Riga Marathon
Hi all!
- Name: Riga Marathon
- Date: April 17, 2026
- Distance: 26.2 miles
- Location: Riga, Latvia
- Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/18538255512
- Time: 2:58:51
Goals
| Goal | Description | Completed? |
|---|---|---|
| A | Sub 3 | Yes |
| B | Sub 3:05 | Yes |
Splits
| Kilometer | Time |
|---|---|
| 1 | 3:55 |
| 2 | 4:09 |
| 3 | 4:14 |
| 4 | 4:11 |
| 5 | 4:07 |
| 6 | 4:12 |
| 7 | 4:09 |
| 8 | 4:06 |
| 9 | 4:10 |
| 10 | 4:16 |
| 11 | 4:15 |
| 12 | 4:10 |
| 13 | 4:14 |
| 14 | 4:09 |
| 15 | 4:08 |
| 16 | 4:07 |
| 17 | 4:15 |
| 18 | 4:13 |
| 19 | 4:12 |
| 20 | 4:13 |
| 21 | 4:07 |
| 22 | 4:15 |
| 23 | 4:12 |
| 24 | 4:08 |
|---|---|
| 25 | 4:18 |
| 26 | 4:08 |
| 27 | 4:16 |
| 28 | 4:10 |
| 29 | 4:18 |
| 30 | 4:11 |
| 31 | 4:15 |
| 32 | 4:14 |
| 33 | 4:18 |
| 34 | 4:12 |
| 35 | 4:12 |
| 36 | 4:14 |
| 37 | 4:12 |
| 38 | 4:12 |
| 39 | 4:09 |
| 40 | 4:06 |
| 41 | 4:11 |
| 42 | 4:13 |
| 42.200 | 4:01 |
Training
This year I started my yearly lone marathon cycle with medium aspirations and low mental bandwith that comes with a newborn and a toddler starting to (unwillingly) attend a kindergarten. That is to say I couldn't be bothered to follow trusty Pfitzs training course. My final freestyle training plan looked like this.
Mondays - Rest
Tuesdays - Marathon/LT paced runs (depending on how well felt) ~13 km
Wednesdays - Aerobic run around 7 km
Thursdays - Aerobic run ~13 km
Friday - Aerobic run ~10 km or less.
Saturday - ''recovery'' 6 km
Sunday - ''Long'' run ~27 km
I did approximately 300 km a month in March and April, below 200 km in months from November, but I did keep pretty good schedule during the Winter I used to struggle with some.
As the marathon date approached, I set my goals to break 3:05 as I felt a bit more prepared than last year when I ran 3:08. But in the last few months Runalyze prognosis was very optimistic and I decided to go for broke, try to keep up with 3:00 pacers and see how it goes.
Worst case I blow up and didn't finish. I was open to new experiences.
last two days before I spent de-caffeinating myself and carb loading. Went to expo and bought 4 caffeinated gels, one 150 mg and 3x75 mg. Did some light running and even some strides (a first in this marathon cycle)
Pre-race
Race morning was very pleasant, woke up 2.5h before race, ate two P&B sandwiches and after double checking all the gear hopped on the train to Riga which is 45 min ride away. There I went to bathroom second time (in the train station so I could escape waiting in lines in the porta-potty lottery.
Changed in Doma square nearby the bag dropoff, decided it is warm enough not to bring second layer (weather was truly perfect, maybe 11 degrees Celsius) and went to wait in the coral. This time even on time and did not have to jump the fence. There I consumed my first 150mg caffeine gel and chatted with 3:15 pacers who came to stand nearby. 3:00 pacers took their position at the start of the pack. I had Elite coral between us which didn't quite fill up but there were quite a lot of people.
Race
First 8 kilometers were very fast as I was trying to catch up with pacers and combination of race day excitement and sizeable dose of caffeine my heart rate was hovering around 180 for the first 8 km or so.
It is not unusual for me to have high HR at the start at the marathon, but I was a bit worried I will cook myself after it didn't go down after 3 km or so. Still I felt perfectly fine and decided to go on and trust my (inadequate) training.
On the way I hit almost all of the fueling stations for energy drinks (and water in some of them) and consumed my caffeinated gels at 0:30, 1:30, and 2:30 hour marks, took a regular gel they handed out at 2:00 hour mark. These were untested and frankly not very tasty, but my stomach has always handled fueling well so I was not at all concerned.
In the middle of race a bearded guy greeted me and it turned out a high school classmate was running alongside. Now I had no choice but to see it out. It was good that he introduced himself as as we left Mežaparks we had a climb in Brasas overpass which is not a very high but pretty steep hill and I definitely felt it. There would be no effortless sailing till the end.
Our pacers were going on strong and we had a nice pack which kept pretty close (if not too close) together which was great because I used every bit of draft I could use whenever a headwind decided to show up.
Around 30-32 km mark it started to hurt, but pain was anticipated and went to true and tested: ''It is only an hour of pain still left strategy''. I was running with earbuds and for a stretches I could zone into music.
Last 5 km were the usual sucky part, but I gave it most of what I had left and left the pacers behind for a quite feeble final kick, I think I did it on an instinct because I was planning to finish with the pack.
This part was nearby the center which also had quite a lot of spectators, but I was hurting a bit and not able to enjoy it as much as I had hoped. My legs and feet were hurting and last two kms I let off the gas. As the finish line approached in the last 400m of the race a second highscool classmate passed me. (First one looked like he was struggling around 10 km previously and he finished a couple minutes after us).
Post-race
Finish line was much appreciated, I met up with both of my friends and we took a couple photos, chatted a bit and then I went to get my bag. Came back after changing to see a few of my colleagues finish their Half marathons. Chatted with one of them but the end zone was very crowded and it was hard to get hold of them so I decided head home.
Final thoughts: Well shoot, it turns out consistent miles (or kms) really is the best. I think my training left a lot to be desired, but it is better to do sub-optimal training than nothing at all. The best training plan is the one that gets you out of the door. I'm super pleased with time and race and experiences this year.
Next goal breaking 2:55 in the next year on the one after.
Thanks for reading and peace out!