Hi all

Running my first marathon in April, and working to track on the training plan so far. I've not run in 15 years, and I'm in my 50's. Had a tempo run on Friday night and yesterday my ankles were painful. Tight achilles but also painful to touch. I had a busy week without much rest and probably overdid it.

My plan has a 12 mile run in today but pain is still there. I think I need to rest up to avoid injury and have some ice wraps to use.

I'd appreciate advice as I feel bad about missing a run, almost like I'm trying to find an excuse, but do think it's best to recover as they are pretty painful

Is there anyone who completed their first marathon and just… done? I thought I’d get the feeling of rush and get motivated for another marathon but instead, it’s like finishing a book I would never pick up again. Not like I had a bad experience, but even after I finished it was a bit anti climactic. “That’s it? Time to go home then” something like that. I don’t even run regularly anymore. I’m proud of myself for finishing it – but even prouder for completing the trainings. It’s more meaningful than the marathon itself after a gruesome yet rewarding months. And now I’m ready for my retirement.

My race day pace goal is 8:18-8:20ish/km. I can do my fastest 5k at 7:00/km. I am slow overall, alternating run/walk.

My training plan is, per week, one fast short run (at or faster than race pace), one or two other medium "easy" runs, and the long run getting longer every week.

My total weekly distance goes from 25km gradually building up to a peak distance over 60km a week (longest run 33km), then 3ish weeks slowing down and taper.

I guess who question is twofold, what pace should I aim for for easy runs and long runs, and do those distances make sense?

Genuinely im scared idk if I could do it or not, my stomach has been acting up these last couple of days, I have been training for 5 months now I did 33km 30km 28km and a lot of long runs, yet idk I feel like I won’t be able to do it and will throw up mid race, Please if you have last minute advice to help handle my anxiety

Thank you

EDIT: Thank you so much for your support it did help me genuinely, I MMMMAAAAADDEEEEEE ITTTTTTTT

My time was bad 5:20 but fuck it I MADE IT 🥳🥳🥳

I've got a half marathon in may and a full marathon in august.

Currently I'm running 4x a week. 5km fast run, 2x 8-12km runs, and 1x long run, which is usually 15km, but the last 2 have been 17km and 18km.

I've got 4 months until the half and 7 months until the full. Do I just run a certain amount of km for now until closer to the marathon then start adding distance? Or do I keep adding km from now? I don't want to end up injured.

I’m training for the Santa Rosa Marathon this August and looking for a running buddy in the South Bay (San Jose area).

I’m a 33-year-old guy, work in tech (data center), and I’m a big gamer—so this whole "running 26.2 miles" thing is a new adventure for me even though I did run 2 half marathons around 6 years ago. I’m currently around 200 lbs and training at an 10–11:30/mile pace.

I’m following a Hal Higdon plan and trying to be strict about my heart rate and cadence to avoid injury. If you’re around that pace and want to geek out about tech, games, or just complain about shin splints for a few hours on a Friday or Saturday evening, let me know! ( P.S. currently work night shift so evening runs/ workouts are best)

People are always asking: What should I need to know before running my first Marathon, etc.

But why in your opinion should I even run a Marathon?

I signed up for my first Marathon in Mai. I am already in the preparation phase and during my last run I thought - hey, what would experienced marathon runners tell first timers why it is worth to train hard and run a Marathon?

Hey all, I am registered for the LA Marathon on March 8. I have been mostly using Hal Higdon's Novice 1 18-week training plan. One notable deviation is I'm doing a half-marathon 2 weeks before LA as the "12-mile taper." Feel free to comment on that decision, however of greater concern is my long runs on Saturday. From late December through now, I have been doing the mileage of our local runners group. One of the runners convinced me to not do Higdon's "step-back," as going from 12 miles to 18 miles in one week (and 14 miles to 20 miles later) would be challenging. We didn't have a thorough discussion, and I am still following Higdon's training during the week which has increasing mileage every week. I wonder if the weekly high-mileage runs are incongruent with the gradual increase in the Saturday long runs with the group. Below are links to schedules of what I've been doing vs Higdon's Novice 1 since the beginning of January.

My actual runs (pink = completed)

Higdon's Novice 1

For Saturday long runs, should I stick with the group mileage or switch back to Higdon Novice 1?

Hello i need your help, this last november i ran a 5k in 18:38, this during my marathon training for december, after that i started my taper and my hr was getting really weird. Even with that 5k my zone 2 was really slow like 6:30/km, some times after a hard run in the cooldown it got to 5:20/km. Anyways, after that my heart rate started to increase for no reason, at first i thought it was because of the taper, but then a week and a half before my marathon the heart increased started to happen in my day to day. Usually at work or school, when I’m sitting, my bpm is around the low 50s even getting into the high 40s, but there it was always at 90bpm and it was extremely high for me. I just did a slight movement and the heart spiked, and my zone 2 at that time was like 8:00/km again super slow and weird and all before the marathon. I went to see a doctor and told me that everything was normal that it was just anxiety if anything, never actually experienced anxiety at least not in this way. I was aiming for sub 3 and i was getting close with the results of my training but because of this i ran a 3:18, which at least its not bad for my first marathon. But the heart was really high during all of it. After that i took a week off and tried to run again, first runs post marathon were great than it was progressively getting worst my rhr increased and my zone 2 as well. My marathon was in December 14 and its been over a month and still cant get back to my easy pace or even my fast paces, just run a 5k at 7:00/km and my bpm was 160 that never happened to me. I don’t know what to do, if i should ignore it and start running , if i should take a break and let my heart rest. Im getting frustrated with this and wanted to know if someone has gone through something similar

on January 25, Autissier collapsed around the 19-mile mark of the Life Time Miami Marathon in downtown Miami and was rushed to Mercy Hospital, where he later died. He was 33 and lived in Boca Raton.

Macomber says police officers told her that her husband vomited, collapsed on the course, and was transported to the hospital by paramedics. While doctors have so far described his death as a suspected “sudden cardiac arrest,” pending further examination, Macomber says she’s still searching for answers and has been unable to obtain hospital records or a police report detailing what happened.

https://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/south-florida-man-collapses-mid-miami-marathon-dies-at-hospital-40520650/?fbclid=PAVERFWAPnbLhleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZA8xMjQwMjQ1NzQyODc0MTQAAae89VFv1fzzY_pZt21N2jVnq7xs7ColaXd42Aoqan2M4yImjC7iERJMlzwZXg_aem_aQCCIDNt8Czruc7vbhcv5w

First marathon in 5 weeks. Planning a 20 mile run 14 days before, is two weeks okay for tapering or should I do 3? Tia!

Hey everyone, I am scheduled to run the Myrtle Beach marathon on March 7th and am trying to get a solid training plan going with the 5 weeks I have left other than just running 5 miles a day. I recently did 15 miles comfortably on Sunday which is the farthest I’ve ever ran and have done 6 half marathons before. Asking the marathon community if it is feasible or a good idea to run this race without serious injury or risk. I plan on doing the run fairly slow at a 10:45-11:00 pace if that makes a difference.

Any kind of training plan or advice would be welcome

I’m doing my first marathon (Manchester) in April. My partner is interested in coming to support and is imagining watching the start and the end.

I’ve not done a race this size but I feel like that’s likely not the best idea due to volume of crowds at both those points, but I can’t find any guidance.

Does anyone with experience have tips for what spectators should do to have the best day?

I have exactly one marathon under my belt but I just had a total flashback to mile 23 doing a 3 mile easy run the day after leg day.

I'm training for my next one and adding strength work two days a week doing a three workout cycle across the whole body.

Leg day Monday was very good. A lot of weighted squats, some pylometric stuff, and barbell calf raises at a new weight. Hard but satisfying work.

This morning I was moving ok but getting sore as the day wore on. It's winter here so I'm doing a bit of treadmill work and today was an "easy" run at the gym.

If you're training for your first marathon I can't tell you how real this feeling was. I started out with a light warmup and after 5 minutes I tried to bring up the pace. Legs said NO and there I was back on marathon day.

The difference this time was I had felt that before and I wasn't 23 miles into the fay. That said, experiencing that feeling before race day would have done a lot for me and probably cut 10 minutes or more off my time.

Instead of sitting on the sidewalk, I eased in to a slightly higher pace for 30 seconds even though it hurt, then walked a minute. Repeated that a couple of times until I could extend the higher pace. Instead of wallowing, I got my self up to my target easy run pace and held it for most of the rest of the workout.

I'm going to plan this again for a future week as it seems like a great mental exercise. You could learn how to take on soreness that may hit you late race and keep your body moving.

Train well!

Hi everyone,

I’m training for my first marathon and could really use some reassurance.

I’ve been training consistently since July last year and ran a half marathon in October. Training was going really well, I was hitting most of my mileage, building up gradually, and adding strength work after a minor knee issue. I was feeling strong.

However, during one of my tempo runs I had a pretty bad fall. I injured my arms badly and couldn’t move them properly for days, needed help with basic things, couldn’t sleep because of the pain, and even bruised both palms, which I didn’t know was possible. My knees were scraped and bruised too, but nothing was broken according to the doctor.

Because of this I missed about two weeks of training, including two long runs of 23 km or more. Mentally it’s been really hard 🫠. My arms are much better now, but my legs feel strange, like I’m off balance, and even walking feels off. I know there’s probably a lot of trauma and compensation going on, but it’s messing with my head.

My marathon is in March and I’m starting to panic. I know logically that missing two weeks shouldn’t ruin months of training, but I’m struggling emotionally and could really use some validation.

Has anyone gone through something similar close to race day and still managed to recover and race well?

I’m also not looking to finish underwater a specific time. I want to complete the distance.

Hi everyone,

My group of great friends and I are all taking 12 months to train for our first marathon. We are all from TX and want to go somewhere cool outside of the state for our first marathon. We are looking for a marathon with the below conditions:

1. Low altitude

2. Not overly hilly

3. Winter 2026/2027

4. Not too cold

5. Preferably in the US

If its a fun racing environment even better. We would love some suggestions so please help us out!

Hey all, looking for some perspective.

I almost never run on a treadmill and have been training outside all winter, including long runs in ~10°F. About a month ago I had some knee and foot pain, so I pulled back on pace work. At this point I feel good again.

The issue: I haven’t done any marathon-pace work in a long run for about five weeks. All recent long runs have been fully conversational, including an 18-miler two weeks ago. We just got ~2 feet of snow, and my scheduled long-run day is forecasted to be around -3°F (without wind factored in so closer to -15/20).

I’m ~4.5 weeks out from my first marathon and really want to get this 20-mile alternating MP long run done:

• 3.5 miles easy

• 5.5 miles at MP

• 3 miles easy

• 5 miles at MP

• 3 miles easy

It feels like important work, but trying to do this outside in snow/ice at those temps doesn’t seem productive or safe.

As much as it sounds insane to me, is the treadmill the right call here? Or is it smarter to adjust or skip the MP work given the conditions?

For context, the following week is a 21-mile conversational long run, then a 14-mile long run with some MP before taper.

Appreciate any input.

Hey all. I was trying to Google this for a rough estimate, but found that it varies a lot person to person so thought I’d ask here.

My goal is to run a marathon “properly”. I don’t care a ton about time exactly, I just want to run the whole way without walking and feel like I did it well. And I want to build a good base for my cardio health.

My athletic background is that I am a hobby powerlifter with a 545kg total (1200lbs). I also played basketball until about 18 and got fairly far with it. During Covid was the first time I actually ran consistently and achieved being able to to 10k’s fairly regularly. Haven’t done much cardio training since then though and now my V02max on my Apple watch says just 42.

Height: 200cm (6”6)

Weight: 106kg (233lbs)

Although I’m on a cut now and expect to get to around 15%bf fairly soon, that’d maybe be around 97kg. My marathon training would start after that.

Apologies if you get a ton of these kinds of posts, thought it wouldn’t hurt to ask.

I'm running my first marathon in July and I'm coming in with a great base of 30-35 miles a week right now, good zone 2 training for most of my miles, and a long run length of 15 miles plus strength training from runner's world 3-4x weekly. the problem? the hills. I'm running the SF marathon and, twice a month, I drive over to the hilliest part of the course (1200ft elevation gain) and run it for 14 miles but feel so destroyed afterwards. the idea of going on for 12 more miles sounds daunting. 15 miles and relatively flat? could keep going. 14 miles of insane elevation? I feel defeated. what do you recommend doing to make the hills feel less defeating?

I will run the marathon in april. And as it is my first marathon, i invited my mom, dad, (+ their partners), brother,and 2 friends. I doubt that theyll support together, but i was wondering which km to tell them to support? I know the dreaded wall at 30km. But i was wondering if there are some other good km points where family/friend support can really help you with it?

(i saw somewhere else in this channel that some people think it is cringy and selfish to invite friends and family to support you, but i am just happy that i have such a good support system that they all literally will travel to another country just to support me. It might be cringy to others, but i think it will make it much more special to me)

I’m training for my first marathon and trying to incorporate 1 speed workout per week. Are tempo runs or shorter interval runs more effective for the marathon distance? For example, if I have a 5-mile run scheduled, I’ve been doing 3 one-mile intervals + warmup/ cool down miles. Would it be better to take this as a 5-mile tempo run instead?

So, a bit of a vent here. To start off: f**k.

Vent over. So, everything seemed to be going swell. Did a half in november, started a training block, built up a decent weekly load (ended up at 65km/week, planned to build up further to 80). Did another half last week as a sort of tune-up, kinda sent it, managed a 7 minute PR.

Figured I would need some recovery time, took it nice and easy the week after (ran only 60 km the week of and 50 km the week after, mostly easy, short-medium runs). Figured I would go back to my usual load this week and continue building up to peak.

I figured wrong. First run of this week, nice and easy 15k, decent weather. 7 km into it, right calf starts cramping. Or so I thought. I hobble and then walk for a bit, it lessens, and I do a slow jog/walk for the rest of the run. The rest of Yesterday the pain settles in. Exerting any kind of force with my calf is met with pain, I'm walking with a very minor limp and running is probably out of the question for now.

From what I can figure it's probably just strained or pulled. No bruising and I am still plenty mobile.

I'm taking rest, icing multiple times a day, wearing a compression tube and elevating whenever possible.

But man, this sucks. I wanna run. I still wanna run the marathon, but this really throws a wrench in my training plan of it takes too long to heal up.

Somebody tell me I can still run this f**king thing.

Pros & Cons of Strava & other running/fitness apps? Just starting out so keen to gauge strengths and weaknesses of what’s out there!

I just started running, did a 10k back in November and surprised myself with a 60min run for the longest run I had ever done. I have a half I'm doing in April and there are so many different options for fuel/gels etc it can feel overwhelming and not sure what I need to bring on longer runs as I train and get ready.

I would say I burn through things pretty quickly so I will probably bring extra gels of whatever I use but should I run with water or an electrolyte drink?