels and water. That said, I may have been a little overhydrated at the beginning of this race and occasionally skipped a water station in the first 10 miles of the race until I began to feel a little less full. Other than that, I took a little water or electrolyte drink at each water station (approximately 4-6 gulps) and had a Maurten gel every 3 miles (two of which were caffeinated).
Because LAM is such a difficult race to pace, I found it helpful to divide the race into distinct sections with different pacing strategies:

1. Dodger Stadium/Chinatown/DTLA/Echo Park - start fast, end slow, expect to be a little behind
2. Sunset Blvd/Hollywood Blvd (Echo Park/Silverlake/East Hollywood/Hollywood) - keep net pace, but go slower on uphills, faster on downhills
3. Return to Sunset to Century City (Sunset Strip/West Hollywood/Beverly Hills) - slow uphill, but then some fast downhills that may put you out ahead
4. Century City to Brentwood out and back - finish strong

Race Section 1 Dodger Stadium/Chinatown/DTLA/Echo Park

• Miles 1 and 2: LAM starts with a slight uphill out of the Dodger Stadium parking lot; it's a small uphill, but it's a good chance to burn a little to much of your glycogen reserves early if you have trouble taking races slow out the gate. After this small uphill though, LAM really does not allow you to start a race conservatively. The first two miles of LAM are almost all downhill until you reach the bottom of Cesar Chavez Ave. I felt good at this point in the race, even if heart rate was a little higher than I would have
• Miles 3-5: The Chinatown and Downtown portion of the run is one of maybe only two parts of the marathon where you can settle into a steady marathon-tempo pace, being that it's fairly flat. However, this low-concentration effort quickly ends in the latter portion of mile 4 as you approach the first crux of the race exiting downtown. I paced myself by heart rate on the large uphills of this race; my goal was not exceeding my mid-high zone 3 on these uphills (165bpm), which forced me to slow my pace to almost 10min/mile. Exiting downtown up 1st Street is one of the best parts of the race though; you have this big uphill (for a marathon) street lined with Taiko drummers - it's
• Miles 5-6ish: After you finish the uphill out of DTLA, it's a steep downhill on Tempo Ave before returning to another grueling uphill. This uphill is less steep than 1st street earlier, but it's longer and the crowd support isn't as good, though still present. I took my time here and was careful to remember the uphill has a false peak when you turn from Tempo Ave onto Edgeware. It continues on Bellevue for a bit before you have a nice downhill to Echo Park lake. From there, it's a slight uphill followed by a steep uphill at a fork in the road to finish what I consider the first section of the race once you turn left onto Sunset Blvd.

At this point, I was feeling good and in control.

Race Section 2 Sunset Blvd/Hollywood Blvd (Echo Park/Silverlake/East Hollywood/Hollywood)

• Miles 6-10: The most challenging portion of the race in terms of big uphills is done now, but Sunset Blvd is by no means an easy portion of the race to pace. I was conversational with my pacing partner during this portion of the race, but the rolling hills took a decent amount of focus. I opted for race pace minus 20-30 seconds for the downhills and took the uphills at race pace plus 20 seconds, capping my heart rate again at 165bpm. I was mindful of the fact that starting this portion of the race, I was about 1-1:30 off my final race goal, but I anticipated this and expected to mostly make it up in these rollers and section 3 of the race. These rolling hills lesson once you get onto Hollywood Blvd in East Hollywood, but they don't truly let up until you cross the 101 freeway around mile 10 and get into Hollywood Miles 10-12: Running through Hollywood is a pretty special moment in the race; although I'm not a huge fan of the neighborhood generally, it feels very iconic on race day, and the crowd support is fantastic there; if nothing else, it's the only section after Chinatown where I really felt I could just race at my marathon-tempo pace and not adjust constantly for uphills and downhills. Runners turn off of Hollywood Blvd at Orange Dr, and then you get back onto Sunset Blvd for the third section of the race.

Race Section 3 Return to Sunset to Century City (Sunset Strip/West Hollywood/Beverly Hills)

• Miles 12-14.5: The rest of the running done on Sunset Blvd is a bit of a slog as it's slightly uphill with a steep finish before you turn off of the Strip on San Vincente. However, it's special to see all the landmarks (Whiskey a Go Go, Roxy, Comedy Store, etc...) and the views are nice before turning left on San Vincente. I allowed my uphill heartrate max to increase here to 170bpm as I was mindful of cardiac drift, and it was at this point that my racing partner and I also began to catch sight of and ultimately catch up to the 3:30 pacers (who started a corral or two before us). At this point, I was beginning to feel the difficulty of the race, but I also still felt strong, nevertheless mindful of how much more running was in front of me.
• Miles 14.5-16: This is a big portion of downhill and flat sections on the race, with the steepest and fastest on Doheny Drive after Mile 15. I did my best to both take the hill fast but controlled, though it still did a number on my quads for later in the race. By mile 16, we had passed the 3:30 pacers and were about a minute and a half to two minute ahead of final goal pace.
• Miles 16-18: From the turn on Burton Way to Century City, the race climbs slowly about 70 feet. It looks flat, but looks are deceiving; it was also at this point that the sun really came out and started to make the race more difficult; I was starting to feel fatigued and a little worried this would be a slog to the finish, but I was also feeling confident I would not bonk, which ended up being true. It was at this point my pacing partner started to get a little ahead of me, and I decided I had to run my own race, so he gradually started to fade and ultimately finished the race about 2.5 minutes ahead of me.

Race Section 4 Century City to Brentwood out and back

• Miles 18-22: As numerous LAM race reports will tell you, this portion of the race sucks, no matter how mentally prepared you are for it. The race used to end in Santa Monica at the ocean, but since 2021 due to local politics/money, it has been an out-and-back loop from mile 18-26.2 that ends in Century City (aka big fancy sad mall). The road splits in two, and you now see finishing runners on the opposite side finishing as you leave the finish line area with another 8 miles of running to go. It's also another section rollers, and the heat level and LA sunshine really comes out at this point with little to no shade. I will say this year the crowd support on Santa Monica Blvd in both directions was incredible. At one point, it was was funneled wall of people (which made for a bit of an exhausting but exhilarating experience). My original goal was to see how I felt by mile 21 and hopefully pick up the pace for the last 4-5 miles, but I simply could not pick up the pace, and from miles 19-23, I just did my best to hang on with 3:30 pace group, knowing I was still ahead of my own goal pace; mile 20-21 is an ugly uphill that ends at a freeway overpass, which put me only a little over pace at this point. I knew it was going to take a lot to keep my pace, not blow up, and hopefully coast across the finish line under 3:30.

• Miles 22-26.2: It was around this point that the pacers told us to get going and finish, so I left them behind. I didn't really increase my pace at all, as I felt really dead at this point, but the pacers seemed to just fade behind me. My thought process at this time was that I wasn't bonking, but I was pretty close to it; in retrospect, I don't think I was bonking in the traditional sense, but my quads had been extended to their limit and my cadence slowed into big, loping strides. I felt like and thought I was going slower than 8:00/mile the whole time, but my Strava report says different, which is great to see in retrospect. I should also mention the sun blares directly in your damn face after the turnaround as you're directly running east, so that's fun. My girlfriend, mom, and her friends were at mile 24.5 with a Weihenstephaner Original Premium beer and some great signs, which was a huge pick-me-up, even though I could only manage a couple sips of the beer and poured the rest over my shoulder (for good luck???). At Santa Monica Blvd and Beverly Glen, you approach the last stretch of the race - a half mile of uphill to the last little straightaway to the finish line. Yes, the race finishes with an uphill, affectionally known as Bastard Hill (by me). As I crested the hill and had the finish line in sight, I realized I less than 40 seconds according to my watch to make my 3:30 cutoff - so much for just coasting the finish. I groaned, summoned whatever energy I somehow had remaining, and sort of sprinted to the line and finished my marathon in 3:29:51.

Post-race

It's insulting how far away the bathrooms are from the finish line. I could barely walk, and had to pee so bad - not a good combo. But I eventually made it, got my phone and change of clothes from gear check, found a massage gun, and then continued the long walk to the beer garden to celebrate with fellow runners and friends. Then we celebrated St. Patrick's Day, and my girlfriend and I took a 10 day vacation in Hawaii.
I think I'm going to focus on shorter races for a bit - I haven't done any training blocks for 5ks, 10ks, or halfs, and I would like to focus on speed for a while before attempting another marathon. I also do not think I will ever approach LAM with a serious time goal again - I'll save that for flatter, faster races. I would like to do a party-pace LAM though - that sounds like a smart goal for the future!
Anyways, thanks so much for having such a great running community here on Reddit - the advice and plans here have really helped me, and I felt it was important to share my own experience with the community. I also cannot recommend the Hanson's Marathon book enough - what a great plan as it lead me to two successful races.
Cheers!

Race Information

• Name: Coast Guard Marathon
• Date: 8 April 2024
• Distance: 26.2 miles
• Location: Elizabeth City, North Carolina
• Website: coastguardmarathon.com
• Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/11128296662/overview
• Time: 3:36:58

Goals

Training

Completed successful Chicago Marathon in October 2023 after a successful torn meniscus recovery and looking for a good spring marathon to leverage the good experience. I was also interested in a smaller venue within commuting distance of Northern Virginia USA.

As noted in my Chicago Marathon race report, I've begun teaching Yoga and I believe this has had a profound and positive experience on my running results (and life in general).

I train with the DC Road Runners, especially Saturday long runs, and it was good to benchmark both my long runs and the interval work i've been doing mid-week. I also came across a tool called CRPlot, which sucks in all of your Strava training data to come up with a marathon prediction, which came up with a 3:31 which seemed pretty ambitious to me. I do a lot of yoga and swimming, so every run has a purpose, either long run or intervals or tempo runs.

I've been running since age 47 and my PR was a 3:35 at age 49 at New Jersey Marathon, so figured that would be a good goal. At a minimum, I wanted to hit 3:30-something.

Pre-race

Arrived Friday afternoon at AirBNB, going solo this time. Coast Guard Marathon sponsored a yoga session at Seven Sounds Brewery in Elizabeth City so I attended that, then picked up my bib at the expo.

On Saturday, I drove the course, including going on to the Coast Guard Base. Got lost a few times, but it was good to map it out and get an idea of what I was getting into and how I would be thinking in each section of the race.

I got up at 0600, ate a banana, protein bar, and protein shake, coffee and out the door. Had four GUs in my shorts for every 5 miles. Left the AirBNB at u/0640 and arrived at 0645. stopped at the porta-potties, then got right into my corral for 0730 start...easy. that's why i love these smaller races.

Race

The course is super-super-flat, and very scenic right on the water. Prior years have complained about the wind, but I did not experience that. It was one of those 'no-excuse' race days. Temps in the low 40s and rising to low 60s over the hours on the course, bright and clear, no wind...perfect running weather.

Miles 1-5

Went to the local Thrift store and picked up $2.50 sweatshirt and wore this for the first 2 miles. Immediate find yourself right on the waterfront neighborhoods. Beautiful views and a sunny day. Really trying to hit that 8:20 pace and not bank too much. I took Gu #1 right at mile 5. Needed to time the GUs with the water stops because i have a tough time taking those down without water.

Miles 6-10

This area of the course goes through some new development neighborhoods, running right down the runway at the Coast Guard Base/Airport, then out into the fields. At Mile 7, the half-marathoners return back and now it's a sparse group as you head out to the end of the race. I am staying below 8:20 which is good, but perhaps I am banking too much? Took the GU #2 before mile 10 thinking perhaps I would take 5 GUs on this course. I picked up an extra GU at this point from the station at Mile 10.

Miles 11-15

Some of the most beautiful scenery. would love to be able to add photos to the report. Also, there is a huge dirigible warehouse out here, which gives the area an odd video game like view. You've either got beautiful waterfront homes or farmland. Took GU #3 at Mile 13-14.

Miles 16-20

I don't place much with monitoring heart rate, but note that it progressed higher throughout the race, which i would think is normal. Here is where i needed those mantras and affirmations and thinking about all the training. I begun to pace with a guy named Kristof which was very helpful. A little windy but mostly farmlands and nice and cool. At mile 19, i reeled another USNA 88 grad that i was pacing with around miles 8-9 so it felt a little good to reel him in. I developed a blister on my right foot which helped keep the focus on that and not all the other pain I was beginning to experience. Really need to fall back on my training here to make it through. Took GU #4 at Mile 18.

Miles 20-26.2

Now we are heading back on to the Coast Guard base and back in to town. Only a 10K to go. Now I am counting time and how much more of it i will be exerting so that's a little helpful. It's here where I realized that I was not going to be able to hold 8:10 pace but also realized that I had banked some time, so at this point I am coasting and trading with Kristof and knuckling under to make it through. Keep the cadence up and keep moving. Arriving at those turns in town and knowing I am heading to the finish line and I think it's a pretty good time. I can see it, I can see it! That blister popped at one point. Took GU #5 at Mile 22.

Post-race

When I signed up for this race, the 60-64 year old AG group winner of last year won with a time of 3:56 so I thought I was in pretty good shape to win my age group. Turns out I had a fellow USNA grad (class of 84) that glided in with a 3:28 to win the AG this year. Still 3rd in Age Group is just fine and a 15 minute increase from my last race. Very sweet! Got a free beer and barbecue sandwich. They also handed out paddles to all the age group winners which was nice!

If you are looking for a nice flat course and luck out with low wind, the Coast Guard Marathon is a great choice. Very, very affordable area, large enough to get some, but limited, crowd support and a nice small town vibe.

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

Hey, I'm new to this sub and super excited to participate and contribute one of these. Was waiting to see if anyone else ran this race, but since I didn't see one, I figured I'd submit it!

##RACE INFORMATION

Name: Charlottesville Marathon and Half Marathon
Date: April 6, 2024
Distance: 42.4 km
Location: Charlottesville, Virginia, USA
Website: https://charlottesvillemarathon.com/
Athlete's Strava: https://www.strava.com/athletes/122504742
Finish Time: 3:49:54

##GOALS

##SPLITS

##Background I (39M) am an aspiring ultra-running athlete who is sort of new to "competitive" (using this term very loosely) running. I'm fairly athletic (I play hockey three to four days a week and work out nearly every day with either running at my muay thai/MMA gym) but I've only recently started running for actual speed and time. This is my fifth marathon, but only second with a "full" training cycle. My first four results were:

• 2011 Washington, DC Marathon: 4:49:14
• 2011 Richmond, VA Marathon: 4:37:13
• 2021 Richmond, VA Marathon: 4:29:14
• 2023 Richmond, VA Marathon: 3:38:08

I mentioned ultra running above because my aspiration is to run a 50 miler this year. I have been participating in Spartan Race events since about 2015, including their 50k distances and races with significant elevation gain. I'm still an "Open" category racer, but I'm trying to break into the Competitive brackets this year. I don't really care much about the obstacle side of things, though, so my goal is to cross over into trail running and longer distances this year. I have scheduled a Spartan Ultra (50k) in Mountain Creek, NJ later this month, and plan to run a 50 miler in May or June (I have a few races in mind, but I want to use the April 27 50k to determine whether I'm ready for the 50 mile distance. If I'm not, I have a second series of races in the fall that I plan to run (Killington Spartan Ultra in mid-Sept, Grindstone 100k in late-Sept, and Marine Corps Marathon or Richmond Marathon in November).

My long term goal is to run a BQ time, mostly driven by hopium from the fact that a full training cycle was able to push me forward so much. That still does seem like quite a stretch goal, but I'll know more about how feasible that is over the summer.

##Training My big focus for this training cycle was to test my ability to actually put in a full training volume over the winter. I'm notoriously terrible at running outside during the winter, and marathon training on a treadmill sounded absolutely dreadful. Nonetheless, given how successful last season felt, I wanted to make sure I didn't wait until fall to start my 2024 season. I figured running a series of marathon, 50k, 50 miler in the spring would be a great springboard for progress this year.

I was debating several races (Shamrock Marathon in Virginia Beach, VA and Mountain to Beach in Southern California were my other considerations) but chose Charlottesville because it was relatively close to home and reviews said the course was very scenic.

For my training plan, I had used the Nike Run Club 16 week marathon training plan in the fall, to considerable success, but felt it was a little easy and perhaps a bit insufficient for my ultra curiosity. So, I took the long run sequencing from the NRC plan and mostly trained based on feel in terms of distance for my weekday runs, with a standard duration of about an hour being the sweet spot.

I focused significantly more on speed this cycle, largely trying to get comfortable running longer distances faster.

Still, my training volume was lower than I wanted to be -- largely because of treadmill dread and not wanting to run outside when it's under 40 degrees or rainy. Work was also challenging the last few months, which cut into my ability to train. I never was able to consistently hold more than 40 miles in a week, but did run regularly. My training volume was:

• Dec: 121 miles
• Jan: 93 miles
• Feb: 121 miles
• Mar: 85 miles (this hurt me)

In particular, I had some travel and a minor surgery in March that kept my volume much lower than I wanted it to be. I had to skip my 22 mile long run as a result of the surgery recovery, which I felt hurt me a bit in the race.

Some training successes though -- I accidentally-on-purpose PR'd my 10 mile distance during a training run at one point, just cruising and deciding I wanted to run fast, and I felt overall much more comfortable running at a faster pace during this cycle. Last cycle, I was in Z3/4 running at 7mph on a treadmill, and this time, I could hold that comfortably in Z2 by the end of my cycle and was able to comfortably run distances at 8mph+. I think this will be a benefit going forward for sure.

Pre-Race

I... did not really think this through. My main goal going into the race (i.e., before I signed up for the race) was to PR by a few minutes to keep forward progress towards a BQ. About two weeks out, after my wife said she heard the race was "hilly", I looked up the elevation profile and saw on the race website that the total elevation gain was about 2200ft. That's.... a big number. Richmond, for reference, was about 500ft I believe, and it's possible it might've even been less than that. So, upon seeing that, I significantly lowered my expectations.

With lower expectations came a bit more of a relaxed feel for my pre-race. I was able to get to bed pretty early the night before, woke up around 6:00am for a 7:00am start. Our hotel was a quarter mile away from the start line, so no real time crunch.

I ate a Bobo's Stuff'd Oat Bar for breakfast, drank about 32oz of water with Tailwind, and took a Gu 5 mins before the race. Conditions at the start were 38F with fairly consistent 10mph+ winds.

As I mentioned before, I don't particularly do well in the cold, so I was wearing running tights, a base layer long sleeve shirt, a long sleeve tech shirt over that shirt, a cap, and running gloves. Most people appeared to be dressed somewhat similarly (perhaps with one long sleeve shirt instead of two) but there were a few people running shirtless and about 25-40% wearing shorts instead of tights. So, I was overdressed, but that's rarely a problem for me.

Race

This is a smaller race than I'm used to. In larger races, I would typically pack together with the pace group running a little slower than I anticipated finishing in order to keep my effort in check early on and ensure negative splits, but since there were only about 750 people running (if I had to guess -- don't quote me on that, I didn't look up the half marathon and 8k numbers!) and they packed the half marathon and 8k participants together in the main pack, I didn't have that luxury.

I started about 11 seconds after the gun and focused on keeping my RPE around 4-5. The first mile was largely downhill, but I knew the course involved running back up the same hill to finish, so I didn't take much solace in that, haha. There were a few undulations in the first mile, there were a lot of people in front of me to pass, and I was focusing on keeping my effort low, so i still maintained a little slower than my goal pace despite the downhill. Still was about 10-15 seconds faster than I normally would run a first mile due to the downhill.

On or around mile 2, the course took us into the Rivanna Riverview Park, which was an absolutely gorgeous place to run. The reviews we read prior to signing up were correct -- there was something really relaxing about running in the park. Pace still felt good, effort felt remarkably even and strong. I was moving up through a lot of participants until finally getting to the front of a running pack. I could see a number of 8k participants doubling back towards the start line during this period.

The course left the park at about mile 3.5, went up a short hill, then crossed over to the other side of the river via road bridge and back down onto the other side of the river. The views remained beautiful, though there was a precarious section under the highway bridge with a steep drop off onto rocks and then into the river. More on that in a sec. This side of the river seemed to feed into a park and was more like running on a road with some nice views. Then, about 4.5 miles in, I saw the first big challenge of the race, which was about an 8% climb for a quarter mile in a section that looped back the other direction. This was a harbinger for things to come for sure. My pace slowed going up the hill but I was successful in keeping my RPE relatively even, maybe peaking briefly at 7 before the course leveled off. Downhill felt strong. Saw my wife (she was running the half!) when I was doubling back through the park. Waved and cheered. Everything's good!

Took first Gu around 45 minutes working back through the park. Race to this point was going roughly as expected, effort was fairly even despite the uphill spikes, and still felt pretty strong.

Going back under the precarious bridge, I was hanging towards the right about 1-2 ft next to the drop off. Running through that section, someone yelled back at me after passing that I "needed to share the trail", apparently not considering the fact that if they got pushed off trail, they would hit a wall, whereas I would... um... suffer grave injury and possible drowning. Strange stuff. They should probably put a railing there. I wish I had a picture.

Back out of the park, across the bridge, back onto the other side of the trail and on the scenic path again for about a half mile, then we started running through neighborhoods. This also brought the first long, sustained climb of the race at about 100ft gain over 1/3 of a mile. This was the first point where I felt like I might not be able to hit my goal. It was a pretty soul sucking climb and my effort started spiking pretty significantly at this point.

A note about the course: the roads were open throughout the race, with some police and volunteer help at turns and to control traffic a bit. Still, it was a challenge at times to tell where the proper turns were. Around mile 6 or 7, we separated from the half marathon group, and I had a mini-panic attack thinking I was lost because I was separated from just about all of the other runners. The trail was designated by chalk on the pavement, which was helpful, but I also began to wonder if I took the half marathon course at one point as opposed to the full marathon course. Fortunately, it turned out that I took the right path. If you do decide to do this race, be aware of the fact that the course may not always be perfectly marked and you need to be very conscious of where you're going.

Despite the fact my pace and effort was above where I'd want it to be to PR, I still felt pretty strong. Around mile 9, as we entered Mcintyre Park, I caught a group that was in front of me and passed them. Felt good, was still cruising, and felt like I was targeting low/mid-3:40s at that stage. Still felt pretty good with Gu #2 at 1:30.

Around mile 11, things started to get more difficult. After following a park trail for about a mile, we began a pretty large climb (~90ft) over about 3/4 of a mile which really took a lot out of me. This was my first mile that was significantly off pace, largely because I didn't have any downhill sections to balance out my pace. Still wouldn't say I was "struggling", but this was the first time I really was passed by someone who wasn't running a shorter race than me.

Once we doubled back and finished up that section, thus began the section that pretty much tanked my race. We began running through a neighborhood on a pretty significant downhill. I would estimate we were running at a 7-8% grade for about 130 ft of loss over about a quarter of a mile, and then I saw some runners heading back up the way we were going. It felt a little like a funeral dirge as we ran through this neighborhood, going up some smaller undulating hills (I say undulating loosely -- there were 2 climbs/descents of about 90ft covering roughly .2 miles each) before doubling back and doing it all again. Gu #3 at 2:15 heading up the hill at about mile 16 and I felt very weak. My hands felt frozen and I had trouble opening my Gu, which was kinda funny but also infuriating. I had to walk the aid station, and I power walked about 45 seconds of the final climb before starting to run again once the grade was about 2%. Felt very defeated by this.

17 was doubling back towards the park with some river views and was relatively flat, but I felt that I had completely lost my burst by this point. I wasn't quite cramping, but I could start to feel twitches in my hamstrings and my left leg was starting to feel numb.

Mile 20 worked back into the park with the first big hill I talked about, which felt particularly insulting at this stage. I had to power walk for part of the big climb going both ways. Intrusive thoughts started coming in about quitting here, and I was being passed by people I had passed earlier in the race. Definitely a dark point, which is unsurprising because it's where most people have their challenges in marathons, haha. Final Gu around 3 hours. Pretty dead.

Mile 22-23, back out of that park. At this point, anything over a 6% grade, I would power walk. Usually these hills in this section were pretty short, so I mainly kept those segments to 30 seconds or less. Mentally broke through the doldrums, but I was still pretty physically spent.

Halfway through mile 24, we got back out of the park and in the home stretch, which meant the start of the biggest climb. I had to power walk several sections here which really started killing my time. I now wondered whether I was going to be able to achieve sub-4:00. Still, I ran when I could at around an 8:15 pace and powerwalked when the grade was too steep.

25 was a nightmare. As you can see on my chart, huge elevation gain. I was passed by 3 more people during this stretch, but with about half a mile to go, I pushed hard and emptied the tank. Sprinted (okay, hobbled) across the line for a chip time of 3:49:54.

##POST RACE Felt some blisters on my feet (which were actually dead nails, in retropsect), and was definitely at or around exhaustion. I think my Whoop strap HR was locked on my cadence, because it said I did a very significant period of time during the race in Z5, and that I maxed at 197bpm, which seems insane and I don't believe it.

This race didn't feel good. I had moments where my intrusive thoughts told me I shouldn't try to run a 50 this spring and that I'd never get my BQ time, which wasn't helped by the fact that I was alone for large parts of the race and because it was an open road course, I couldn't wear headphones to zone out. I've since come down off the ledge on those things.

Obviously my training wasn't optimal, especially peaking early, and I'm not good at training through the winter. Additionally, the course was stupid hilly. Like, I didn't really grasp how much 2200ft of gain would hurt my pace, but it definitely did. I feel like if I was running a relatively flat course, I would've been close to my PR pace if not under it based on my level of fitness right now.

##RACE REVIEW I've never ran a small marathon before, and it was a mixed bag. I really liked the scenery; Rivanna Park and the Butterfly Path were both very scenic and pretty, and you could see the Blue Ridge Mountains in the background for most of the race. Running alone is generally not a problem for me, but obviously you need to keep your head in check if you're doing that, because there really weren't many spectators or volunteers to keep you motivated. You have to be intrinsically self-motivated, driven, and confident to not have those kind of issues once you hit your wall.

The course, as I mentioned above, was a bit difficult to follow at times. This is exacerbated by the fact the course is shared by the half marathon and 8k. I don't have many suggestions for how to fix this, but it did give me a mini-panic attack at one point when I thought I followed the wrong course. YMMV on this one.

Overall, I'd rate it 3/5, maybe as high as 3.5 when accounting for the views. If you don't mind smaller races, you might be in the 3.5 to 4 range. if you like elevation, it's a 6/5.

Race Information
Name: London Landmarks Half Marathon
Date: April 7, 2024
Distance: 13.1 miles
Location: London, UK
Website: https://llhm.co.uk/
Strava: https://www.strava.com/athletes/97791205
Time: 1:53:54
Goals
Goal Description Completed?
A Sub 2 Yes

Splits
Kilometer Time
1 5:21
2 5:21
3 5:16
4 5:23
5 5:25
6 5:14
7 5:07
8 5:23
9 5:21
10 5:05
11 5:24
12 5:29
13 5:22
14 5:13
15 5:18
16 5:29
17 5:22
18 5:13
19 5:26
20 5:30
21 5:14
22 4:49

Training

I have been training for Edinburgh Marathon and decided to complete a half marathon during my training plan. I have been following Runna's 16 week marathon training plan which includes 1 easy run, 1 tempo run, 1 interval session and 1 long run with goal race pace a week. At week 8 I decided to up my training from 4 x a week to 5 x a week and now I'm running an additional easy run per week. I have just reached my peak milage and the past few weeks prior to my taper I was running around 50-60km a week.

I also do CrossFit and have been going to about 3/4 sessions a week throughout my training.

I've completed a couple of half marathons in my training plan, mostly at 'easy' pace, and 1 race half marathon which was the Landmarks last year. I completed that in 2 hours 8 minutes so this year I had the goal of sub 2 hours.

Pre-race

I travelled down to London to stay with my cousin, who cooked me a lovely carby meal the night before and I made sure I drank lots of fluids. I had an awful night sleep (who sleeps well prior to a race?), and made my way to the start line to meet my friends. I was feeling super nervous as although I had done this race before, I didn't know if I was going to achieve sub 2 hours. It was super windy around London and the warmest day of the year so far, which threw a lot of people off because we are so used to running in cold and wet conditions... yay England!

My legs have been quite tired from the marathon training, but I tapered and gave myself 2 days off running before the race so I could feel as fresh as possible. Although looking back I think I needed an extra day for the legs as they did feel tired on the day.

Race

I started the race feeling OK, I knew I had to maintain a pace of 5:40ish to achieve my goal. By 10k I was feeling pretty tired - the warmer weather did get to me and I felt my energy dipping. I knew it would be a struggle at that point lol. I had a gel at 7k, 11, and 16k but now looking back I think I should have had my 4th at some point.

My supporters met me at various checkpoints but tbh I was too in the zone and focused on maintaining pace and chipping away at those miles! After 16k it did get really tough, my legs were heavy, I was uncomfortable and hot, and just kept looking at my watch to make sure I was maintaining pace. By 19k I could have easily just stopped and sat on the floor!! I pushed through, ignored my brain, which at this point was screaming at me to lie on the floor. I also decided to not listen to music as they recommend not to, but I wish I had my tunes to motivate myself as that last 2k was pretty rough! I did question my life at various points wondering how the hell I'm going to complete a marathon in 7 weeks!!!!

I can't say that throughout that I had any adrenaline rush, or extra energy towards the end of finishing - which I did have last year! I sprinted to the finish line as you do, and I finished 1 hour 53 minutes! I achieved my goal so I'm happy about that, but I do feel like I could have pushed harder if it wasn't so warm.

Post-race

Legs are feeling it today, especially my shins. I am still in training because of the marathon but I think I might skip the intervals and tempo runs this week and complete all runs 'easy'. Def do not want to get an injury this close to the marathon!
Overall I'm pretty happy with the time. If anyone has any recommendations on recovering this week before I ramp up the miles for Edinburgh marathon in under 7 weeks would be greatly appreciated.

Can't wait to be in the marathon club!
Made with a new race report generator created by /u/herumph.

Race information

• What? Cherry Blossom 10 Miler
• When? April 7, 2024
• How far? 10 miles
• Where? Washington, DC
• Website: https://www.cherryblossom.org/
• Finish time: 1:36:05

Goals

Splits

Background

I've loved reading everyone's race reports on here and living vicariously through their experience, so I thought I would recap my first race ever! I was not a runner - I tried joining Track & Field after my friend's persistence in 7th grade, did a mile, and hated it so I quit immediately after. In college, I stuck to one mile runs and consistently ranged between 8:30-10 min miles, mainly on the treadmill.

I am 24F and when I was 22, I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. I had a long depressive episode followed by what felt like an even longer manic episode, and I was subsequently hospitalized three times. I thought it was over. After the hospital, I was heavily sedated and basically felt like a zombie. Slept 15 hours a day, no energy. It wore off eventually but I had no motivation to exercise. To top it all off, the medication made me gain 25 pounds.

Over a year later, I determined I wasn't going to let this bipolar diagnosis ruin my life. I did my own version of the Couch to 5K program and basically ran every other day, increasing my mileage literally 0.1 miles more each time until I got to 5K. I continued to stay at the 5K distance, but would average 14-15 min/mi paces. In 2023, I moved to a new city (DC) and joined running clubs.

Pre-race

I got the Cherry Blossom 10 mile bib through the transfer site in the last week of February. My plan was to run 4 times a week, with my first long run being 5 miles. My long runs each weekend went from: 5 miles, 6 miles, 8 miles, 9 miles, 10 miles (2 weeks before the race), and then 9 miles the weekend before. I tried to make one run each week a speed interval run. This running schedule seemed to work pretty well, until I got bad stomach cramps that turned into a stomach virus.

But before that, everything went smoothly because I would join running groups three days a week, and then do a long solo run by myself. Running in social situations were so, so helpful because: It kept me accountable and motivated me to run on the days I said I would, because I told other people I would be there. It made me faster, since I would run with people who had faster mile times than me. I would occasionally average <9 min/mi paces which was drastically different from my past 5K paces.

When I got sick two weeks before my race, I thought I was screwed. I wasn't sure if I could even race, and I had to go to the ER. Luckily, this was the day right after my 10 mile long run, so at least I knew I could do the 10 miles. I rested for the entire week because doctors thought it was related to muscle strain at first. I was feeling really antsy because I was close to the race and was itching to run. I got back to my regular schedule the Monday before the race: ran 3 miles Monday, 3 miles Tuesday, and a really light 2 miles on Thursday.

Race

Miles [1] to [3]

Miles 1-2 were so chill and easy. I loved crossing the bridge to NOVA because I have run on that bridge before. With the crowd of people, I was able to pass people by running on the sidewalk instead of the main road, and I got a better view of the river. Mile 3 felt longer, but still relaxed. We ran under the Kennedy Center. Here, I found a couple that was running around my pace, and I started following them. It made it so much easier because when they passed people, I could just follow in their footsteps. This is a crowded race, so passing people can feel like a challenge.

Miles [4] to [7]

We crossed the Tidal Basin here. Normally, I assume you can see lots of cherry blossoms. Nope, not this year. There was this one long road (Basin Dr) with flower trees on either side of you, but they were pretty much wilted. So unfortunately, I didn't get to truly experience running under cherry blossoms. I was tempted to stop for the bathrooms, but the lines seemed pretty long and I didn't want to break up momentum. There was a small entertainment station with The Incredibles. That was fun, I guess, lasted for about 10 seconds. My favorite sign I saw was "running is only fun when it's over" and that's what I continued to remind myself of throughout the race. The end was near.

Miles [7] to [10]

Everyone says Hains Point is brutal, and the back half of it truly is. It feels so much longer. I didn't think the wind was as bad as people said (I've had worse DC wind), but it's also the fact that there's no people cheering on the sides and you're just on this island for 30 minutes with nothing to distract you from the pain/exhaustion. At the tip of Hains Point, there was the famous Beer and Oreos stand. But the thought of Oreos just sounded nauseating at the moment, so I ate my fruit candy and kept going. Kudos to the people chugging beer at Mile 7. The last 800 meters is a "fun surprise." Hill is brutal, even with all the people cheering and signs to touch X for a power up. When I saw the finish line though, I sprinted the last 100m. I was so ready for it all to be over.

Post-race

When I saw that I had made it within 1 hr 30 something minutes, I was in a state of disbelief. I honestly thought something was wrong with my phone. I never could have imagined that I would accomplish this a year later. I got a banana and a cookie, and headed to volunteer as a bag pick up person.

What's next?

I'm not sure. I'm not planning to do another race anytime within the next few months, and I am happy to go back to my 1-2 times running per week with my run group. However, I definitely wouldn't say no to another race! I felt very disciplined training for the race, which I think felt doable given how little time I had to train for this (5 weeks). For anyone out there struggling with a mental health condition, just know that it's doable. Whether you fell out of running or haven't started yet, I would encourage anyone to try it out. I had fun, but more than that, I'm just proud of myself :')

This post was generated using the new race-reportr, powered by coachview, for making organized, easy-to-read, and beautiful race reports.

Back once again for everything you wanted to know about running but were afraid to ask.

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[Posting on behalf of /u/Percinho who is busy cleaning his bicycle. ]

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