u/PeteyPotter94

I set myself the goal of finishing sub-4, and honestly, it felt ambitious. My hardest training week was around 55 km, and I had about three months of dedicated marathon training, although I went into it with a decent base.

I reached my goal in 3:59, and I genuinely credit a lot of that to the advice and support I received along the way.

A few things that helped me and that I learned:

• Run with other people. Running alone started to make training feel like a chore. Running with friends and joining different run clubs made a massive difference for me. It made the long weeks much more enjoyable.
• Test everything. I tested a few gels during training and settled on one I thought would work. The problem was that I had not tested it properly on my longer runs. It was brutal on race day, so I learned the hard way that you should test nutrition under conditions as close to race day as possible.
• Get a pacer if you can. This might have been the biggest help on race day. A friend paced me for the entire marathon, which meant I could focus on following their rhythm rather than constantly worrying about my pace. That left me free to think about fueling and simply keep moving.
• Prepare for carb loading. Carb loading was difficult for me. Feeling very full and bloated made me nervous, but it was worth it. Trust the process and do your carb loading.

Massive respect to anyone who takes on a marathon, regardless of their time or goal. A marathon is no joke, but neither is what you get out of it. The impact of this experience has been powerful. I feel humbled and very proud.

Back in May i did my first triathlon, and during the training I especially enjoyed the cycling part. Im planning to make cycling a bigger focus going forward, so its time to get my own bike.

Up until now I have borrowed a bike from a friend. Im familiar with many of the brands out there, but im interested in hearing what you think would be a solid first bike for someone getting more serious about cycling.

I have mainly been riding on the road, but im also interested to explore gravel. Are there suitable bikes that work well for both, where I could buy an extra set of wheels and switch between road and gravel setups depending on what im doing?

My budget would be in the range of 2000-2500 EUR. Interested in both new and used bikes.

Thank you all!