r/Marathon_Training

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Ran the Flagstaff Marathon 10/03/26 at the Arizona Nordic Village. It’s an all trail marathon. It consists of two main loops (south 6 & north 7). You run the loops twice each for a grand total of 26 miles. The race coordinators tell you ahead of time that your GPS might read longer or shorter than 26.2 miles. I used an Apple Watch SE and my Garmin Forerunner 235 to measure. Sure enough, Apple says I ran 26.5 while Garmin says I ran 25.9 and then the Garmin asked me if I was done an hour after the race! (Standard Garmin)

Expect unstable terrain and some modestly steep climbs between miles 1-2, 3-5, 10-12. Then when you repeat the loops, those hills become more difficult somehow. The signs are easy enough to follow, but the waves of other runners gets confusing if you’re following a pack of runners. Full marathoners start at 8am, half marathon at 9am, 10k at 11am. There were two more waves of people that my pack of runners never saw. The other waves blended into the full marathoners, but the course never felt crowded.

The elevation is something you can train for and get acclimated to, but it still remains a factor. I arrived in Flag 4 days before race day. Elevation manifested as cramping & consistent headache for my experience. I used a hydration pack and used aid stations for consistent electrolyte intake. Cramping still happened. The Aid Stations were pretty spread out, but they were clutch when it counted.

It can be a pretty lonely course if you fall behind your pack of people/pacers. My previous marathons were Los Angeles & Honolulu which were packed with spectators and aid stations or just people handing out supplies to runners. No comparison to Flag, but it was a great experience to run without the chaos and noise. The scenery was consistently gorgeous, the air was as crisp/clean as possible, and the temperature never got above 65 degrees according to my NOAA apps.

Run the Flagstaff Marathon if you want a real challenge in your life. If you’re not from Flag, that makes it all the more challenging. You’ll be jumping over fallen trees, hiking up muddy hills, watching your footing through trails covered in pine cones, and navigating the course looking for tiny red/orange flagging. Worth it.

I signed up for this marathon as a way to channel some of the negative energy I was carrying after my divorce into something positive and something I was just doing for myself. Today, I’m so incredibly proud and happy I chose that!
Before my divorce, I didn’t have the confidence to believe that I could do hard things. This journey has been such an incredible way to prove to myself that in fact, I absolutely can.

My goal was to hit 3:15 and I’m shocked I flew by it. My goal for Grandma’s next year was 3:10, I guess I’m adjusting my goal down to sub 3 now, it’ll be hard but I think it’s within reach.

I think I left a bit out on the course, but I think I’d rather have that than the last 6 miles be hitting the wall and a giant slog. My legs feel significantly better than they usually do too.

I’ve been using Hanson’s Advanced plan and after being disappointed with a 3:37 at Grandma’s I decided I was going to add 2 miles to every easy run and a half mile to every cooldown/warmup on the SOS days. It turns out going from 63 miles to maxing at 74 miles did the trick. I felt very comfortable at the 7:00 pace and never really felt like I couldn’t hold it. I obviously didn’t, but there wasn’t a sense of impending doom like I went out too fast.

I am so happy with how today went. When people say to add more miles, they truly mean it. It works. I was skeptical that adding roughly 10 miles a week would make a difference, it made 17 minutes of difference from my PR and 26 minutes from June. I’m tempted to add 4 miles to every easy run for the next training block, but I think I’m just going to be consistent over the winter instead of only doing 30 miles a week and start the next block from a better base.

I kept going back and forth if I should register for Milwaukee Lakefront and I’m so glad I did.

I had done the Mighty Mississinewa Saturday, September 12th half-iron distance duathlon and knew I can endure for like 7-hours, but I still hadn’t ever done a marathon. I had even made this post before making my decision lol.

September 20th I registered with the charity entry. The only other time I ran after registering was a 10K the following Saturday. I didn’t really want to risk a long-run.

15-days later and I have done the marathon today! I felt amazing the first half, but after, especially the final 2-miles on Hoan bridge was brutal. Fortunately, it was the perfect weather and I wasn’t too hot at all. I tried saltchews for the first time too and at least 60g of carbs per hour.

Did anyone else run this race?

4:09:51. Almost everyone told me no, not here for victory lap. Just happy

Edit: Not everyone, a lot of people were supportive. I liked to prove the very few people that were vocal about it, it’s fun for me.

Just barely made sub 4.

Last 5 miles felt horrible but turned out to be some of my fastest. Definitely did not feel like it.😅

Beautiful route coming down into town and seeing all the fall leaves coming in.

Completed the Portland Marathon today and I couldn't be happier to have done it. Having spent the past year getting into running (coming from a cycling background), I did the progression from 5K to 10K to Half pretty fast, and spent probably *too* long of a training block leading up to this.

Starting out, I had intended on a finish time more around 4:15, but in the excitement of the start, I stuck and clung onto the 4:00 group. That came to bite me later on as by mile 8 the pain was starting to settle in. Around mile 18 is when I had to switch to run/walk, and 22-24 were the real struggle, with my hamstrings very tight and ready to cramp (which has never happened during my training!). I managed to get back into a rhythm for the last 2 miles and cross the finish line with a smile.

The entire race though, I was in a pretty good mood for the most part, and cheered other runners on. Took in the sights, enjoyed the day, and overall it was great! Would I do it again? Ask me after my legs stop hurting, haha!

Congrats to all of the 15K+ runners that came out today! Now I'm off to go eat a burger and not think about any gels for at least the next week (my stomach is on a HARD PASS boycott on those for now haha).

Also, sandals are the secret cheat code post marathon! I was SO glad I brought them once I finished and got my shoes off (and carefully peeled off the socks to assess any damage).

Race Overview
Race Name: 45th Wineglass Marathon, Corning, NY
Date: October 4, 2026
Distance / Course: Full Marathon
Goal Time:
A Goal: Finish
B Goal: PR under 3:40:39
C Goal: 3:29:59
Actual Finish Time: 3:25:46 (a 15 minute PR!)
Weather & Conditions: Chilly at the start (low 40s) and foggy. The fog burned off at some point early in the race; maybe around mile 10 or so. It seemed like we had 15 minutes or sun and then clouds rolled in for a mostly cloudy day that made for perfect running conditions. The temperature at the finish felt warm, but I think it was high 50s. Excellent conditions. Earlier in the week the weather forecast was vacillating between clear and 40% chance of rain. There did seem to be some light mist on finishers that finished after 4:00, but it was an otherwise dry day.

Pre-Race Preparation
Training block: I ran my first two marathons in 2025 (NYC in Nov then CIM in December), and then mostly took off January and February. I started training again in early-March, but then went on a trip in the second half of March and did not run. I started a 25-week Runna training plan on April 13 and felt VERY out of shape at the start. I had put on close to 20 pounds since early December that I needed to burn through. I experienced a lot calf and quad cramping in Central Park in NYC Marathon so I decided to add strength training 2x week to the Runna plan on the theory that was weakness. I also added 1x week stretching and stability. In general, I ran six days per week, Monday off, speed work on Wednesdays, and an ever-progressing long run on Sundays. I completed all 134 workouts suggested by Runna, and the only modification was to change one speed workout in the last two weeks to an easy run to accommodate some IT band irritation. I was very fortunate and I did not get sick or seriously injured during the training block. I have had some Achilles tendinitis in my left side since last year that has never gone away and it was painful at times in the training block, but when it flared up I was generally able to bring it back under control with stretching and icing. I averaged 32.66 miles per week. The Runna plan was three weeks of high mileage and then a deload week, on repeat. I maxed out at 52.8 miles in Week 22. I did 2x at 20 miles and my single longest run was 22 miles in Week 20.
Taper & Sleep: Short taper from peak week (52) to 45 miles to 32 miles to race week. The taper was rough because I was anxious about every little thing. I had some quad soreness after a strength workout in Week 21, which did not seem to go away. I later figured out that it was probably IT band after my highest mileage week. I babied my IT band for a week and it seemed to get better, but then I started noticing discomfort in my hip/groin/oblique/hip flexor on the same side. I ended up seeing a PT on Tuesday (5 days before the race) who assured me that it was only muscular, nothing structural and I could run through it. I got a deep tissue massage in that area on Wednesday (4 days prior) and for the next two days I was sure that was a terrible idea because everything hurt more than before seeing the PT. The PT added some KT tape. I travelled across the country to get to the race on Thursday, and waking up Friday and then Saturday mornings my legs felt better and better. I used Claude AI to develop a carb-loading plan that I started Thursday but then really ramped up on Friday and Saturday. I prioritized good sleep on Thursday and Friday nights because I know from experience that anxiety won’t let me sleep much on the night before the race. That was fortuitous because if felt like I spent all of Saturday night awake and trying to coax myself to sleep. I think I ultimately got about 3-4 hours of interrupted sleep.
Morning fuel: I woke up at 4:15 am and I had a cup of coffee, a banana, a bagel, and a second cup of coffee. I was hoping that the coffee would inspire my body to allow for a bathroom visit in the hotel, but no such luck. I took two 500mg Tylenol and left the hotel at 5:20 am. I arrived at the parking lot at about 5:30 am and walked across a bridge on Tioga Street to get to the bus loading zone. The race logistics were very well organized. I loaded almost directly onto a bus that departed at 5:49 am. It was almost exactly 30 minutes to the start line. There were lots of porta potties and water available at the start line, but no coffee or food. I went into a “heated” large tent with chairs set up. The tent felt chilly when I got in there, but it provided a nice wind break. Eventually it seemed like it warmed up from body heat. When I got there around 6:25 am there were plenty of chairs, but the place was packed and there were no chairs by 6:40. I stayed in my chair and zoned out until about 7:20 then I left the tent, peed in one of the many porta potties, and chatted with some fellow racers near the start. At about 7:45 I put on my racing shoes and got in a gear check line. Everyone gets a plastic bag to check extra gear directly from the start line to the finish line. I took a Maurten 100 regular gel at 7:55 am and waited for the race to start at 8:05 am.

Race Execution
Start & Early Miles: I ran the race with a buddy from high school, reliving our running experience from 30 years ago. We talked strategy in the weeks leading up to the race. In late August we agreed that we would aim for 8:10 splits until mile 20 and then reassess. The last few weeks of my training went well, and I shared some splits from long runs and heart rate data with Claude who suggested that I could maybe try doing 8:03s to mile 20 and then maybe bump to 7:50 for the last 10K to try to hit my goal. I reached out to my buddy and he agreed to give it a try. That was our plan going into the race. We found the 3:30 pacer at the start line and decided to tuck in behind him. The first few miles went well. I could feel that something wasn’t right in my hip/quad/oblique, but I decided to ignore it. We stuck with the pacer for those early miles and he seemed to be going fast. We expected him to be around 8:01, which was a little faster than our 8:03 goal, but it seemed like he was closer to 7:55, or quicker. We stuck behind the pacer until the first “hill” around mile 5 and it was pretty crowded still and we felt boxed in. My buddy suggested we move ahead of the pacer to have a little more space and we pulled ahead. We did have much more space in front of the pacer and we were able to work together to remind each other to stay conservative when one or the other of us would push the pace too much.
The Middle: We worked well together to keep each other settled and we maintained that 8:50 +/- :05 pace many many miles. We both had to pee and decided to keep going and hope it didn’t become more urgent. The race course is nice. Mostly rural for those middle miles with woods, farm field, farms, and barns to the sides of the road. There are a few times when you are running and the highway is off to your right/left, which isn’t the prettiest, but it didn’t feel like those times dominated the race. It was mostly rural. You go through the towns of Bath, Savona, and Campbell, and there was good support and cheering in those towns. There were plenty of water and electrolyte stations. Towards the end it felt like they were too frequent and there was 1-2 times in the middle of the race where I felt like they were too spread out and I commented that it has been a while since the last one. When we got to 15, my buddy said “ok, the next five are just going to hurt and we’ll need to deal with it.” That was a good reminder when those miles did, in fact, hurt. My Uncle and my aunt were planning to be around mile 20 or 21 and so it was good incentive to keep pushing through those tough miles. My left calf started to cramp around mile 19, which was discouraging with so miles still to go, but I conscientiously shortened my stride and increased my cadence so as to not put as much strain on it, and I kept it at bay for a while.
The Finish: I saw my Uncle and Aunt at 21 and that was nice treat. From there my buddy and I stepped it up. My calf was causing more trouble with cramping. Around this time the course goes off the roads and into a series of parks and then neighborhood streets. It’s lovely, but the grade was more undulating, which seemed to put more strain on my cramping calves, which were then barking on both sides. At one point when I came around a corner on the neighborhood streets my right Achilles started to cramp and it was forcing my toes to curl under my foot. I kept working to straighten my foot out and to try to change my gait to take less pressure off the camping muscles. I focused again on shortening my stride. I took a series of long slow nose breathes to try to breathe into the muscles in the hopes that would calm them. It felt like I had plenty of fitness to go even faster, but my legs were failing me. So I tried to go as fast as possible with the idea that if my cramping leg muscles were going to force me to walk, I wanted to cover as much distance as I could before that happened. I also had SaltStick pills with me and on two occasions in the last four miles I ate three of them just to try to hold off the cramps. Ultimately it worked, and once I knew I was in the last mile and a half I felt confident I could hit my stretch goal, I opened things up. My last half mile was extra quick heading into the finish line and I just ignored the cramping in my legs.

Nutrition and Hydration
Plan: I used only Maurten gels. I took my first Maurten 100 at 7:55 am, 20 minutes before the start. Then I took them every 20 minutes thereafter for the entire race. I took a Maurent 100 Caffinated at the :20 and 1:20 mark. I ended with one extra regular Maurten in my pocket and so I must have missed one 20 minutes interval in there somewhere, but no idea where. I took salt sticks at 1:00 and 2:00 and then threw them down like candy towards the end with the hope they would stave off the cramps. I took water or Gatorade (or whatever it was) at each aid station. It was often hard to tell who had water and who had Gatorade and it seemed like sometimes the volunteers didn’t even know. So, I got what I got, and that was good enough. I did not bring any of my own hydration with me.

What Went Right
Running with a friend was super important to the success we both had, especially in the first 15 miles when we reminded each other to slow down. It beat the boredom too.
The consistency of my training was super important. These races are the “reward” for the effort that is invested in the weeks and months before the race.
Logistics were very smooth. Busing, start line, gear check, and aid stations were all easy. Definitely a good race from that perspective.

What Went Wrong
All this cramping. Not sure why! I was hoping the strength training work would avoid a repeat from NY. Not quite. Back to the lab.

Key Lesson
I am going to focus on half-marathons for 2027. The training required for the full distance requires so much additional time and takes such an extra toll on your body.

Hi all, see attached and let me know your thoughts. Ran my first marathon in Pittsburgh back in May, 3:54, 2 weeks out currently from the Columbus Ohio full marathon which will be my second. I’ve made a lot of progress over the past 5 months and am thinking about targeting sub 330 for this marathon! Recently had a 10k pb of 43:50 although it was mainly downhill. Attached is my recent peak long run along with the mileage graph to see the build as a whole. Any advice is greatly appreciated!