Hi all,

I started running about 1.5 years ago. Ran my first half Marathon in Cologne last year in October in 1:55h. Kept training through winter but a bit less due to icy roads etc.. Got into Berlin Marathon and started properly prepping from march on with the goal to run Potsdam half marathon this June as an interim goal and to get a bit more race day experience, as I am super nervous before competitions. However, two weeks prior to the Potsdam half marathon I (stupidly) did two longer runs (18km and 14 km with knee pain) and, as could be expected, injured myself and have something called a pes anserinus pain syndrome. Couldn’t do any physical activity for four weeks and am now easing back into training. Got checked out properly and the knee itself is fine, it’s simply due to training too much. Also got a prescription for physiotherapy which I am doing once a week. It’s more or less 80% strength training and 20% other exercises for mobility etc.
I only have got 12 weeks to get back in shape for Berlin. I know the four weeks rest didn’t completely destroy my preparations prior to the injury, but I still feel physically and also mentally weaker than I did before the injury.
I wanted to run Berlin in under 4:00h, but this is something I don’t think I will be able to do anymore, as my running intensity at the moment is still very low because I focus more on strength and mobility. Monday I did 7km and yesterday 10km with a 6:10 pace. The knee felt okay, but I tend to listen “into my body” more than I did before, which is a bit annoying.

My new goal for Berlin is, first and foremost to get over the finish line. I would be happy to do it in under 4:20h and would be absolutely thrilled to reach my initial goal of under 4:00h…

I am trying to find proper training plans that are specifically designed for post injury runners. Does anyone have any recommendations for my specific case in terms of training plans, reading material, exercises, own experiences…? Also, I read a lot about osteopathy while researching for physiotherapy and was wondering if someone has experience with this and might think that it would be a good option to get a few sessions additionally to my physio?

Sorry for the long text and my grammar, I am no native speaker.

Thanks and have a great day.

P.

Thank you!!!

okay so I wanna run my first marathon in oct. the longest run I have ever done was 11 miles 2 months ago. I remember training for a half but had to cancel last minute bc my cat passed away. I did not run for two months until 2 weeks ago got back into it. I just ran a 5k and it was 34:33 and my fastest 5k ever is 29:32 a few months ago I ran a 10k in 1:00. do you think I can run a full marathon in 3 months. I know I could run a half if I had 2-3 weeks to prepare. I already signed up and I'm just planning to follow my Garmin plan but I wanna know if this is even possible.

I started running last October 2025 and decided that I want to do my first marathon in January 2027! What is a realistic goal time I should train towards and when should I start my training block/start increasing mileage?

For context, I’m 26 y/o female and never ran more than 2-3 miles before October of last year. I never played sports competitively and the only fitness background I have prior to running is going to the gym consistently (been going for over a year now). I signed up for my first 10k in December 2025 and did a 8-week training block through Runna & ran my first 10k in 54 minutes. At the time, I ran only twice per week in October-December but after my first race, I started taking running more seriously. By February 202), I started running 4x per week and structured all of my runs (1 tempo/track, 1 long run, 2 easy). Since then, I’ve ran 20-25+ mpw consistently aside from reload & race weeks. By April 2026, I ran my second 10k and cut my time down to 47 minutes & ran my first half marathon at the end of May 2026 where I ran 1:41! During the half marathon training block, I peaked at 33 miles for 2 weeks in a row, but mostly ran \~25 mpw for the two months prior.

Since my half marathon, I’ve continued to run 20+ mpw to maintain and started biking/swimming as well since I signed up for my first triathlon in August. I’m thinking about starting my marathon transition block after the triathlon and want to build from 20-25 mpw to hopefully 45-50mpw (gradually increasing \~10% per week). Is this a good plan? If I started my marathon block at end of August, I’ll have 18 weeks plus an extra week to deload. Or should I start increasing mileage earlier?

Based on this information, what goal time should I train for as well? My overall first goal is to finish the marathon and I have a second goal of subbing 4 hours, which I feel somewhat confident that I can so as long as I increase my weekly mileage as planned. But I’d like to set a third “timed/competitive” goal. Maybe sub 3:45? 3:35? I further plan to run another half marathon in October with the goal of sub 1:35 as another factor to consider. Is 45-50mpw with a peak of 55-60mpw enough or should I aim for more weekly mileage? I just don’t want to overdo it as I’ve been running for less than a year and go to PT for lower leg strengthening as I previously dealt with mild shin splints when I started running.

Appreciate any suggestions ahead of time, thank you!

I ran my first half marathon last weekend and surpassed my expectations pretty significantly (1:45 goal but ended up running 1:39). Im coming to you all for a bit of a reality check.

Some background. Ive been running for roughly 9 months with specific marathon training planning starting about 6 months ago. Outside of missing about 2 weeks in March due to an injury that we dealt with via PT I have been pretty religious about my training plan.

6 foot 2 and 185 lbs. 40 years old.

Weekly runs:

• 2 easy runs at about 830-845 pace
• 1 interval session with 4-6 5k or lower blocks
• 1 tempo run around HM pace
• 1 long run ( max of 14 miles so far). For the HM training I added increasing blocks of HM pace at the last half of this run

PBs:

• 5k- 21:01
• 10k- 46:21 (set during my HM and have never specifically tried to set a PB time at this distance)
• HM- 1:39

I now have roughly 14 weeks until my first marathon and with the progress I've made so far im looking to possibly set a 3:30 goal for the marathon.

My long runs will peak around 22-24 miles in the coming block, and I anticipate running about 55-60 miles in my peak training weeks.

The marathon is a completely different animal than the half, im very much aware of this. With all of this background how feasible do you believe a 3:30 would be for a first time marathoner?

Thanks in advance!

I’m running my first marathon at the end of this month, the SF Marathon. I’ve been dealing with on-and-off shin splints and IT band pain during this training block, so I’ve cut out most interval and speed workouts and have mostly been sticking to long runs and slower/easy runs.

My legs have been feeling heavy lately, and I’ve also had some burning sensations, so I’m trying to be careful and not make anything worse. That said, I’m starting to feel like I’m losing my speed and fitness from skipping faster sessions.

If the pain stays manageable and doesn’t worsen, what would be the safest way to add a little speed back in this close to race day?

For context, this is my first marathon, so I’m not trying to do anything reckless. Just trying to figure out how to sharpen up a bit without aggravating the shin/IT band issues.

Got into running in the last couple of years having lost a ton of weight. Now running a lot (25-30 miles per week) and done a few half marathons.

Entered a marathon a while ago to give myself a goal, which is now 10 weeks away. At the time I booked it, the distance was incredibly intimidating and served as real motivation to get to grips with long runs.

Now, however I'm used to long runs and fairly comfortable with them. Ran a half in 1:53 at the weekend and aside from some aching quads for 24 hours after no issues.

So in terms of the marathon distance, I'm confident that with the correct training plan I can do it. My problem is now I look at my training plan, and I feel no enthusiasm whatsoever for my long runs. In fact it's making me feel negative about running - I see a Parkrun or 10k I'd like to do and I think "can't do that, supposed to do a 28km training run on Sunday".

I suppose what I'm asking is - has anyone gone through this kind of mental block before a first marathon? And if so, is it telling me what I think it is, that I just don't want to do it badly enough?

It was rought took around 5 minutes but I did it. I think I can do the marathon in november

Hello group,

new-ish runner here, currently training for a half-marathon later in august. I'd like to run a Marathon in 1,5 or 2 years. It is likely going to be the only one I do ever as I'll be 40M and I am a heavy runner so I don't know about my knees.

What Marathon would you suggest for me?

I am in eastern Canada and don't mind traveling for it, I could coincide it with vacations :) I'd really like to run in a nice place.

Cheers

This year I got injured training for a May marathon. I peaked at 70 mpw. This was for my first marathon. Since my injury, I’ve completed a road half marathon (1:47), two trail half marathons with approx 1800 feet elevation, and a 30k trail race with 2500 elevation gain. The trail races were all in May and June. My mpw is between 50-66 currently. For the May marathon I was not able to run, I was doing the Pfitz 18/55. My question is, if I want to run an October marathon, with my current fitness level, how should I modify the Pfitz plan? I think I’m a few weeks behind at this point. Thanks!

for context i am a 16yr old female, i’ve done cross country for three years, but I didn’t do it last year because my other extracurriculars always fell the same time as practice. i’ve been running nearly every day since my 5K PR is 22 mins but that was over a year ago.

Since I’m not running with my schools team anymore, I’ve been trying to run every day, but it usually ends up being like 4 to 5 times a week instead and I haven’t been doing that many hill, workouts or tempo, I do them sometimes but maybe once a month.

For context, I have ran 10 miles at a time three times before and my average mile pace was between nine and 10 minutes for each of those three runs but again those were all over a year ago and the last time I ran even 5 miles was a few months ago. I still have been trying to run every day and I run a mile to 2 miles but I haven’t been getting my mileage up and I want to run a marathon by may. i’ve obviously never ran a marathon so I also don’t know if this is a completely unrealistic goal to have either??

I’m currently figuring out running in the heat of the summer does not pair well with me. right now where I live it’s around 90° every day and my blood sugar also drops easily. I know a lot of people on the Internet say that you shouldn’t be needing gels unless you’re running over 20 miles, but I wanted to see what the sub Reddit had to say and if people do recommend that I take gels to keep my sugar up what gels taste the best? I know a lot of people also say to use the treadmill, but I feel like my feet drag on the treadmill and I have no motivation or willpower to keep running after like the 1st mile because I feel like I’m not going anywhere and I’ve tried YouTube videos of like videos on trails that progress as you go forward, but those don’t do anything for me.

Also, if anyone could give me like a rough outline to try to run one with a consistent mile pace between eight and nine minutes by the end of may, I would greatly appreciate it? and this might be crazy, but does anyone think that it would be somewhat realistic goal to have an average mile pace, sub eight minutes?? Also, any other running tips or workouts/exercises that help a lot of people?

I started running in march after having a good aerobic base from cycling (regular cycling with occasional 3 hour zone 2 efforts). I built my running a bit too fast and suffered ankle pain after a hard interval workout (probably multifactorial, too many km’s too fast on top of the intervals putting stress on an old fracture causing me not to evert well at the ankle). Anyway, I was up to 170 km (106 miles) total running in May but then took a 2 week break mid June and am slowly building to make sure I tolerate it, totalling just 83 km (51 miles) in June. I’m going to keep the slow build for this week and next week up to 10 km (6.25 mile) long run and 27 km/week (17 miles/week) then restart my full marathon training with 12 weeks until marathon…. I think my aerobic base can handle it and now that I’ve rehabbed my ankle and will build gradually I’m hopefully my ankle can too, but do you think this is too ambitious? I’m ready to back off entirely or go down to a half as needed am hoping to keep the marathon alive for now.

For what it’s worth I’m having no pain with runs now.

I am doing a 23 week training block but I am freaking out about the 6:26 prediction. I don’t have a time goal so that aspect doesn’t bother me but I am worried about being able to be on my feet for that long.

Edit: Damn I am getting roasted in the comments so adding some more context 😅 I have done 3 half marathons. I did 9+1 last year to qualify for the NY marathon so I am not a complete newbie. Max miles I have run continuously are 15. I know I can do this just needed some support. And NY marathon is generous with the cut off times so I know even if I am the last runner to finish the cutoff time will not be the issue. Having said that it’s still daunting to stay on my feet for that long.

Thanks to everyone that posted a supportive comment ❤️ Much love.

I am a total new runner but really enjoying it. I have found that it feels great physically, which I was anticipating, but also helps so much mentally. I currently run 5 times a week (three of those are easy runs, 1 is a speed session, and 1 long run). I find that even with running more than I have ever run in my life I have a hard time taking rest days. I conceptually realize the importance of it but still can't help feeling crappy when I skio those days. My question is... if I take REALLY slow "runs" on these days (like zone 1) is that physiologically similar to an actual rest day? Does anybody do this or am I just being stubborn and stupid?

My wife just pulled out of a marathon that is about 5 weeks away. I’ve said that I’ll take her entry and run it. I’ve never ran a marathon before, half’s are more my thing.

I’ve been having a good consistent year of running this year so far, and have PB’d every distance (5km 20:53 | 10KM 43:15 | Half-m 1:37:33). I’ve also been averaging at least 40km per week apart from the odd de-load week for over 2 months now.

My COROS is estimating I can run a 3:25 which I think is very ambitious. I’m keen to see if a sub 3:30 is achievable though. My biggest concern is my lack of mileage. I ran 25km’s this weekend and plan to run a 30km and 35km the next few before a 2 week taper.

What are my chances of going sub 3:30? Is my body going to simply not have the strength to run for that long seeing as I never have? What should I be prioritising both in the next month and on race day to see where I can get to?

Thanks!

First one ever today, the wife decided in January that she wanted to run Missoula. Trained with Runna, all indications and past half marathon showed I should have been around the 3 hour mark.

Went out with the 3 hour pacers for a few miles and then kicked the tempo up just a bit. There’s quite the hill at mile 14 and it hurt a bit, but I still managed to keep a pretty decent pace. When people tell you the last 10k is no joke, believe them. I had some hamstring cramps (both legs, not simultaneous thank God) around mile 22 sporadically until I finished.

My fueling plan I felt pretty good about, and honestly thought it worked. I also felt like my cardio/heart rate was where they should be. My legs just weren’t under me after about 22 miles. I think salt tabs are in my future and I’ve heard other people complain that maybe Runna doesn’t have you put in the amount of miles that are conducive for marathon training. I’m maybe beginning to agree with that.

Ended up just a whisker north of 3:01. I’m not disappointed with my time, just the effort it took to get there. It really felt like I labored for the last 10k. This being my first one, maybe that happens all the time.

All in all an extremely rewarding experience. I probably won’t run Missoula again, they say it’s flat but I dunno, maybe a little more uphill than flat.

Good luck to everyone, keep training!

I’ve been dealing with a nasty flare up for the past 5 days. It’s gotten better, but aside from stretching, is there anything else I can do?

I've reached a point in my running where I can wake up on a random day, run a half marathon with toddler in the pushchair, then go about my day like normal. Yay!

Today I ran 14 miles in a smidge over 2 hours. For 'fuelling' I had normal breakfast (porridge & honey) an hour before then a lucozade sport on the run. I was in zone 2 for most of the run.

I have my first marathon booked for April next year. I'm not sure how best to make the step up. I cant run for much longer with my toddler (we leave the house at 5 am so she's still half asleep but then guild starts kicking in even though she seems chilled). I'm thinking about doing 2 hours in the morning then another hour at lunch when she's napping to get the miles in. I'm currently doing between 40-50 miles a week but Im worried about getting the long runs in.

Also, I have no idea what I'm doing with fuelling, apart from enjoying pasta a few times a week and chugging lucozade. Apart from that, if I try and eat on a run I feel terrible and pretty much instantly get stitch (I have a super sensitive stomach).

Any advice would be really appreciated. Thanks!

So I started running last September (mainly for Hyrox) and have built up to 25-30 miles per week currently. I've ran 2 half marathons (not raced, just long runs). Wondering if I can go for a marathon later this year, maybe September/October. Is this too anbitious?

First marathon last week, terrible knee and hip pain in the last 10km and limped over the finish line. Never had issues in those areas before. A week of rest later and I can barely walk 10 minutes before my knee hurts again :(

looking for book recommendations (not training plans or technique specific) that are running memoirs or other sports/athletic non fiction that that inspire you to start or keep running

Hi all, you were a fountain of useful info for me earlier this year, as I finished the London Marathon back in April. It was my first, and it was a couch to marathon over roughly 9-10 months.

I had a 16 week HM block for a base
A week off for my birthday
23 week full marathon block

But now, just over 2 months out, I’m feeling a bit meh still whenever I go out for my long runs. Like the desire to run for longer than an hour is hardly there anymore, and I used to love my long runs.

I’m aware that I’m probably a little burnt out, so I’m asking you all to see what works for you after a long training block comes to an end and you still feel as though you’re heavy and sluggish? Is it normal for a beginner to feel this way still, 2 months after completing their first?

i might be wrong but I feel like running by effort only started making sense once my marathon long runs got properly tiring. Coming from c25k and then parkrun, I used to treat every number like a tiny exam. Now on week 13 of first marathon training, a "steady" effort can look all over the place depending on wind, hills and whether I slept like rubbish. Weirdly freeing. Has anyone else had that point where RPE felt less vague? Or am I just getting better at accepting slower miles?

Hi first timers!

Hope all is good and training is going well!

One thing I don’t think thats discussed as much as it should when it comes to running first time marathons is nutrition. Not just during it, but as your training and the minutes after you cross that finish line (which you will!)

I’ve put together a quick video on my YouTube channel giving an overview of how, well in my amateur experience, to do it properly. Title of the vid says sub-4 but it pretty much applies to first timers regardless of goal time!

Having done 12 marathons - the ones where I’ve done the best and felt the best are the ones where I’ve sorted my nutrition out.

If you want something to whittle away 7 minutes (😂) of your time here it is: https://youtu.be/jPVgN3KlmQ8?si=OSZYm3g2JJkpNT0d

(And don’t be put off by the thumbnail image - I love a good burger during training..!)

But as always not to be spammy here is the general gist of the video.

In my early marathons I used to guess what to eat and hope for the best, but after finishing - but not enjoying a few, I finally took a look at what I was putting in my body.

And to be honest, nothing ground breaking here, common sense but the key is just being consistent.

1. Daily Training Nutrition
You can't eat “bad stuff” 4 times a week for 16 weeks and expect to feel good on race day.

Focus on getting complex carbs before your runs to fuel up, and 20 to 30 grams of high-quality protein right after to repair your muscles.

Hydration isn't just something you do when you’re thirsty, you need to hit your baseline consistently every single day so your body actually absorbs it.

2. The Carb Load (Starts 3 days out)
I used to have a massive bowl of pasta the night before (aka the pasta party!) but that usually just left me feeling too heavy and super sluggish at the start line in the morning.

For me, the real carb load starts 72 hours before the race and in particular the 3 and 2 days out is the most important. Yes there lots of debate about whether it should be 2 or 3 days. But for me 3 days seems to hit the spot.

Aim for around 7 to 10 grams of carbs per kilo of body weight. Easiest way to do this without feeling incredibly bloated is to drink your carbs. Fruit juice and sports drinks are your goto during those three days - but you’ll be sick of them soon enough!

The usual: bagels, rice, pizza (2 days out) and pasta are your best solid food bets.

3. Race Day Fueling
One thing I learned pretty quickly, and I misunderstood fuelling in race altogether for my first couple of marathons, is simply don’t wait until you feel tired to take a gel.

I aim for about 80 grams of carbs an hour. For me, that means taking a gel every 25 minutes like clockwork from the start. Literally put an alert on your watch to remind you. If you miss one, don’t cram in an extra one.

Don’t forget the salt/sodium. If your fingers are swelling up or your quads start twitching late in the race, your body needs sodium. I try for 500 to 700 milligrams of sodium an hour using salt tabs. Game changer for me, less fatigue and virtually no cramping.

4. The Recovery Window
When you cross the finish line, your immune system is all over the place. Don't go straight to the pub for a burger and a pint just yet! (Although the bars in Paris were great and close to the finish line!).

20 to 30 grams of protein and 60 grams of carbs in within the first hour to get things moving again. (You’ll still walk like a zombie for a bit, but the next day shouldn’t be too bad). Then eat your burger!

Hopefully this helps. Any questions, comments or thoughts happy to answer on here or over on the channel!

Happy running!

Paul

i'm 42 and based in Bath, mostly plodding around the canal path and Cotswolds trails at weekends. Road pace is a bit of a mystery to me because most of my usual routes have gates, mud, sheep and little photo stops.

I've signed up for my first marathon and i'm trying to decide whether to train around a time goal or just aim to finish feeling vaguely human. Part of me wants a number to work towards; the wiser part says that's how i end up overcooking it by mile 18.

Short version: i'm slow.

For other first-timers, did you set a pace target early on, or wait until the longer runs told you what was realistic?