u/pessimisticscifi

I (38m) have raced 6 marathons in the past 2.5 years with times ranging from 3:43 for my first to 3:08 most recently in Chicago last October.

The last 4 weeks before the taper for Chicago were each between 50 and 55 miles.

I’m running Berlin 8 weeks before Philly and plan to treat it like a long run both because of how it lines up in my schedule and because I expect Berlin to be really warm.

Two weeks after Berlin I’m planning on doing a 50k trail race with a friend, but similar to Berlin I’m treating it like a long run. My friend’s goal is just to finish and I’m going to stay with him unless our paces really start to diverge.

The rest weeks are scheduled around tattoo sessions (getting a full sleeve and I don’t want to sweat much for the week after each session).

My question for more experienced runners is does this schedule seem like it makes sense or am I either being too optimistic with my mileage goals or setting myself up for injury?

Im particularly uncertain about the 50k two weeks after Berlin and my legs being trashed in the lead up to Philly.

Im looking for a shoe with a very minimal upper and wide toe box either to replace my racing shoes or for tempo/long runs. I’m a mid-foot striker, 140 lbs, averaging 40-50 miles a week with a peak of around 60 miles in this marathon training block. I’m aiming for a 2:59 in September.

I recently got a pair of Evo SLs for tempo/long runs but every time I run in them my calves cramp up and my feet hurt. I’ve noticed that shoes with a thick upper/tongue do not play well with my feet. I thought the upper on the Evo SLs would be fine but apparently not. I also had to go up in size to 10 from my usual 9.5 because the toe box was too narrow.

This is my current rotation:

- Brooks Glycerin Stealthfit 21
- and three pairs of Adios Pro 3

The Glycerins are actually my second pair. I retired the first pair after about 300 miles. The Adios Pro 3s have 650 miles (red), 288 miles (white), and 140 miles (purple).

I use the purple Adios for races, the white Adios for speed workouts, and red exclusively when it’s raining since they’re in pretty rough shape now. I use the Glycerins for recovery/shorter runs.

I’d like to add a new shoe to the rotation either for tempo/long runs to preserve the purple Adios for racing, or add a new racing shoe and “demote” the white and purple adios respectively.

Does anyone have a recommendation for what might work well?