Race Information

Name: Brabant Marathon
Date: October 25, 2026
Distance: 42.2 km
Location: Etten-Leur, Netherlands
Time: 3:04:39

Goal                                     Completed

Dream: Sub 3                 No

A: Sub 3:05                      Yes

B: Sub 3:10                      Yes

C: Sub 3:12 (PR)           Yes

Splits

Background
43M, 70kg. Started running 13 years ago. We decided to participate in a marathon relay with four people, where we all ran about 10K. Our goal was to run about 45 min per 10km. After this race, I became addicted to running and haven't stopped since.

I train at an athletics club and have actually always run half marathons, until about 5 years ago (the COVID period), when I started training for my first marathon. I ran my first marathon in about 3:58, and after that, I always had the urge to improve. My ultimate dream is to run a Sub 3, but that always seemed like a dream rather than a reality. Until the beginning of this year, when I learned about fueling during training and the race. I started taking a lot more gels and nutrition during training. The second thing I changed is my cadence while running. I am naturally a low cadence runner, so I worked on that as well, and I went from about 155 BPM to 163 BPM. Still not great, but I notice that my ground contact time, vertical oscillation, and stride length improved. During the last training block the times were there and the Sub 3 dream started to become a lot more realistic. However I knew that the stars needed to align on a perfect day to achieve this.

Training
The original plan this year was to do a spring marathon, but due to an injury, that couldn't happen. I used a new training app, but I couldn't handle the training load well. Too many kilometers and too many heavy workouts. When I recovered, I started focusing more on quality than on racking up kilometers. So, 1 or 2 quality workouts per week and then a long run (with marathon pace blocks). The base was a training plan from Ben Parkes but I used AI (I made a running coach agent) to make the plan fit my personal schedule better.

Total KMs:

·         April: 187

·         May: 140

·         June: 187

·         July: 167

·         August: 245

·         September: 240

·         October 233 (including the Marathon)

A week before the race
In my last run before the taper, I got a weird cramp in both my calves. For a few days, it continued to feel annoying, so I visited a masseur. I cancelled some runs in the final week to allow the calves to recover properly (probably marathon nerves causing me to treat every tiny ache like a giant problem). In the last pre tune run the day before the race they felt OK to race. I focused this week on carb loading to prepare myself the best way possible.

Race
The marathon in Etten-Leur consists of 2 (almost) identical laps. Mentally, this is not the most pleasant course to run, but I had chosen this race because it was a smaller-scale race than the other options in the autumn in the Netherlands (Eindhoven or Amsterdam). In these bigger events it is sometimes so crowded that you have to overtake in the grass next to the road and you cannot run the ideal race line. Also entering the start area and traveling all add to the stress of the day. Therefore to choose a smaller event.

Unfortunately, there were two storms that swept across the Netherlands during the race weekend, so a lot of bad weather was forecast. Fortunately, it was completely dry on Sunday, but it was still blowing very hard (wind force 4 to 5). Because the course runs straight through open fields, the wind was a major problem.

Before the start, I took a gel (33g carbs). After the start, my plan was to start calmly and gradually work towards race pace. I noticed that my heart rate was immediately on the high side. Strange, because during all training sessions and a practice race 3 weeks earlier, my HR stayed nice and low and never went outside Zone 3. I thought maybe it was nerves and I ignored the heart rate (RPE was good and I was running relaxed). After 5km I took my second gel and at 10km the third. After 10km I was on the correct pace, but I had to run against the wind for quite a few kilometers. My heart rate remained high, but it didn't feel bad. At 15k I started on a flask with 250ml and 40g carbs. I covered 21.1km in 1:30:50 and was pretty much on schedule. At km 23 my girlfriend was standing there and I swapped the flask, and from there I took another flask with 250ml and 40g carbs.

At km 28 it started to feel heavier and I took another gel. I was fully into the second lap and all the sections with full headwind came into view again. There followed a few kilometers where I saw times of ~4:30 pass by and I realized that it would be very difficult to compensate for those with fast kilometers during the 'tailwind' kilometers. A lot of people from the 3h pace group broke free and went behind, and I was able to pick them up one by one (that gave a mental boost).

Slowly, I realized I was going to run a massive PR, so I didn't want to blow myself up desperately trying to run 4:15. After km 33, I decided to just let the kilometers come as they came. I decided not to calculate along the way and just focus on every km. In the last 2 km, I came back into civilization and was cheered on loudly. When I saw the clock at 3:04 in the last 200m, I started sprinting and crossed the finish line in 3:04:39!

Post-race
I was extremely exhausted, but also very happy with my time. During the run, I realized pretty quickly that this wasn't the day where a sub-3 would be possible, so I soon let go of that goal. I did feel that I could have run faster without the wind, but well, I can't influence that, so it is what it is.

Reflections
Before the race started, I was already very happy with the progress I had made this training block. I just felt that I had taken big steps and a 4:15 marathon pace didn't feel scary anymore :).

I am entering a quiet period now on vacation, and after that I want to do another good training block, and then I know for sure that I will improve again. The sub-3 is a matter of time and a nice race day.

Race Information

• Name: Dublin Marathon
• Date: 25 October 2026
• Distance: 26.2 miles
• Location: Dublin, Ireland
• Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/20724527979
• Time: 2:55:30

Goals

Background

Rower at university training 8-10x a week so left very fit but almost zero running experience. 3-4years later I entered the 2002 London marathon on a bit of a whim to give me a goal to aim for, and trained hard with lots of hill work. No GPS trackers or smartphones, so had no idea how fast I was in pace terms, but I did use a Polar HRM strap and watch which I used to regulate my effort; I had used it when rowing too so I had good idea what my zones were even if we didn’t call them that in those days. Ran the marathon aged 25 on race day wearing Gym trainers and my fuelling strategy was to eat a banana half an hour before the race. Finished in 3:11:xx quite flabbergasted with the result tbh, immediately set myself a life goal of running a sub 3hr marathon which seemed pretty achievable at the time.

Next year this qualified me for an automatic good for age place. Bought myself some proper running shoes, life got in the way of training and didn’t do nearly enough, I was cocky and thought I could still produce a decent result anyway. It didn’t go well and to cut a long story short blisters bled badly, foot hurt even worse, walked around a third of it. I had broken a couple of bones in my foot and afterwards despite lots of physio etc I couldn’t walk without pain and was told I wouldn’t be able to run a marathon again.

So I didn’t run for 15 years.

I did continue to keep fit mainly through swimming and cycling. But time heals and my body got used to the way things had healed and walking had long since been pain free and I decided to give it a go again. Mid 40s I started running once a week max, paranoid the injury would flare up. I still had some speed, in the interim period Parkrun had been invented and this was mostly what I did for my weekly run, fairly quickly getting my 5k time below 20 mins but struggling to go too much lower.

Autumn 2023 when I got a shoulder injury I couldn’t swim so upped my runs to two then three times a week, unsurprisingly I got a bit faster. A year later having invested in some of these new fangled shoes I got my 5k below 19mins and decided to see if I could run some distance again and maybe, eventually, even run another marathon. I did a 10k in 2025 (in 38:xx), and as of the start of 2026 had run 13miles only once in training in over 20yrs.

Training

2026 moved pretty fast, I entered a Half in march and was running 10-15 mile long runs weekly much of Jan and all of Feb. Having got that under my belt (1:26:xx) I entered Belfast marathon for May 2027 which would be about a week ahead of my 51st birthday, almost exactly 25years after my first marathon. But the opportunity to get a coach and place in Dublin marathon came up which I took, bringing things forward, but too good to miss: this was a group aiming for sub 3 hours.

The training was best described as Canova style, less distance but more intensity, which suited me as I hadn’t done anything more than 30 mile weeks, so jumping to 70+ would have probably broken or injured me. Weekly long runs were mostly at MP -10s/mile which was hard work, and quickly these went up to 20miles which I did 4-5 times, along with a 24 miles in 3hrs session to get used to the time on the feet. Quite a long block at over 20 weeks, with a couple of 10k races thrown in as well as a half marathon.

Things were going pretty well, I was hitting the paces and did the last 10k in 37:xx and HM in 1:22:xx so a sub 3hr was definitely on. Then 7 weeks before the big day I was mugged/attacked and left unconscious, lost a tooth, couldn’t breathe through one side of my nose, and had a few scars to boot. Fortunately (?) almost all the damage was above the neck, so running was still OK, and once I had my nose re-broken and could breathe again the training was re-started (just before it was time to taper!) I was still confident I was capable of a sub-3 but there was much less margin of error.

Race

The conditions were not good, big headwinds were forecast with the tail end of storm Boelo, and the windiest sections were also the bits with the hills and the first 7 miles the worst affected. Various people had crunched the data and suggested it would add 5 minutes to a 3hr race which was not what I wanted to hear. I set out with two race plans, my original one optimistically going for just under 2:55, and Plan B for 2:59:59 (pretty much add 15s to the miles with hills/headwinds and add 5 to the ones without).

It was hard and you felt the wind, but I tucked into a group and it never felt as bad as I’d feared. My plan A times were 6:50 for the first 7 miles and I averaged a nice steady 6:48. I speeded up on the downhills and steadied on the flats, by half way I was bang on target, if not slightly ahead for Plan A. My HR had been probably 5bpm higher than it should have been - adrenaline or the extra work into the wind - maybe a bit of both?

I was running negative splits, as per my plan, getting faster, passing people all the way, and after 10 miles the field thinned out, no chance for much drafting into any more headwinds. More hills into the wind at mile 14+15 were hard work but I was still hitting my A-paces, crowds were brilliant in places and I ran my fastest mile through one of those sections even though it was flat (mile 18). Heartbreak hill wasn’t that bad, again probably built it up so much in my head that reality could never be so bad, maybe seeing a few people walking helped me feel strong.

From there it’s about 4 miles to go, I had banked almost a minute spare on my watch to hit the 2:55:00 time which would have been enough to qualify for a place in Berlin marathon. My plan said 6:25 for mile 24+25, which are both downhill, then 6:15 pace for the last 1.2 miles. I ran both those first two at 6:28 (close enough) taking advantage of the downhill, but then it flattened out and we were back running into the headwind on the (long) home straight. Hoping to lift the pace to 6:15 I had nothing left, I ran the last bit at 6:35-40 pace which added 30s vs my plan-A splits. I had given everything I had, my quads were screaming at me and the tank was pretty empty.

What about the minute spare? Well my watch had me running 26.37miles, that extra 0.15 is about 1 minute of running. I finished with a chip time of 2:55:30, that 30s lost basically after mile 25, by not speeding up for a fast finish, but those were still run at below average split, and the second half was run two minutes faster than the first half. I am extremely happy with that on a day where a lot of people I knew didn’t run the race they were capable of.

So no Berlin place, but as a 50yr old smashing my PB set at age 25, and running sub 3 for my second marathon and achieving a life goal that was long since lost: I am still absolutely ecstatic. I’m still getting faster as well so there is more to come.

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

Race Information

Name: mainova Frankfurt Marathon
Date: October 25, 2026
Distance: 42.2 km
Location: Frankfurt, Germany
Time: 2:59:10

Official Splits

Background
33M, 77kg. Played basketball young, did powerlifting until 2 years ago. Started running 3.5 years ago to lower my cholesterol. Had trouble training with structure without a goal, so started signing up for races. My first marathon (Athens) can be read in my profile. It was just a basic, undertrained - run easy until the end - marathon that went well with a 4:22something. Last year (Athens again) was a complete nightmare. Tried to go for a huge 3:30 PR, the heat and humidity were unbearable, my bib was melting. I couldn't take any gels in after the half and predictably hit a wall and finished at around 3:50. This experience was so unpleasant to me that I decided I want to run a flat marathon in a cooler country. In March I ran a 1:32 half, again in Athens.

Training
Started with Pfitz 55-70 in mid July. Initially things were going terrible. Training in the Greek summer was literally unbearable, with me failing almost every run (there was a day that I had a 18k and managed to get 3kms in). The temperature was over 30 degrees even at around 22:00 which was the time I did most of my runs. I eventually got a bit better at it, but I could never finish my long runs that ended up with dehydration everytime. At this point I had started contemplating changing my goals.

However in early September there was a dramatic temperature drop of around 10 degrees Celcius. At this point I started hitting all my workouts. I felt fit suddenly and even thought that I am peaking too early? I ran a nice local tuneup 10k at 38:56. Started feeling good and thought that I definitely had a 3:05 in me. I was very worried however about the inadequate long runs and all the missed MP runs of the program.

One advantage I have is that due to the terrible open spaces in my city I am forced to run on terrible roads and pavements. I constantly have to stop for cars and weave around. This probably makes me train harder than the pace says so I usually overperform in races.

Overall my training volume was 38% more than last year, however only one of my long runs was over 30kms (a few were at around 27,28,29 though). Had a few weeks of more than 100kms, but the average is around 85 (with the early terrible weeks driving the average down a lot).

Total KMs:
July 242
August 334
September 377
October 300 (including the Marathon)

Pre-race
Arrived in Frankfurt in Friday. Had booked a hotel 10 minutes from the start so I immediately picked up my bib and rested. My legs felt quite stiff from the flight. On Saturday I had breakfast and went for a cool 5k shakeout which made me feel better. Had a ton of carbs through the day. Couldn't avoid some sightseeing with my girlfriend in the first half of the day, however by 5pm I was lying in bed resting already. Had some pasta for dinner and went to sleep. There was a yellow alert for rain and an orange alert for wind.

Race
Woke up at 7am (with the clock change giving me an extra hour). I was actually feeling sooo rested, in Athens I had to wake up at 4:30 to get the bus to go to Marathon. My harmstrings were feeling quite stiff, but taper tantrums I though, got two slices of bread with jam, a banana, had my coffee and got ready. Even had time for a toilet break. During the 10 minute walk to the start line it was raining heavily, so I took shelter until 9:50. Only did some dynamic stretching, I was too cold to warmup and didn't have a poncho.

My plan was simple: go at around 4:15- 4:17 per kilometer until 30k. DO NOT WEAVE. Decide then by feeling if you will go for 3:05, 3:10 or sub 3. Keep your heart rate under 160. One Precision Fuel 30 gel before every 5k water stand. 2 caffeine gels.

Started in the back of block 1. There was a lot of space in the beginning but I tried to be patient. It was raining and I was not warmed up yet. I had Pete's (race) pacer installed with a goal time of 2:59:20. I thought that if i stay until 20 seconds behind, I can catch up in the second half. There were a lot of puddles on the road but the pace felt manageable. My heart rate was between the 150-160 range and my legs were feeling fine. Wet shoes were annoying but I had used a ton of bodyglide between the toes. Incredible crowd support for such a rainy day, you could see people with umbrellas everywhere. Many tall buildings but I manually lapped each KM to keep the GPS accurate.

At around the halfway mark, I got my a new half marathon PR (1:29:50). I was feeling great, my heart rate was steady and I felt I had energy left. I had a few aches here and there, I would tell myself "Wake up babe, new pain just dropped" to keep myself entertained. I was stressed for the last 10kms but I stayed patient. The crowds were thin at this part, so I tried to stay in a calm, peaceful state. The rain stopped.

At 28k, I got a mini panic attack by suddenly seeing the 3:00 pace group running faster than me behind me. I tried to stay forward and thought I should speed up at this point, we are nearing the good part. In the next water station I was noticeably ahead of them. My first real pain started at exactly 34.8k with my harmstring locking up. My cadence held at around 178, I decided I need to keep going at this pace as it still feels doable. My heart rate had dropped to around 148, I was surprised.

The last 5k were incredible. The crowd support was awesome. I was in pain but I could still hold. I tried Clayton's trick of counting to 100 again and again. Then I tried to think of a person that told me that I am fat for a marathoner a few weeks ago, gave me a lot of motivation. I would look at my watch all the time, looked like the distance was not moving fast enough. My heart rate was under 145 for some reason. I was constantly passing people at this point, although I didn't really notice at this moment.

Red carpet finish as I saw 3:00:10 on the official clock. I knew I got my PR as I started at least a minute late. Had my mini celebration, tried to keep walking. Volunteers helped to walk down the steps, got my medal, poncho and alcohol free beer! I couldn't believe I did it, especially with 30 seconds negative split.

Post-race
Celebrated with my girlfriend, we got a nice Five guys burger and fries. My legs were sore but overall I was feeling good!

Reflections
I think I probably overachieved a bit, things lined up and I got a perfect time for my fitness. Probably the rain even helped me. At the same time, I followed the plan and was very patient, which also comes from experience of a few previous marathons.
As a runner, I am probably affected by the weather very much.
I believe I can build on this. A complete training cycle with a 2-3kg weight loss can probably give me a few more minutes.
I am thinking of avoiding my local Athens marathon for the time being. My next race will probably be the Athens half marathon in spring (which I really enjoy). I will probably try another (non local) European race, ideally Rotterdam if I make it.

Race Week | Chicago 2026 Marathon Build: Episode 6

Docuseries just came out for Clayton's Top American finish in Chicago Marathon 2026! Super impressive run from him.

Do you have shoe reviews to share with the community or questions about a pair of shoes? This recurring thread is a central place to get that advice or share your knowledge.

We also recommend checking out /r/RunningShoeGeeks for user-contributed running shoe reviews, news, and comparisons.

About 18 months ago, I posted some data from a double-threshold training experiment, including lactate readings and HR data. It generated some good discussion, so I figured I'd share another one.

This time, rather than focusing on an individual workout, I want to share an entire training block and some of the questions I've been trying to answer along the way.

The basic question: How much threshold work can we fit into a week while minimizing faster running, maintaining mileage, and still developing a track athlete?

I have a unique opportunity to work with an athlete who has no NCAA XC eligibility but has indoor and outdoor track campaigns coming up. That has given us a longer than normal training block without NCAA racing and the opportunity to experiment with some things we might not otherwise try.

The athlete

• Age: 23
• Mile: 4:15
• 3K: 8:16
• 5K: 14:25
• 10K: 29:35

He's been exposed to higher mileage (90+ miles per week), but never consistently or over an extended period.

He also really enjoys running fast on the track. His previous training included a lot of work in the 4:20–4:40/mile range, with comparatively little tempo or threshold work.

The questions guiding the block

Going into this, I had four main questions:

1. How much additional threshold work can we fit into the week?
2. How little specific, faster running can we do while staying in touch with those paces?
3. Can we make threshold work mechanically relevant without turning every session into a race-specific workout?
4. How important is the traditional long run in this setup?

Here's the training so far, along with the plan leading into a December 5K:
Google Drive Link (Note, it's on a throwaway for privacy purposes)

Where we are at now. 

It took us a little while to settle into the structure we're using now.

We eventually landed on Tuesday morning and afternoon threshold sessions, followed by a Friday morning threshold session and afternoon speed-oriented work. We generally run a longer run every other week on Sunday, sometimes incorporating faster running.

Tuesday and Friday are familiar days for quality work in an NCAA training week. I considered changing that structure and moving to a longer cycle, but class schedules and other practical constraints brought us back to this setup.

A few things have stood out so far.

1. The increase in total quality has been better tolerated than I expected.

One of my biggest concerns was that, even with his previous exposure to higher mileage, the increase in total quality would negatively affect him. That seems so far to have not been true. 

I've become more comfortable splitting the work into intervals and across two sessions. Rather than making every workout exceptionally long, we have distributed the work to accumulate more quality while keeping individual sessions manageable.

It’s just one very dedicated athlete, but the experience has made me more comfortable experimenting with this structure.

2. Lactate testing has helped us control the intensity.

I'm fortunate to be able to test lactate consistently. It's expensive, but it has helped us keep the intensity where we want it and avoid turning threshold sessions into something harder than intended.

Our general targets have been below 2.0 mmol/L in the morning and below 3.0 mmol/L in the afternoon. I know those numbers will generate some discussion, and I'm happy to get into more detail about how we use them. We use the lactate to guide the pace of the sessions. For example, on week 2 we tested 2.7 on the afternoon 400m session running 75’s. Most recently that has been closer to 71 seconds for the same lactate.

One of my main concerns working with this athlete was that I know for a fact in his previous program there were a lot of “to the well” workouts. Not to denigrate his previous coach, because they have had a lot of success, but that’s never been how I’ve come at the sport and this athlete knew that when he signed on. 

3. We repeat a lot of the same sessions.

We repeat the same workouts with relatively small variations.

Monday afternoon is always 400's on :40 recovery. I've found that combo allows him to run pretty quick overall and when we test lactate he is still in the threshold zone. The pace is close enough to race pace that the mechanics seem to be close enough that there is some transfer.

I do think some variation is useful. However, my experience so far is that we may need less variation in threshold training than people assume. Small changes seem to provide enough variety to get the point across to the body. 

4. Minimum effective dose of faster running.

This is probably the question I'm most interested in answering.

The athlete has a background that emphasizes faster running, and he enjoys it. We're not trying to eliminate that quality from his training.

Instead, we're exploring how much faster work we need to maintain his speed while prioritizing aerobic development. I don't have a definitive answer yet, and I suspect the answer will depend on the athlete and the event. But it's one of the reasons I wanted to share the entire block rather than a single workout.

The only thing not noted on the training plan is a session of 6 x :10 hills sprints as part of the afternoon easy run each Monday. These are done on a relatively steep and with at least 3:00 of recovery between each one. 

Where we are right now. 

The athlete has done a good job of not constantly checking his fitness.

Aside from one XC race, which went well, we haven't had much direct evidence of what he can run right now. My eyes tell me he's in good shape, but, that question a  We've spent a long time building the training without frequently validating it through competition. The December 5K will give us a useful opportunity to see how that work translates to racing.

I did however get a glimpse into his fitness just recently with the 2k time trial. Done essentially solo and going 5:23 (64/66/64/64/63) The post workout debrief he shared he felt like there was more there but he did not feel like he could access it. Like the fitness was underneath a layer of “rust”.

I was really happy with it. Essentially in mile PR shape and we’ve done some 4’s, 3’s and 2’s but no extended reps at those kind of paces at all. I also anticipate that when we get into the 67-68 second range he is going to tolerate it much better.

We are targeting 14:20 in December - I feel like we are on track. Thoughts? 

Hopefully it generates some good discussion. I’m super excited to see this guy race in December.

AI Disclaimer - I used ChatGPT to help me frame my thoughts. The words are all my own. 

TL;DR - Bot Bouncer now enabled, use new "No Bots" rule to report suspected bot activity, even if uncertain

There's been a large influx of increasingly insidious bot activity in this community (and seemingly across Reddit) in the past months. See a great summary from r/travel's mod team here: /r/travel: Bots bots bots!. Stealing from that post's summary, the bots are "blending in" and hard to detect:

they've blended in like the rest of us. They do NOT write like the usual patronizing AI/ChatGPT/Claude bots with em dashes and "it's not X, it's Y". They are very casual and they look like a regular commenter.

However, if you read very carefully it still has the tone and cadence of ChatGPT/AI output. It gives very generic (and sometimes wrong) and reassuring advice and still makes strange analogies and comparisons. The comments still contain very little actual substance since it merely paraphrases what the OP is asking/saying.

We've seen a large influx of this activity on r/advancedrunning especially in recent weeks. To try to stay on top of this harmful activity, the mod team is making two immediate changes:

1. Created a new rule #13: "No Bots. This community is focused on genuine human interaction with like-minded runners. No unsolicited bots or AI accounts." Users were previously reporting suspected bot activity using the "Spam" reason, which is still OK, but we created this rule to hopefully make it easier and more obvious what action to take if you suspect bot activity.
2. Enabled the Bot Bouncer application for r/advancedrunning. This application will automatically ban bot accounts (and remove content) for any account with suspected bot activity across the 11,000+ communities on reddit using the application. It also includes tools that make it easier for the mod team to handle bot accounts. We hope this will significantly cut down on bot activity and make it easier for you and the mod team to eliminate this unwanted content.

A couple of requests:

• Please let the mod team know via Modmail if there are any unexpected impacts, especially from Bot Bouncer - the mod team can take manual action to override Bot Bouncer actions. We're runners, not tech experts, and might have some bumps in the road
• Please report suspected Bot activity even if you aren't sure and just suspect an account might be a bot

Let us know if there are questions or concerns with this approach. Thanks all.

- Mod team (brwalkernc / krazyfranco / theintrepidwanderer / tea-reps)

ETA: some examples of bot activity in this community are summarized here: https://www.reddit.com/r/AdvancedRunning/comments/1xe9i9p/comment/19rlogy0wkwhs/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

Just as the title says. Anyone with Raynaud’s knows the struggle. I live in the northeast, USA and suffer with painful fingers from now until May.

A place to ask questions that don't need their own thread here or just chat a bit.

We have quite a bit of info in the wiki, FAQ, and past posts. Please be sure to give those a look for info on your topic.

Link to Wiki

Link to FAQ

• Race Information Name: Amsterdam Marathon
• Date: 18th October 2026
• Distance: 42.54km
• Location: Amsterdam, Netherlands
• Website: https://www.tcsamsterdammarathon.eu/
• Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/20636790768
• Time: 3:01:31

Splits

Taken from Marathon app.

Background
M, 39, 73kg. Played all the sports I could when growing up, football (soccer) most consistently. Fell away from all of that through my 20s-30s, then started to go to the gym through covid and got back into running in 2024. PBs in 2025 were 19:50(5k), 42:06(10k), 1:31(HM), 3:37(M). Total mileage for the year was 1455km (607km in 2024).

Training
I previously followed Hanson's Plan for Valencia Marathon in December 2025. After injury and illness hit during the second half of that 18-week block, I let go of any time ambitions and focused on getting round and enjoying my first marathon. I finished in 3:37:23 and was happy to take the lessons from the experience and move on. Then Amsterdam went on sale barely a week later and I thought, "Let's give it a proper go."

I picked up Pfitz's FRR and AM at the beginning of 2026, and the training approach and principles in the books seemed to work well for me. From January to June, I gradually built up to consistently running five days a week at 35 mpw, with the long run extending to 13-14 miles.

It was pretty successful. I think I saw my physio once in that six-month period, and my positioning in club races improved from roughly 20th-25th to 10th-15th. My best race was probably in April, when I ran 10 miles in 1:04:38, which according to VDOT put a sub-3 marathon somewhere within range if the subsequent training block went well.

I started the 18/55 plan in June, although I was conscious that the peak mileage might still be a trigger for injury, so I intended to cap the biggest weeks at around 50 mpw. I started the block with a 10K PB of 40:36 in hot weather and felt strong on the long runs with progressions.

The first two MP runs, however, were absolutely brutal. I was questioning both myself and the training, wondering whether the limited number of MP runs was sufficient. Reading other people's experiences on this forum reassured me that this experience wasn't entirely unusual and to trust the process.

After the second MP run in July, I developed a niggle behind my knee. It never really blossomed into an injury as such, but it was enough to put a mental brake on how hard I was willing to push. My physio couldn't find anything wrong, so I cross-trained on the bike for a week and then gradually reintroduced running alongside it. The pain/sensation wasn't going away completely, but it was manageable.

With another 10K coming up in August, I went back to the physio, who suggested some nerve flossing. This seemed to help (mentally if nothing else), and I ran another PB of 39:31. Still not quite screaming sub-3 marathon, but taking more than a minute off my 10K in eight weeks, despite barely running in the preceding fortnight, gave me confidence that a good marathon time was there.

I stuck with the flossing and continued the programme, swapping one recovery run for a recovery ride to manage the load. I was finding the long progression runs quite enjoyable and the fuelling practice with Maurten 160s seemed to be going well.

My third MP run was 28 km (4 x 5 km at MP), averaging 4:19/km on a blustery day. after my first 30 km run, which was also the first long run of the block that left me feeling properly fatigued. The following week, I ran a hilly half and set another PB of 1:30:04 and I was feeling every bit of that preceding long run + the midweek long run, which again had me questioning what exactly I would be targeting come race day. I had two 32 km runs before the taper, the latter with the final 26 km at MP. On that final run, after 24 km I still felt good so I pushed the final 2 km to 4:11 and 4:06/km, partly just to practise the feeling of asking tired legs to go faster. All told, I averaged 4:18/km for the 26 km.

That was probably the session that made me think: "With a good taper, carb load and race-day adrenaline, maybe sub-3 isn't actually that unrealistic." I went into my taper thinking something around 3:02-3:05 was the more sensible target.

Those final 3 weeks also coincided with some signficant social events (weddings/stag parties) meaning I was running just 4 days a week, but focusing on getting the key workouts in, and I extended the training/reduced the taper by a week as I was already running slightly lower volume than anticipated. I'll post a screenshot of my actual training log as I've always been curious what other's actually looked like.

Pre-race
Some family and friends were coming over to support, and we'd booked a lunchtime flight from Glasgow to Amsterdam on the 16th.

EasyJet promptly threw that plan in the bin, cancelling our flight a few hours before departure because of "Air Traffic Control Restrictions".

We managed to rebook onto a connecting flight that evening via London Stansted and thought everything was sorted. Then that flight was delayed and our two-hour transfer window at Stansted started disappearing rapidly. We landed with about 40 minutes until the connecting flight to Amsterdam. For those unfamiliar, Stansted doesn't have an airbridge, so we had to get off the aircraft, make our way through the airport and clear security again. We eventually made it to the hotel at about 11 pm, seven hours and considerably more stress later than planned.

Garmin had me averaging 4:20/km for the 2 km run through the airport, so I decided that probably counted as enough of a shakeout run. On Saturday I got round the expo, wandered around the Voco Museum, then headed back to the hotel for the night.

Race
Given my limited experience of the distance, the plan was to start at around 4:30/km for the first few kilometres and then settle into roughly 4:18/km, in line with my final long run. I'd evaluate things at halfway, then hopefully start pushing after 32 km.

I also had the slightly lofty idea that I'd somehow be able to drop down towards 4:00-4:05/km in the closing kilometres, the naivety!

Race morning was cool and wet. I brought six Maurten 160s, planning to take one every 6 km, salt tabs roughly every 10 km, and water at every station where possible. Amsterdam also had Maurten drink mix available in cups, although at the first station I managed to pour most of it over my hand rather than into my mouth. After spending the next section with a sticky hand, I decided to stick to my own fuel.

The course is pretty flat, although between the tramlines and the somewhat random way it occasionally narrowed to a single lane of road, I couldn't completely switch off during the early stages.

I was feeling good and hitting the 5, 10 and 15 km splits slightly ahead of expectations. From around 13-26 km along the Amstel, though, I noticed the wind picking up and the path narrowing to maybe four or five people wide.

It became frustrating when groups spread across the path. The choice was either to go wide to overtake or sit behind them and lose a little time, although the latter was probably conserving some energy too.

I reached halfway in 1:31:35, about 30 seconds down on where I'd hoped to be. Rather than trying to claw that back too early, I decided to stay patient, aiming to hold just under 4:16/km through to 32 km and then reassess.

From around 30 km the course starts heading back towards the city and the crowds. Crucially, I was still feeling strong. I wanted to start picking the pace up, but whenever I found myself working to kick on, I would givesome of that time straight back whenever I slowed to grab water at an aid station. Definitely something to practise before the next one.

I crossed 35 km in around 2:31 and knew that sub-3 now required something close to 4:00/km for the final 7.2 km. The spirit was willing and I could feel myself working harder, but unfortunately the splits weren't showing much improvement.

Around me, more and more runners were starting to pull up with cramp, including some who had surged past me not long before. As I climbed the final underpass, I could feel my left hamstring beginning to ache.

At that point I made the decision to protect the race I had rather than gamble it chasing sub-3 and risk joining them at the side of the road.

Passing through Vondelpark and into the final couple of kilometres was slightly overwhelming. I knew I was heading for a huge PB and that realisation gave me another push for the final stretch into the stadium and around the track.

I crossed the line in 3:01:31. My friend managed to record a clip of me running the final stretch in the stadium, and it was comical to see how slow I looked vs how fast I thought I was running.

Post-race
I was stretching against a fence when a whole wave of emotion, or possibly just endorphins, suddenly hit me. I started crying, then opened my eyes to discover an event cameraman pointing a camera straight at my face, which wasn't exactly the moment I wanted immortalised.

I walked away and soon came across another guy having what looked like a very similar experience. We gave each other a hug, exchanged a few words as we walked towards the medals, then went our separate ways. It was one of those strange little post-marathon interactions that probably makes perfect sense only at the end of a marathon?

I certainly can't complain about a 36-minute PB, but looking back at the race, I think there are some quick-wins to be found. Better practice through fuelling stations is an obvious one, and there were probably a few overpasses/underpasses where I could have put a bit more effort in to minimise the time lost. I averaged around 50km p/w across the block, so I know I'm still leaving a significant amount of potential aerobic development on the table.

My immediate focus switches to XC season, I'm looking forward to racing shorter distances and getting some proper speed sessions back into training, which I feel have been severely lacking over the past year. Pfitz worked well for me and I'll follow it again for the next marathon. The aim before then will be building my mileage so that 55 mpw doesn't feel like such a daunting prospect when the next block begins.

I'll let the results at those shorter distances help inform whatever marathon target comes next, but I feel confident I can go for a higher target than just reaching sub-3.

What's everyone up to on this weekend? Racing? Long run? Movie date? Playing with Fido? Talk about that here!

As always, be safe, train smart, and have a great weekend!

I've came back from injury and as part of my training, I'll be using cross training to build central adaptations since I can't jump back into my former high mileage (80-100 mpw).

I had been lead to believe that aqua jogging is a better form of cross-training for biomechanics and peripheral adaptations. It seems logical. But is that true? As I've tried to find some evidence to support this, I can't really find anything.

It doesn't seem that there are any studies that compare cycling, swimming and/or aqua jogging as a form of cross-training for improving running fitness.

So, I wonder what the verdict is here. Is there evidence beyond "it feels closer to running"?

I've been running for since I (35F) was a teen -- so like 20 years now but have never raced in a super shoe. I took a hiatus from formal training from about 2019/2020-2025 and just started getting back into it within the last year or so. Since re-entering more formal training and racing I've run a fair number of races --2 HM's (a 3rd upcoming next month), a 10k (a 2nd upcoming this weekend) and a handful of 5ks. I take training seriously (have a coach, and am invested) but I'm by no means a super speedy phenom. My lifetime PRs (most from the 2016-18 period) are M: 3:28 HM: 1:39 and my more recent "PRs" are 1:41:xx in the HM, 46:high for the 10k and 22:14 for the 5k.

With all that being said -- my formative running years were very much in the era of "find a shoe that works and stick to that shoe for pretty much everything." I know super shoes have changed the game for a lot of people and they're fairly standard for folks who take running seriously. That said, keeping my pretty middle of the pack paces/performances in mind -- should I be giving a super shoe a shot? or is the risk of doing something pretty new on race day just not worth it / is running in a super shoe with the 1:40 HM pack kind of a full kit wanker move? In general, I'm a sort of slow adopter/ apply a healthy lens of skepticism to expensive tech being marketed as must haves -- but also like I said, I do care about my races and put a lot of work in and don't want to be leaving relatively low hanging fruit things on the table.

Appreciate the input!

I (33M) just ran my marathon a few weeks ago (3:15:56) and am close to finishing a reverse taper. I ran a negative split and my last 3 miles were my fastest, leading me to believe I could have run a few minutes faster had I gone out faster. My plan is to run another marathon about a year from now, which gives me plenty of time for base training.

Last year I maintained 50mpw for most of the year doing 3x 10mi/week and 1x 20mi/week (in hindsight probably suboptimal distribution of miles), then following Pfitz 18/70. I've found I really enjoy the higher volume and I felt pretty good at 70mpw during Pfitz so am thinking i'll try and maintain 70mpw from now til the beginning of my next training block around june/july 2027. Although its a ways out, I'm hoping sub-3 will be a realistic goal if I'm able to maintain 70mpw for the next year (let me know if you think this is too optimistic/pessimistic).

Now I'm seeking feedback/advise on how to allocate ~70mpw during base training more optimally. I'm thinking 1 workout per week and 2 strength training sessions per week, but am open to other opinions on the matter. I'll be running in snow most of the winter, so my guess is the workout will be vo2max on a nearby plowed hill during winter and threshold during fall/spring. I've found I'm more likely to stick with the strength training if its on rest/easy run days simply because I'm usually pretty tired about a 2.5hr run and my "exercise time" for the day feels spent.

So, right now I'm thinking something like this. Miles are general aerobic (~1min/mi slower than RP) unless specified as recovery/workout

Monday: rest + strength training

Tuesday: 13mi

Wednesday: 6mi AM recovery, 4mi PM recovery

Thursday: threshold/VO2max workout, 10mi total

Friday: 5mi recovery + strength training

Saturday: 10mi AM, 4mi recovery PM

Sunday: 18mi

For anyone more experience than me: how does this look? Should I worry about staggering miles more week to week? Should I move mileage around at all, or shorten/extend the long run? I don't have a whole lot of experience these sorts of schedules together, so any advise would be appreciated.

ETA: last year I'd do a fallback week every 4th week, and figure I'd do the same this time around too (probably reducing mileage from the longest 2 runs on the fallback week).

ETA #2: my 10k was 38:28 during my pfitz 18/70 block I just completed. I ran 1:31HM during my training block 1 year ago, so I mostly suspect I have sufficient speed for sub 3 (38:28 10k -> 2:57 full according to vdot)

Sometimes I just feel disillusioned with endurance sports nowadays(marathon and ultra running)….like how many people out there now are doping with banned peptides? 💉🧐. It seems like a lot of "gains" can potentially be made with faster recovery, pain management, blood flow etc.

Hello everyone,

This is the results from the last post, where the goal was to fuel every single run during a 3 month block before the marathon.

I fueled every run over 60 minutes regardless of the pace (running only in Zone 2 because of the reasons listed on this race report).

Before I started this project, I hypothesised the following on the original post:

1. Potentially improving run quality and recovery.
2. Potentially making higher mileage more sustainable.
3. Potentially reducing accumulated training fatigue.

--

Background

I live and train in SE Asia where it's hot and humid every day of the year. 90% of my runs are above 26 celsius - 79 fahrenheit with humidity always above 80% and some weeks above 90%. Due to this, I really have to hydrate and fuel properly during the runs.

After an injury I didn't run for 4.5 years, had a hip surgery last year and built everything from scratch. Upon my return I wanted to do everything right and felt like I should also follow a proper nutrition plan along training. I've been counting macros, calories for the last 1 year but only changed the training fueling the past 3 months.

I also don't have any life commitments which is relevant for the recovery on it's own, but we'll stick to the nutrition side of things.

--

Methods

How much did I fuel?

60 to 85 minute runs = 33 gram carbs total

85 to 120 minutes (mid week long) = 55 to 87 gram carbs total, depending if it's peaking or deload weeks. 1 peak week had 110 grams.

+150 minutes (Sunday longs usually over 30 km) = 90 grams per hour, but total amount depends on the duration of the run. It could be 10 or 12 gels, 36 km (22 miles) run had 13 gels for example.

How?

All long runs have been a race nutrition practice with energy gels (GU and Koda).

All other runs have been with 1 or 2 x 40 gr Haribo packs pre-made at home and 1 GU gel. I first tried Mentos instead of the Haribo's, but they were quite hard on my teeth to chew so I switched to Haribo's. Haribo packs each ended up being 33 gram of carbs while GU is just 22 grams.

How much did it cost?

I haven't checked the numbers yet, but I think I ate 110 to 120 gels in total for the block. I've been able to get 24 pack GU gels for 35 to 42 USD in Indonesia.

160 gram Haribo packs costs roughly 2 USD and lasted about 3 runs.

In total I'm going to assume it was slightly under 250 USD overall for 12 weeks.

--

Results

When it comes to fueling during the race, it feels like a second nature to consume 90 grams per hour. I have absolutely no gut issues or complaints ever. I even think I could increase 90 grams to +100 but at these very high levels there is little benefit going higher. It just feels very natural to eat and consume 90 grams at this point.

In 1 year, I've been able to build mileage from ground zero (no running or cardio for 4 years) to peak 4 week block of 91-95-105-90 km (56-59-65-56 miles) right before the marathons deload / taper weeks.

All my runs improved by at least 30% both in run quality but also in recovery. I carried a lot of fatigue from constantly increasing mileage up to the above peak weeks, but this was general weekly fatigue and not something I felt during my runs.

I finished every long run on Sunday quite strong and with a lot of energy left, definitely not like (oh this was the highest week I ran in 5 years). 18 to 20 km mid-week runs were 9/10 comfortable and not something draining or excessive.

Dropped 3:37 marathon to 3:17 in 16 weeks (4 months).

--

Discussion

I personally believe the affect above fueling had on my training has been at least 30% faster recovery and 30% improved quality of the runs. I didn't suffer through the peak weeks, I felt strong and was able to push through the mileage very comfortably.

The only time I had issues was during the peak week of 105 km, it may have been a big jump from the previous 95 km peak and I was completely dead by the Thursday of this week. It was the 3rd consecutive peak week of 91-95-105 km week followed by a 90 km deload, which all have been the highest I ever ran this year.

I have nothing to gain from suggesting to others that their runs and recovery can improve by 30% if they choose to fuel their runs or not, but this is my personal experience of the marathon block. The affect of this might be a lot smaller or larger for others, I just know it's a system that works very well for me and something I will continue in future training.

After all, we want to make higher mileage more sustainable while reducing accumulated fatigue during the block. I believe having a proper nutrition in general along with proper fueling can go a long way. None of us here need fueling to get through a mid week run, but if it's gonna keep fatigue levels at minimum while pushing through the mileage it's the road I will take and keep increasing mileage in return.

This experiment cost me about 250 USD, but the journey has been very informative and well rewarding. For me, marathon PB means very little, it's the journey that counts.

Race Information

• Name: Toronto Waterfront Marathon
• Date: October 18, 2026
• Distance: 42.2 km
• Location: Toronto, Canada
• Website: https://www.torontowaterfrontmarathon.com/
• Time: 2:54

Goals

Splits

Background

This was my 6th marathon (3rd this year). Here is my progression

1st: 4:03 (Spring 2024, no training plan, blew up)

2nd: 3:10 (Spring 2025, Hansons Advanced, steady finish)

3rd: 3:03 (Fall 2025, Hansons Advanced, sub 3 attempt, blew up)

4th: 2:58 (Spring 2026, Hansons Advanced, sub 3 attempt, steady finish)

5th: 2:58 (Spring 2026, Hansons Advanced, just ran as best I could for fun, steady finish)

6th: Toronto Waterfront (this one)

My main goal for this was to BQ (~ sub 2:50). I was aiming for 4min/km.

Training

I followed the Hansons Advanced plan PDF straight off his website with no modifications (peaks at around 60mpw / 100km). I have done this for every marathon since my first one. After a few encounters with "the wall" I am getting tired of it and really want to make sure I can BQ next time. My training block went well, so I think I need to change something. I am trying to figure out whether I should read the Hansons book an add in more mileage or switch to Pfitz which I have seen people having great success with. I really felt my cardio was there (at least up until I hit the wall) so I think I can do it I just need more endurance.

Pre-race

Race was at 8am for my corral. I woke up at 6, had a small bowl of oatmeal, a banana and a honey stinger waffle. I also had an SiS beta fuel gel 10 minutes before the start.

Race

Shoes: Adidas Adios Pro 4

Gels: 6x SiS Beta Fuel (including the one I had 10 mins before race)

Electrolytes: I carried a 250ml soft flask with Xact caffiene electrolytes. That ran out just after halfway and then I drank mostly water.

During the race I honestly felt fine. I was in a rhythm and I didnt feel like my pace was unsustainable at all. I was even able to have a couple brief chats with other racers and didn't feel out of breath. The first 2-5k my watch GPS was messed up with all the buildings so my pace was a bit too fast but then I levelled it out a bit. A lot of the start was downhill so I wasn't too worried.

Halfway point I felt pretty good but had some fatigue. Eventually around km 30-33 I started to feel tired. My legs were like cement (especially my right calf) and even my arms were cramping. I also started to feel quite light headed and my heart rate was rising higher. At this point it was just managing the situation and trying to push as hard as I could without seizing up my legs or passing out. I had now mostly accepted that I wouldn't be getting my BQ. I ended up walking a couple times through drink stations to get myself back on track. Finally I made it to the finish in a lot of pain.

Post race

Grabbed my medal and banana and went back to the hotel to have a nap. I was super tired.

Afterthoughts

While it sucks that I didn't BQ, I am still happy that I got a PR. After reading a bunch of other threads, the conclusion I came to is that my body was not conditioned well enough to achieve my main goal. The most common suggestion to fix this issue is to simply run more. My next task will be figuring out how I should best do that. The main two options are to a) read the hansons marathon book and modify the training plan as they suggest to add in more kms as well as get more detail on the plan in general, or b) switch to pfitz which seems to be what most people are using. I am pretty dead set on achieving this goal so if you have any suggestions or opinion on which I should do, or about anything else you think I could do better I would appreciate it. Always looking to learn.

Hi, I am a recent college graduate and I’ve decided I want to really enjoy and try to do my best in an “outdoor track season” of my own devising. To cap off the season, I want to race a final track 5k, and my lofty goal is to break 15 minutes. I have no clue whether I can achieve this goal, but I think it’s possible with dedication. I’m feeling very inspired and excited about running, especially with wrapping up my training for the NYC marathon. I’m equally excited to smash my PRs in the shorter distances next year.

However, I’m not really sure where to find meets that I can run in throughout the spring. I’m hoping to run several outdoor meets from March to June, culminating with that 5000. There seem to be tons of good options for indoors, from NYRR meets to going unattached in college meets.

Anybody who knows more, please recommend meets I can run March-June, preferably in NYC, and especially for my final race of the season (late May/June) but if the options are sparse I could maybe consider meets that are not in NYC.

Any recommendations are appreciated!

Curious to hear people’s stories about their journey to their first BQ or sub-3 marathon.

What was your first marathon time, and how many races (and years) did it take to reach your goal?

I’d love to hear your progression (e.g., 4:15 > 3:50 > 3:25 > 2:58), your running background, and what changed along the way.

Also, just what was your journey from deciding to do it to actually completing it like?

Looking for folks feedback who have experimented with very mild tapers and have seen positive results.

Context

I am a relatively experienced runner having run one marathon a year since 2021. Starting last summer I ramped up my training more seriously & completed my first Pfitz 18/70 (although it was more like an 18/60 because life happens). I saw good results with the plan including running a 10K PR of 36:30ish (2+ minute PR) a few weeks out from race day. Unfortunately, I ended up carrying an injury into race day I picked up during the taper - the result was still positive, I ran 3 hours flat (a 4 minute PR) on a warm and humid day (20C and 90% humidity, was brutal). Through this, that injury persisted and I spent most of this year getting things right via physio, strength training, etc. & ran ~80KMs of mostly easy mileage before a springtime half marathon (1:25 low).

I was able to complete another Pfitz 18/70 (more like a 14/70 due to life) this summer in a buildup for the Toronto Waterfront which I ran this past weekend in 2:55 - another great race result that I am very proud of!

My Issue

For the past two Waterfront Marathons (and a few marathons before) I have had issues with taper tightness extending into race day. For example, this year, my hamstrings were quite tight starting as early as KM 13 where if I accidentally misstepped I would get that sinking feeling you get when your legs are about to cramp. I managed this throughout the race (knowing I had dealt with it the year prior), but this was a constant issue for me this year - basically feeling like I was balancing on the knife's edge for the majority of the race. In comparison, I never felt this throughout any of my training runs (LT, VO2, or MP workouts which I knocked all of them out of the park). I also ran a tune up half marathon (no taper, just swapped some MLRs for doubles) and had no issues - my legs felt general fatigue from training, but none of this taper tightness I only experience with marathons. For those that will ask, it's not an anxiety / stress thing - I have been through a long journey on this front, I thought this was the driver in the past due to mental issues with racing, but I have since worked through this and thankfully genuinely enjoy racing. For context, my race this year was a very comfortable effort - my HR was in the 150s / 160s the entire race (I can average 180+ for half marathons).

My Question

Has anyone on here experienced similar issues with taper tightness extending into the race and not having the strength in your legs you'd have during the middle of your block? My thought is to experiment with a minimal taper for a spring marathon, but curious if others have tried something similar? I am cognizant of the cumulative fatigue of training & the requirement for tapering (irrespective of how my legs felt, I am still very happy with my marathon result, just would have liked to enjoy the race more with my legs feeling strong like they did in training).

A place to ask questions that don't need their own thread here or just chat a bit.

We have quite a bit of info in the wiki, FAQ, and past posts. Please be sure to give those a look for info on your topic.

Link to Wiki

Link to FAQ

I wanted to follow up from my post last month. I've just finished month 2/4 of this build for my 2:55 BQ attempt mid-December. Training overall is going super well. I'm handling the workouts and mileage well, and intensity and volume are all building. Here's a list of key workouts from this month!

18 mile long run starting at 8:18 progression, last 4 at 6:40.

10 miles in 66:36. 5x2k (7:51, 7:50, 7:43, 7:39, 7:35, 3:42) + 1k sting at 3:42, 20 miles in 2:24:24 with last 7 sub 7

Hill simulator workout 6.5 miles at 6:53with alternating 2/3/1.5 percent grade. 12x1k 3:56 average 1 min rest, 20 miles with last 8 at MP

8 miles at 6:40. Today did fatigued mile repeats, 8 miles at 6:54 pace, ten min rest, 3xmile at 6 flat with 3 min rest. Easy 20 mile long run to finish the week scheduled.

so far have hit 54/54/45/63/40/65/64 miles and will hit around 65 again this week before next scheduled down week.

Cheers!

Race Information

• Name: Toronto Waterfront Marathon
• Date: October 18, 2026
• Distance: 42.2 km
• Location: Toronto, Canada
• Website: https://www.torontowaterfrontmarathon.com/
• Time: 3:04:XX

Goals

Splits

Background

25M, second marathon.

First marathon was the 2023 Toronto Waterfront Marathon, 3:47.

It was a really rough first marathon. I split 1:31/2:16, all due to fuelling. I learned that I have a VERY low tolerance for digesting things while running, which has impacted my training and and racing at distances where I need to fuel.

Have been running on and off for ~10 years, most recently resuming after graduating from university in June 2025.

PBs

Training

I had been running very casually from June 2025 to May 2026. Only 3-4 runs a week, around 30km/week. All easy runs, zero speed work.

Since May, I've been working with a coach. I've been running 6x a week, with 3 workouts a week.

May-June was a lot of base building, gradually increasing to 50km/week towards the end of June. Hard to report on the workouts since having a coach means I don't need to think about them anymore lol. For the most part they weren't long, huge workouts. Lots of threshold work (HM, 10K ladder drills: 7,6,5,4x400m @HM, 3,2,1x400m @10k, etc. ) on a track, lots of hill workouts (e.g. 3x3k of a hilly loop), etc.

July and August was mostly the same, just bigger/longer workouts. More of a focus on HM pace during this time.

I trained in short cycles: two "push" weeks followed by one "down" week, so my mileage bounced between 60-80km/week, peaking at 85km/week.

September brought MP workouts, but still a large focus on threshold work towards the end.

Long runs peaked at 3h15m, which ended up being ~38km. I did very little MP work during my long runs, at most ~30 minutes somewhere towards the end of a LR.

My last marathon has been a thorn in my side for a long time, as I've known that I am fit enough for a much faster marathon than 3:45. The lingering question all summer was what my stomach could handle.

Over the past 3 years I've been trying MANY different gels, rates, and amount of fluid intake. I've learned that I low tolerance to digesting things when running, and it gets MUCH worse the harder I work.

I learned that:

• Liquids were much easier than solids
• Minimizing volume was key

I settled on Brix maple syrup gels every 45 mins, despite their low carb content. They are less viscous than Gu, and much lower volume than Maurten (yes I have tried others). Their high osmolality was a bit of a concern, as I was very thirsty when using them in hot weather. Didn't really have a backup plan for this.

LRs on days after birthday parties also revealed that I perform WAY better after pigging out on sugary food. I could extend the time between gels, and my stomach would be far less bloated as a result. This showed me that carb loading would likely make or break my race.

My MP was also dictated by my ability to digest gels. Anything faster than 4:35/km/HR over 160BPM and I would get bloated and suffer from awful acid reflux, even if I slowed down my rate of fueling.

As a result, I decided to set my MP around 4:40/km: a 3:16:55 marathon. My coach wanted me to go much faster, but I pushed back, as I didn't want a repeat of my first marathon. I'd much rather have a slow marathon and not have to stop and walk, over a faster marathon where I blow up from fuelling issues again.

I planned to run most of my race with the 3:15 pacer a bit in front of me, knowing that I planned to be a bit slower. That said, I also planned to gun it sometime after 30k if my stomach was feeling good. If I wasn't bloating and didn't feel like I would bonk, I knew I could hold a very solid pace for 10-12k. I didn't plan on anything specific, but I was really hoping for somewhere around 4:00/km or faster since I can run a 3:45/km 10k - but I also knew this was very optimistic for the last 10k of a marathon.

Pre-race

Nothing terribly eventful leading up to the race. I almost forgot to pick up my bib, if that tells you how much I wasn't thinking about the race lol.

I started carb loading 3 days before the race, targeting 8g/kg of body weight. I ate about 6 plain white bagels, 1L of fruit punch juice, 1L of Gatorade, and about 125g of pasta (uncooked weight) per day.

The morning of the race was very uneventful as well. Took a Brix gel 20 mins before starting. I met up with a teammate (same coach) in my corral who had a similar, albeit slightly faster race plan. We had agreed before the race to start together, around 4:40 or slightly slower, and diverge when needed.

Race

I started the race very slowly, trying to stay relaxed. The irst 1-2km went by in ~4:50/km, after which we sped up to ~4:40/km. I didn't bother looking at my pace, and instead relied on how I felt and what my teammate was doing. This helped ease my mind a lot - we were chatting and taking in the sights for the majority of the race.

We held ~4:40/km until I took my first gel at ~45 minutes in, roughly 9km. Shortly afterwards, some KT tape I used to avoid blistering on my toe came off and rolled up into a ball under my toes. I tried to tough it out but it kept rolling around my sock and getting stuck under my foot, so I realized I'd have to stop and take it out.

I stopped somewhere between 9-10km to untie and take off my socks and shoes to fish the tape out, which cost a bit of time. My teammate went up ahead of me. I was determined to catch back up so that we could stick together for the rest of the race, so I burned some matches to catch up. Thankfully, this occurred at Lakeshore Blvd W & Jameson Ave, which is right before a ~500m steep downhill and subsequent flat or slightly downhill grade, so I wasn't impacted too badly.

We caught up at around 16k, as it turned out he had to stop to use the washroom and I had accidentally passed him (because I couldn't see him) so I had been pushing for a lot longer than I needed to. I averaged 4:18/km from 10k-15k, which was way faster than planned.

Despite this, the long surge actually had a great outcome, because my HR wasn't getting too high and it seemed more sustainable than expected. From then on, we stayed at around 4:20-4:25/km.

I took another gel around 20km and took off my long sleeve (was wearing it under my singlet) as it was getting hot. Gave my long sleeve to, and took 3 more gels from my fiancée at the halfway point, and continued on.

I started debating when and how fast I should push at around 23km. I asked my teammate for advice, as I wasn't feeling sore, tired, or having any stomach issues at that point. I asked about pushing at 28k, noting that it still felt too early as pushing for 14k is a lot in a marathon.

My teammate advised against it as he had been burned by similar moves before (7 marathons under his belt), and noted that he would likely not follow if I pushed much harder.

I followed his advice and held out until 28k, which followed a big uphill on an on-ramp and the start of the last out-and-back section of the course. I had started feeling soreness in my quads around 26k, so decided that I would probably not be able to push for much more than 10km. However, I decided to push to ~4:15/km for 1km to see how I felt, which went well.

I rejoined my teammate in a small pack at 29km, and entered a long exposed section for the out-and-back. This section had some wind, so I decided to stay in the pack and hold until around 31 or 32km, which is where the course became more sheltered and we would have <10km to go. I took my last gel at around 29km, so I wanted the extra 1-3km of slower running at 4:20 would also help me digest a bit before I pushed hard.

Unbeknownst to me, I had actually started pushing a bit and was very slowly pulling away from my teammate. I wasn't looking at my watch very often, and I ended up pulling 4:15-4:10/km splits from 30-32km.

Just after 33km is when the course turns around for the last time, with ~3km of exposed, windy roads, a steep uphill for 1km, and a ~1km uphill to the finish.

Despite some moderately sore quads I was feeling very good - not fatigued at all. I decided to gun it almost as hard as I could to the finish, targeting around 4:00/km for the last 10k. I ended up doing ~4:05-4:15/km for the most part, with the slower pace in the windy and hilly bits.

At 40km I realized I was VERY close to making it under 3:05, and I could make it if I dug in and picked up the pace. I ended up doing my last 2.2km in low 3:50s/km and just barely making it under 3:05.

Post-race

I'm really proud of this result, as I wasn't expecting 3:04 at all. 3:20 was my safe goal, and I would've been happy with 3:15.

My legs are sore but I'm still functional, which is a stark difference from my last marathon. I feel like I could've pushed around 1-2km earlier, but I'm not sure how well that would've gone since 30-33km is somewhat uphill.

I also didn't feel like I hit a wall at any point. If anything, I was holding myself back from pushing for the vast majority of the race. I think that was wise in the end, but it leaves me wondering how much more I left on the table.

I'll be taking 2-3 weeks off to recover, and may focus on a HM in the spring as I have never raced one. This result leaves a lot to think about with regards to next year's marathon goals, and I think a HM result would add some good data on what I should target.

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