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11/07/2026

The best marathon advice I've ever gotten? Slow down.

Running is hard. If you do it right, it's the hardest — and most rewarding — thing you do.

My easy runs always drifted to about 8:00/mile. I'd start at 8:20, warm up, and end up in the 7:45s. It felt easy. It felt sustainable.

Then in early September, I told my high school coach Steve Shaklee I was running a marathon. After asking why I'd do that to myself, he said:

"Slow down to a 9-minute pace."

I embraced it. Even easier than I'd run all year.

September: 50 of 194 miles slower than 8:40.
October: 55 of 194 miles slower than 8:40.

What it gave me: recovery. Better recovery meant more miles. More miles meant more fitness.

Proof: 20 miles at 8:09 average, 126 average heart rate.

With 2 weeks to go to race day, I'm ready — because I slowed way, way down.

10/28/2026

Should you race in the middle of marathon training?

It depends — not on the race, but on what it does to your training.

A tune-up race CAN help:
✅ Test your current fitness & reset your training paces
✅ Practice race-day routine, fueling, and pacing
✅ Get a hard effort without planning it yourself
✅ Break up the monotony of marathon miles

But it can also hurt:
❌ It costs you 7-10 days with taper + recovery
❌ A bad day can wreck your confidence, even if your training is actually going well
❌ If you're already barely staying afloat, one hard effort can put you under

Ask yourself before you sign up:
1. Does this race support my marathon goal?
2. Will I have time to recover before my next key workout?
3. Will the result actually change my training — or am I just looking for reassurance?

If it helps you fine-tune the next block, race it.
If it's a distraction, skip it.

I broke down the full decision framework in this week's newsletter — https://trainwithmarc.substack.com/p/race-during-marathon-training

DM me RACE if you're debating a tune-up and want a second set of eyes on it.

Are you racing during your marathon build this fall?

10/23/2026

When I started this year, I was "only" running about 25-30 miles per week. I was pumped to run 100-120 miles a month. I was running well and racing well too.

No need to adjust, right? Wrong.

Since the start of August and the start of marathon training, I've upped my mileage considerably.

Aug 175.53
Sep 194.68
Oct 141.90 (with 9 more days to go)

I kept telling myself I was a low-mileage middle-distance runner, but it turns out I'm capable of so much more than I was giving myself credit for.

10/21/2026

When you work hard day in and day out for weeks and months, good things tend to happen.

I’m super excited to see all the hard work pay off for Ryan - because sometimes even when you do all the hard work, something can still go wrong.

But luckily for us, rywinss did it all right and got lucky on race day.

Proud of your efforts and what’s coming next!

10/20/2026

Even though I was at a race, I decided it was best for me to stay within myself and run a controlled effort. I learned a lot from Sunday that I’ll use over the next month in training.

6:19 average for the first 5 miles.

6:12 average for the last 4 miles (into a headwind).

158 average heart rate for the entire 15k and felt totally within myself.

The big day is coming up soon, so back to training I go!

📸: brittanyanncool

10/17/2026

Pre-race striders are the perfect way to signal to your body that tomorrow’s a race day.

Whether you’re racing long or short, strides are great for tapping into some speedier running.

I do 4-6 controlled sprints, starting at goal race pace and getting a bit quicker every time.

Each strider ranges from 50 meters to 100+ meters and is followed by as much rest as you’d like.

Tell me, do you do striders before race day?

10/11/2026

The long run I’ve been looking forward to is here!

I’m new-ish to the nutrition aspect of marathon training and I’m hoping to find answers that work for me on race day.

I’ve done a poor job getting enough calories in during my first longer run, so I’m practicing the best I can to get a feel for what tastes good, what’s going to support me the best, and what I’ll be able to keep down.

If you have any good suggestions, leave a comment!

distancerunning

10/10/2026

What is Zone 2 running and how do you know if you're in the "right zone"?

Zone 2 is the building block of training. It will get you ready for longer runs and for workouts.

But because heart rate numbers vary by individual, it's hard to say exactly what each and every runner's Zone 2 pace is.

If you're interested in finding your effort for a Zone 2 run, do the talk test. If you can talk in a full sentence, then you're running in Zone 2.

Still unsure what your Zone 2 pace is? I can help you discover what your paces should be. Leave a comment or DM me "Zone 2" and I'll help guide you.

10/05/2026

The Twin Cities Marathon is moving to mid-October starting in 2027. It's the first date change in 45 years.

The reason: 2023 was canceled on race morning due to dangerous heat. Organizers did a multi-year review with climatologists and moved the whole weekend to Oct 10–17 — cooler air means more finishers and fewer medical tents.

That's what smart racing looks like: respect what you can't control, optimize what you can.

Philly is in late November. We can't control race-day weather either, but we can control the last 7 weeks of training.

Want help with that part? DM me PLAN.

10/04/2026

If you thought that you had to race in order to get faster, you're wrong.

You can race if you'd like, but really to get faster, you need strides, speed work, and hills.

In this week's post, I'll help you figure out what training you can be doing so you not only feel faster, but you're actually faster.

How you can gain speed without needing to race

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