Thank you to everyone for their contributions here - I haven’t commented much but over the last few months I’ve learned so much from this sub.

I (38M) completed my first marathon last Sunday in Dublin. Incredible experience as others here have mentioned, enthusiastic support throughout the route and as someone who’s lived here for 10 years, it made me very proud of where I live (despite being originally from Cork!).

I’ve been running consistently since 2021, distances between 5-15km, having a background in rowing at senior club and university level. My last competitive season was in 2023 and I’ve been focusing on running since, but only on the marathon since this year.

Started in March with the Higdon half marathon intermediate 1 plan and then did Novice 2 for the marathon (over 20 weeks with weeks 10 and 11 repeated). Combining that with our first child arriving in February and complicated house renovations meant I kept it conservative and didn’t stretch to an intermediate plan for the marathon. I only did core for my cross training session every week as I felt my aerobic base was good and I had done years of strength training, so I just wanted to focus on time spent running and staying injury free in the limited time that my personal life afforded me.

A few of my milestones along the way: half marathons in May, August and October at 1:52, 1:51 and 1:49 respectively (sub-max effort), 30km at 5:31/km and 5:34/km (145-147bpm) and 32.5km at 5:30/km (155bpm).

I had a target of sub-4 as this may be my only marathon. I felt I had the background to achieve this but was kept in check by the advice here of not expecting too much the first time out. There was a weather warning for wind which further lowered my expectations. Felt good on the day, started in wave 3 and got boxed in in the first km and then went faster on the next downhill 2km which worried me somewhat, but felt great throughout the following uphill 8-9km into a strong cross-headwind. The next ~20km felt like autopilot, stayed conservative on hills and otherwise kept my pace faster than target. My HR was higher than in training but I knew adrenaline had added a few bpm. Only started to sense fatigue around 32-33km (Milltown uphill for anyone familiar) and wondered if the wall was approaching, but it dissipated and the wall never came. Trusted my training and fuelling, pushed on and got faster for the finish in 3:53:03, pace 5:30/km. In better weather I might have pushed it some more but I’m absolutely delighted with sub-4.

Finally I completed my first marathon in Dublin on Sunday joining the so called 1%.

We had yellow weather warnings and the threat of rain which held off thankfully but conditions weren’t the worst I found going through the route but bad in places.

The crowds of support were incredible and what kept me going through the tougher parts of my race. The best of Dublin/Ireland so much kindness and support shown to complete strangers. Signs, sweets, fruit, water, lucozade music cheering- just incredible support! And then the volunteers who give up their time to support the event just another level. A big thank you to all of you!

I did it in about 4:35 - As it was my first one the main aim was completing the marathon. On an ideal day I was looking for sub 4.30 but being trying to be ealistic with it being first one and the wind/forecast I expected sub 5.

My fear initially was I would crash at 30/31km as that was what I hit in my training block. I’d say normal marathon nerves and the fear of DNF’ing.

Everything went so well and I thought I was gonna hit that sub 4.30 goal. Until about 36km I started to hit the wall right around heartbreak hill I got about 3/4 up and it and legs just started to go. It’s now niggling at me I left a bit of myself out there. I didn’t take my last gel 35k as my stomach was at capacity and just couldn’t take another one. Am I being overly harsh/critical or should I have forced even the tiniest part of the gel in. After that a mixture of walking/running for the last 4-6k just left me feeling just a shade disappointed. If it’s any consolation my garmin is showing 4.31 I must have hit the garmin a bit early but I’ll take it lol. My chip time is 4.33 and gross is 4.35. I was so close yet so far…

Another side of me is like wise up it’s your first one you did incredibly well and after 21 weeks of hard training you are on the come down and you need to catch a grip - YOU RAN A MARATHON and COMPLETED IT.

The experience was like no other and I thoroughly enjoyed the race and I can see why people do it year after year.

PB’s are there to be broken…. Sub-4.30 I’ll be back for you….

Pictures of splits can be seen here:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Marathon_Training/s/mWiFcJXeAU

Ran the MCM on 10/25, my first marathon. Great event and an insane crowd. Before this I'd run a few local 5Ks (22:42 PB) and the Austin Half (2:02). I've been running about 1.5 years.

Split:
3 runs a week (easy, easy/speed, long run)
2 bodybuilding-style strength sessions (upper/lower)
1-hour zone 1 bike
30 min Mobility/plyometrics

Peak mileage was 33 miles/week and my longest run was 21 miles. My 19-miler at MP felt fine.
The plan was to start 2 miles slightly slower, then settle into 8:30 pace.

Everything went well until mile 18, when my pace started to drift. I took in about 70g of carbs an hour but fell badly behind on hydration. In training I barely drank on my 19 and 21 milers (maybe one cup of water total) and felt fine, so in the race I only took half a cup around mile 5 and again around mile 13.

By the bridge I was severely dehydrated, and there were no water stations for what felt like 10 miles (realistically 2-3). At the next one I stopped and drank 6 cups, but couldn't get back to pace. I kept grabbing all liquids in sight, in total about 6 small cups and 4 bottles in 15 minutes, and eventually got running again, but still felt the effects and settled into a 10:00 pace to finish.

TLDR: grab water at every station, even if not thirsty.

Not the fastest of times but I raised 2500 for Pieta House (Suicide Prevention) in the process, a charity that’s close to my heart 🙏🏼

I (25f) ran MCM yesterday for my first ever marathon and wow it was so hard, so rewarding, and so fun!

My training block was going perfectly until a reckless half PR and speed work on old shoes gave me shin splints around 6 weeks out, and since then i’d only been able to run a grand total of 14 miles. My longest ever run in training was also only 17 miles, 7 weeks out.

Needless to say I was a bit terrified and disappointed to let go of the goals I set for myself when my training was going to plan, but the perfect weather and the awesome crowds carried me and I’m really proud of the race I managed given the circumstances.

I also did NYRR’s virtual marathon program, so I earned guaranteed entry to the 2027 NYCM too! Super excited to take the lessons I learned this year and run it back in my first world major, but for now, any recovery tips would be appreciated :)

I ran my first marathon in Frankfurt yesterday. I read a lot of reports here before the race, so here’s mine. Short version: almost nothing went to plan, and it was still one of the best days I’ve had in a long time.

About me
M49. Two years ago I ran a 1:45 half, so according to the calculators sub-4 should only be a formality. Unfortunately, it was not.

Targets
Dream: sub-4 – quietly buried months ago when I got hurt during training
Realistic: sub-4:30 – ✅

Result
Chip time 4:24:56. First half 2:12:42, second half 2:12:14. A minimal negative split and nobody is more surprised than me.

Training
Started training in August and got injured (knee) and had to rebuild very, very slowly to make sure it does not flare back up. I trained almost everything by heart rate, with easy runs capped at 75% of maximum heart rate. This worked better for the knee than chasing pace but meant I was running too slow for sub 4. Then a cold cost me one of my long runs. My longest run ended up being 34 km. Somewhere along the slow runs, my sub-4 goal turned into a sub-4:30 goal.

Race weekend
Carb loading was pasta and cookies, no complaints. I slept well both nights before the race, which I’m told is rare...

A few days before the race my hip had started pinching. On Sunday morning I stood at the window, felt the hip, watched the rain and thought: What a mess! I wasn’t scared of the pain itself. I was scared that I wouldn’t be sensible enough to stop if it the pain got bad and would end up injured for a long time or even permanently.

Then I went to the start area and that turned it around. I saw all the volunteers standing in the rain, people who had come out just so that I could run my race. Wow! I forgot about the hip and the weather and just felt grateful.

Gear and fuel
Puma MagMax Nitro 2: heavy, but great grip, so with all the rain it seemed like a sensible choice. I had 10 gels with 25 g carbs each. I took one before the start, then one every 5 km, plus an extra at 27.5 km when I was getting tired and felt like I could handle it. I took all other ones but skipped the km-40 gel because it simply wouldn’t have gone down.

The race
In my imagination, the marathon would be a variation of a long run with more people involved. I would settle in, watch my pace and heart rate and could let the mind wander.

How wrong I was! It was chaos. Constant dodging, overtaking, puddles. At every aid station the people in front of me stopped dead. Relay runners came flying through and nearly took my feet out.

At the start, I’d asked the 4:30 pacers about their strategy. They said GPS between the skyscrapers is useless for the first 10 km anyway, so they’d just go and fine-tune after that. So I just followed them. The pace seemed good but then I glanced at my watch and my heart rate was 15 beats over my limit. Every time I tried to calm it down, along came a narrower road part, another aid station or another relay hero. I was genuinely worried and already booked my appointment with the Wall for km 31.

Also, I needed the toilet. More or less from the gun. My plan: run a bit ahead of the pacers, make a quick stop and rejoin when they pass. At km 15 I couldn’t hold it any longer. I head for a porta-potty and the moment I'm running up to it, a guy overtakes me and takes it. So I wait. While I wait, the pacers run past. Oh no. Doesn’t matter, I’ve stopped now, I’m not giving up my spot. Of course, after holding it that long, the bladder takes forever. When I finally sprint out, the pacers are way ahead.

Heart rate? Don’t care anymore. I’m likely to crash anyway, I’ll deal with that later.

I catch up with the pacers and move in front of the group to get away from the crowd around them. It feels good, so I slowly pull away. A while later, a friend is there cheering and runs a bit alongside, which gives me another push. Km 15–20 ended up being my fastest 5k of the day. Probably not in any textbook.

Km 30 comes and knowing that the heart rate was higher than intended in the beginning I am waiting for the crash. Suddenly, at km 30 my Apple watch starts beeping like crazy. My daughter had accidentally played a sound on it via “Find My” and then tried to turn it off by tapping wildly on the same button on her phone. So for a while I am running with a wildly beeping unusable Apple Watch with my heart rate going into overdrive.

Still, the crash never comes. I just… keep going. More and more people are walking or stretching (or retching) at the side and I am still running. I even manage to motivate one or two of them again...

Km 35 comes and I see my family standing there - cheering. I ditch my running vest and from here on it was real work. But I don’t stop.

Km 39 - only 3km to go. Everyone around me is drawing on their last reserves - no chatter anymore, just determination. For a while, I'm running next to a woman who suddenly bursts into tears. Her outburst doesn't even surprise me. I put my arm around her while running and try to keep her going.

And then it is km 42 - I see my family again close to finish and run into the Festhalle: lights, cheerleaders, music. It’s like running into a concert. Finish line. And then it is over.

It took me several attempts to get down the stairs to the food area. Slightly unstable. But I made it, collected my medal and was done.

The hip? It pinged once or twice early on, and then I forgot it existed.

Final thoughts
I expected basically a long run with more people than usual. What I got was something chaotic, loud and at first deeply unsettling but in the end it was beautiful and very rewarding.

For other first-timers: Don’t expect to run your heart rate plan. Crowds, aid stations and relay runners won’t let you. Don’t panic - your training and the crowds will carry you through.

I still want my sub-4. I will relax for a week or two and then restart my training. But next time I will know what kind of circus is waiting for me.

Happy running 😊

Hey everyone, just found this community recently 40 year old male started running last Feb and lost around 45 lbs and ran my first half marathon end up September with a time of 1:55:58, wanting to train and run a first marathon for then end of May, hoping to make it around 4 hours, I used the Nike run club plan up till now just wondering people's opinion on if I should stick with that for the marathon plan or if there are any better recommendations.

Hi there!

I want to run my first Marathon in April. I chose that event because I have been running on and off for the past couple of years. I usually start training quite intensely early on in the year and lose motivation during November. Then I will weigh myself in February, notice I have gained 10 kgs and start over again.

My usual race is a local half marathon in October. I ran that race in 2022, 2025 and 2026. This year I was aiming for a sub 90 but missed the mark by 5 minutes (which I attribute to a cold I caught three weeks before the race - might be cope, though). I am still very proud of the 1:35 time, though.

To avoid my usual winter associated lack of motivation I thought I should choose a race in the first half of the year, as well. (So I have something to work towards.) I found a Marathon in April that I want to run with my cousin who is at a similar experience level (ran three HMs, last one was 1:36). I also found a winter run series near my home allowing me to run a 10k in January, a 15k in February and a HM in March.

All that feels like a solid plan for keeping me motivated, but I am kind of wondering what I should/could do now in preparation for the race(s). Most Marathon plans cover 16 weeks, so it is too early to start one, right? I suspect I shouldn't train specifically for the 10k or the HM but rather treat them as a Tempo Workout on the way to the full Marathon in April, as they are a little too close to the main event.

I am currently super motivated and enthusiastic about running - I would not want to waste that momentum. Right now I run 5 times a week: 3 easy runs (10-14km), one hard workout (either 3x3km at 4min/km or 6x1km at 3:50/km) and one longrun (trying to build to 32km - ran 27k last week, longest run ever was 30k in July as part of my HM training). Weekly average is probably about 60km, though I am trying to increase mileage for the Marathon already (ran 78km last week). The days I run aren't consistent because I work shifts (I am a nurse) - sometimes I work nights, sometimes early mornings, sometimes afternoons. Not every shift lends itself to a run before/after.

I am looking for a little guidance:

- are there more Marathon specific workouts for me to try and incorporate?

- as I understand it, weekly mileage is key for a good Marathon. Should I just try to slowly build as big a base as I can before starting a plan? Or would you rather build during the plan and just try to keep my current fitness for now?

- is there anything obvious I am missing that I could or should spend my time on currently?

I plan on reading Pfitzinger's "Advanced Marathoning", but I won't have access to it for a couple of weeks.

Sorry for the wall of text! Thanks in advance for any advice!

I am planning on running my first marathon in about 3 weeks and reading posts on here about training volume and duration has really scared me that I'm gonna blow up. Was always a casual runner and then decided to run the half in March on a whim and felt fine running it at 1:50. Since it felt pretty good I figured why not go for the full. I have been running 20-30 miles a week since ramping it up around Labor Day and will be peaking at about 40 with a long run of 20 miles. Ran 18 this past weekend in 2 hours and 43 minutes and felt pretty confident, but reading posts and comments here warning people that they need to be hitting more intensive training numbers and have a way longer training block has made me nervous.

Is this advice geared more toward people who weren't really active before or am I setting myself up for failure here. 4 hours would be my ideal goal time but I really just want to go the distance without putting myself in the hospital.

I just finished running my first marathon. I feel good about the time I finished in but I know I can do better. Leading up to the race I will admit I didn't train as much as I should have. The furthest I had ever run in one go was a half marathon back in May and since then I held up a steady regimen of 2-3 5 mile runs during the week + and 8 mile run on the weekends. I hadn't really trained well for that kind of distance but I felt like I had put a notable amount of work in. Come the week before the race I started to feel some anxiety about even being able to finish the thing. 3 days before the run I woke up feeling pretty sick. Fatigue, runny nose, and sore throat. I started to wonder if I should even participate. I'm not sure how bad what I had was but I never ran a temperature and I had read about people's bodies doing weird things during the taper before the race. I spammed NyQuil two nights in a row and got about 11+ hours of sleep 2 nights in a row and woke up the day before feeling well enough to make the trip (about 4-5 hour drive to where the marathon was). I ended up doing pretty well for the first 14 miles. I reckon I averaged a 10:45 pace up to that point although it was hard to tell given some mistakes I made about pausing to use the restroom. It was miles 15-16 where my legs just started to burn. I managed to fall into pace with the 4:50 pacer who was alternating between walking and running and that's the only reason I feel like i even made it the next 4 miles to mile 20. At that point my left knee was hurting so bad every time it tried to run I just couldn't keep it up. Plus I'm flying in a few days to visit asia and didn't want to push myself so hard I injure myself before the trip so I ended up walking as fast as I could for the last 6 miles. Ngl I did some pretty atrocious times. I think the worst was a 17:43 mile. I ended up finishing the marathon in 6 hours. After doing some reading online I saw some pretty negative stuff about running a 6 hour marathon and I just wanted to say that while I know I can do better and I'll keep training- I still feel like it's an achievement and I'm proud I was able to pull it off. Congrats to all my fellow 6hr+ marathon runners!! Now if you'll excuse me my legs are in agony and my cheeks are chaffed.

Hello fellow runners!

So! Here is my some of my info:
Age 27, 175lbs, 5’9. I have been following a couch-to-10k training for almost two months now. Honestly, I’ve been feeling ok, and I’m feeling pretty positive about running this 10k (on 11/26th). I was at first a bit scared of knee injuries as I was “obese” when I started training, but now I’m 10 pounds away from my “normal” weight.

I have been using the Runna app, and I love it. So, as I look forward to continuing with my running journey, I was eyeing the half marathon that takes place in Mexico City in early June. However, I also noticed that there is a full marathon in Mexico City in late August, and I’m very persuaded to just sign up for that instead. Now, I don’t want to bite more than I can chew, but I was wondering if you guys think that the timeframe would be doable? Right now, my expected 10k time is 1h16mins-1h25mins.

On a side note: something that has been particularly challenging is long runs: I noticed that I get bored easily and then I start focusing just on the time or the miles left. What I have been doing is I usually play a bunch of interesting videos back to back and I watch them as I run at the gym, but I know this is not feasible for race day… any thoughts? How do you guys entertain yourselves during your runs?

Thanks in advance for the advice!!!

Da ich viel aus den Beiträgen gelernt habe, hier mein Beitrag.

Ich (F, 50) bin gestern meinen ersten Marathon in Frankfurt gelaufen. Vor zwei Jahren war ich einen Halbmarathon gelaufen und bin danach auch weiterhin regelmäßig joggen gegangen bis ich im Juni entschieden habe den Frankfurt Marathon zu laufen.

Ich bin direkt in einen Trainingsplan eingestiegen mit ca 70 km pro Woche, max. 95 km mit Intervall, Schwellentraining und natürlich den netten langen Läufen in Zone 2. Ich habe eine Leistungsdiagnostik durchführen lassen, um meine genauen Herzfrequenzbereiche zu kennen, habe mich weiterhin gesund ernährt und trotz Arbeit und vier Kindern immer versucht mich zu regenerieren.

Alles lief gut bis Anfang September, als ich leider eine akute und äußerst schmerzhafte Sacroiliitis rechts nach einem Halbmarathon bekommen habe, ich konnte kaum mehr gehen.

Physiotherapie und Crosstraining auf dem Fahrrad und Crosstrainer (zum Teil 3 h am Stück, um meine Kadiofitness nicht zu verlieren) bis zum Marathon folgten, immer wenn ich versucht habe zu joggen gingen die Schmerzen wieder los.

Natürlich habe ich überlegt, den Marathon nicht zu machen, aber ich hatte schon meine langen Läufe von 29, 30, 30, 32, 35 km und etliche Läufe über 25 km hinter mir, ich hatte die verschiedenen Gele und Produkte durchprobiert und beim Laufen die Magenverträglichkeit getestet und ich hatte auch schon drei lange Läufe ohne Kohlenhydrate geschafft. Ich hatte mir dynamischere Schuhe zugelegt, zweimal die Woche konstant Krafttraining gemacht und den immensen Wunsch gehabt unter 4 Stunden zu laufen.

Die Verletzung hat mir geholfen von allen ambitionierten Zielen Abstand zu nehmen, ein bisschen über mich selbst zu lachen und noch mehr die Freude am Laufen zu sehen und weniger die absolute Leistung. Ich fühlte mich plötzlich priviligiert mir überhaupt ein Ziel wie einen Marathon setzen zu können und habe die 7 Wochen bis zum Marsthon die Physiotherapie und das Crosstraining durchgezogen nur noch mit dem Ziel bei dem Marathon starten und zumindest einen Teil des Marathons erleben zu können.

Maximales Ziel jetzt: ins Ziel kommen.

Und der Marathon war wahnsinnig toll gewesen, daran konnte der Regen, der Wind und die riesigen Pfützen nichts ändern. All die Menschen, die im Regen standen, tanzten und applaudierten, die einen angefeuert haben. All die freiwilligen Helfer, die trotz Regen und Wind freundlich das Wasser reichten, es war eine riesige Freude und ein unendliches Privileg Teil des Ganzen sein zu dürfen.

Ich bin in 4:30h doch tatsächlich ins Ziel gelaufen und kann es nicht glauben. Auch heute tut mir nichts weh außer dem Muskelkater in den Oberschenkeln, auch das ist für mich unglaublich.

In zwei Jahren möchte ich nochmal Teil eines Marathons sein und dann nochmal mein eigentliches sub 4 Ziel in Angriff nehmen, hoffentlich mit weniger Druck und mit viel Vorfreude.

Ran MCM today as my first ever marathon, and boy did I have a GOOD time! I had so many nerves and aches during the taper and was terrified the night before, but even with 4 hours of sleep I think that was the best race I've ever run. My throat is hoarse from screaming in excitement the entire time! The crowd support was absolutely incredible and carried me farther than I ever thought I could go. I'm a little extra proud because I was able to run the entire thing (including the hills!) without stopping to walk, and as someone who is a Certified Lover of Walking on Runs, I am absolutely shocked that I was able to do that. I finished in 4:49:33 and can't wait to sign up for another marathon. It's a huge full circle moment because a year ago today, I ran my very first 5k race. At the time I had been a runner for maybe two months and never even considered that I could go for 26.2 - but here I am!! Highly recommend MCM to anyone who hasn't done it.

Having just completed my first marathon 2 days ago, after recovering (roughly a week) when can I safely start another marathon training block for the spring? Or should this be pushed further to September?

Finsihed 7:16:47 pace 16:40

5 mile 13:33 pace, 10 mile 13:39 pace, 15 mile 14:59 pace, 20 mile 16:04 pace

I just ran the Baltimore marathon and I felt the need to tell people to train, don't believe you are just built diffrent.

I read people saying how they did it with no training and I would always read how these people didn't train for it but I'd glace past how they were still in shape people and just didn't specifically train to run the 26.2 miles. I think context matters so.

For context I signed up for it a year ago with the intent to train and we didn't do much of it. I am not the most in shape man when I would go to the gym it was almost completly strenght training but as my gym book clocks I did in no real training this year and only once in the last few months. I'm not a very active person so my baseline isn't starting strong. At my job I'm not behind a desk all day but in no way is it going to help with running. I live in the city so I walk a fair amount but almost never more then a mile or two and that is a very rare occerance. The 2 days leading up to the marathon I ended up being busy with work so I only had 2 hours of sleep Thursday and 3 hours Friday before the race on Saturday which lack of sleep is definetly a factor but not a deciding one.

The experiance was fun I did the run walk method as that is how when I used to play rugby how I'd do in my games. Felt great a little tired as expected but I hit a wall around mile 11-12. I then transitioned quiclky into the walk and maybe a slow jog method but that didn't last long. It quickly became a walk only. I felt my calves tighten up in a very precise way where I knew if I tried to run I would pull/tear something. My body was in pain but I pushed through and as my pace times show I started moving slow. I could go on about the mental battle to want to quit but no real point just know it was strong. I then hit the another wall at mile 16 and then again at mile 20 but at that point the fact I could say only such and such left kept me going. I learned a lot about myself as I kept moving forward. I have more thoughts but I want to wrap this up.

Don't do the marathon if you haven't trained. I know my body well enough to prevent myself from getting hurt but I very easily could have made a mistake a put myself out. When we went out that night I was walking real slow, the next day at work I could stand no problem but getting place to place took awhile. I wasn't in real pain just the normal expected soreness but if that's not someting you know it will be a hard few days. My ankle still hurts a week out but I blame that mostly on an already exsisting condition.

In conclusion don't do it but if you are like me and you will read that and think you can do anything how about you just do the half. A half is still hard and something you can do and be proud of but I feel will lead to having a better time with less chance of seriors injury. The best option is to train and then do what your level of training says you are ready to do, but again if you are like me a searched "Marathon no training" when you fell behind on your regime don't listen to them and just go for it. It's a mental battle you need to be ready for and physical battle that can quickly turn bad.

Well folks, long time reader first time poster! I ran my very first marathon today, in Dublin. We had a status yellow wind warning and the wind was absolutely horrible. Goal was to just complete it but secretly wanted to do between 5:30 and 6:00, chip time was 6:00.24.
Got a bit of a stomach cramp at around 2 and was glad of the many portaloos on the course. Some good advice I took from here was to put toilet roll in a sandwich bag and keep it in the vest, as the portaloos ran out of toilet paper early on!
If you had told me a year ago I’d run for 6 hours if had told you to F off. Started training back in May and glad I did. It was a lovely course and the volunteers were amazing. It was made all the sweeter by having my dad and my sister (over from Australia) there cheering me on. I may have shed a tear crossing the finish line.
Well done to anyone who ran Dublin today, she was a harsh mistress!

I’ve got a few weeks until my marathon. It’s been great training except for my feet. I have a bunion and no matter how much I prep it for my run, compeed wrapping etc it still gets gnarly blisters.

Physically I think I’ll be fine running but my blisters are such an issue. My partner thinks I’m crazy for still attempting given how much pain and blistering I get. She has done many a marathon so I really appreciate her input. Idk what to do. 🫠

Hi there! New to running (4 months in). Set myself the challenge of completing a marathon in Nov 2027. Currently training 4 days a week. Base building. All easy runs. Longest run so far 15k.
Question is… should I increase to 5 days running? Or is rest the extra rest day beneficial?

I’ve had a rough month. Ran the DC half marathon unknowingly with a bad UTI that developed into a bladder infection, had an allergic reaction to the initial meds, and then finally had to be put on cipro, with delayed my training. So I never did a longer run than 14miles (I know). Also got laid off lol.

But I completed my first marathon! It’s been a life dream of mine and I’m still processing. I didn’t get swept! And actually did well in the first half before my body got crazy sore and the fatigue got brutal

I did it!! I completed my first ever marathon in 5:53:09. Exactly a year ago, I had just come out of major surgery and couldn't walk for 2 weeks. I signed up for my first ever marathon - The Dublin Marathon 2026 through a charity space because I really wanted to believe I would recover well enough to do it. Training wasnt easy because a lot of the times I had to stop from exerting myself because my surgery wounds would act up. I was extremely nervous about the race and was afraid of not being able to finish. I know my timing isn't great and the weather wasn't doing me any favors but either way I'm super happy that I finished.

As I'm starting to get into the further runs I am getting a bit of lower back pain. I don't feel it when I run, its mostly later the same day or the next day.

What stretches have helped you the most with lower back pain from running? Right now I mostly do a simple yoga flow before running and after running once I've cooled down.

Ran the 51st MCM for my first marathon and finished just north of 3:40. I used the Hal Higdon Intermediate 1 program and it worked pretty well. I dealt with a slight soleus strain for September in between 20-milers and didn’t log much mileage outside of that. Shout out to the crowds out there! My fastest miles were all in the busiest stretches

Chip time: 4:39:15
Garmin: 4:35:33

My optimistic reach goal was sub 4:30 but the goal I would’ve been happy with was sub 5! So all is well!
My legs gave up on me around mile 23 it was easy to see why, not enough miles a week, skipped some leg days(🤦🏾‍♂️), uneven splits and also let myself get up to 230 lbs/104kg (no it’s not muscle) 🤣
Some easy things to target IF I’m crazy enough to do another one of these! Read a lot of stuff in this Reddit so thanks to those who helped without knowing 🤝

It was Frankfurt Marathon!

First marathon finished 4:52. I had beautiful weather and a really well-organized race. I was hoping for under 4:30 (1:56 half in September made me feel this was doable) but I developed bad runner's knee after my 20 mile peak week long run and didn't it recover during the taper so I revised my goal to just finishing. I didn't do any strength work, which turned out to be a big mistake--if I had to do it again, I'd definitely add it. Glad I finished and looking forward to doing some physical therapy then heading back out.

Good luck to everyone whose race is still to come!

Ran MCM 2026! Really wanted to finish sub-four. I had a stretch target of 3.50 if things were going well at 20 miles. I realize that as a 40 year old I may have been too optimistic for my first.

Things did not quite go well. From mile 18 I had to start slowing down.
Got a stitch at 11 miles and again at around 23. Second stitch didn’t go away and had to walk a total of 7 mins.
I think I was taking on too much water as I was used to going overboard with hydration during Dallas heat training.

All that to say, I’m very happy to have done it, I didn’t hit my original target but I adapted to my reality when faced with it.
Lessons to learn for the next time:
Stick to the plan (pace and water)
Don’t pat yourself on the back at mile 18
Need more volume and endurance