I am always amazed at how many runners dont fuel properly or at all. Once I got my fueling while running dialed in it noticeably helped long runs. I even fuel on my longer midweek runs now. Great advice Jane.
It's because of the diet culture we've been brought up in and the "sugar is bad" message. Sugar is "bad" if you sit on the couch all day, not bad if you're using it to fuel your exercise, etc. So helpful for recovery, too, which I think people just don't make connection. I know I didn't for a long time!! And there will always be those people who tell us we should all be fasting before all runs to become fat-adapted, which is not anything I will personally promote even though there are always exceptions to a rule.
Congratulations to your runner for such an amazing improvement! That is super impressive and inspiring. I'm currently training for my second marathon and will keep in mind all these tips. I think one mistake I already made was taking too much downtime over the winter. I did race a New year's 5k which was fun and kept me motivated to move fast, but overall my mileage probably wasn't as consistently high as it should have been. There's always lessons for next time.
Training in the winter is hard!! It really wasn't until 2019/2020 when I trained for Boston that I stayed consistent through the winter for the first time. Now I know just how valuable it is. It's all a learning experience and all you can do is look forward! You're doing great...keep going. And yes, my athlete worked his tail off and he reaped the rewards because of that.
Great tips, love the video!! My biggest obstacle has always been taking the icy New England winters off, then diving into training in the spring. There was almost always an injury early on, and by the end of the season, my improvements could be measured in seconds... not minutes. Now that I have a treadmill (thank you wonderful husband), my biggest obstacle is time. 60+ hour work weeks don't leave much time to train for 50ks, but I'm determined to build my fitness this year, and make next year my best ultra season. Thankfully I learned early that food is mood. Lack of motivation, tired legs, etc always improve with a snack. Boy do i love running... 😂 I'm going to check out those strength videos tomorrow!
Hi Kelly - that treadmill will be a gamechanger!! And I feel like when you have one, even on the busiest weeks, you can find a way to fit in at least 30 min. Hope you find the consistency you're looking for come winter!
I love running long and slow, ultra lengths. But my marathons have always been training runs so, although I ran the whole time, I wasn't pushing for speed. I'm really nervous if I could hold true "marathon pace" the whole time
So I ran that marathon in San Jose, Costa Rica today! It went well! The last 5 kms were brutal, but I was able to push through in 3:51:58. So I was able to accomplish that goal of sub-4 for a first timer 😅 Love your channel, so underrated! Keep up the encouraging and challenging videos! 😊👍🏃♂️
Wow - huge congrats to you Michael! What a strong first marathon. Oh gosh that last 5 - 10 km never really gets easier...just a different kind of hard as your journey evolves. SO proud of you and honored to know the channel was able to help offer a bit of guidance as you prepared for your race.
@@runningwithjane I’m two weeks out from that marathon and I’m still really sore in my left leg/hip. I’ve really been wanting to run this last week at least slow jogs but I’ve decided to let my legs fully rest and heal. I guess I’m a little surprised that it’s taken two weeks and I’m still not 100%. I think I need to give it at least another week before I try to begin running again. Did you ever experience this after a race? When my legs feel up to it again and and feel fully back from that reason I wanted to begin another block of training for as close as I can get to 3:30 as possible. Anywhere between 3:30 and 3:40 I think would be a victory for me. Running the race sometime between October and December.
Hey Michael - marathons are brutal on the body and you really can't predict how the you will bounce after a hard race effort like that. It sounds like you may have experienced a bit outside the normal with something that could turn into an injury if you're not careful (I say this because it's only on one side). You are SMART to wait to run. Give it another week and hopefully you'll be ready to go, but really anything up to four weeks of recovery after marathon isn't that weird!!
This one hit home for me. I'm in week 9 of Hals novice 2 , Although I finished my 1st marathon, ( and i dint miss or shorten runs) it was a tough go towards the end. In the spirit of getting an additional day in the gym I have been doing the three runs during the week in two days ( same mileage just in two days) and not manipulating the long run at all. I feel good , Im in NJ so three days instead of four is nice, just wondering if you advise for or against . my three runs vs four
Do you do a double in one day or put 2 of the days' mileage together? Typically it's better to split the volume over 4 days, but I'd have to have more understanding of your training, overall mileage of the program, pace, how quickly you got to that mileage, etc. to really say...each runner is unique and obviously getting in the lifts are important to you so also depends on your goal for the marathon.
I put 2 days together.I will be 50 next month & have only been running consistently for a little less than a year but crossfitting and staying fit for over 10. I would say I run all my runs on the easy side, slow and steady.What started out as a bucket list item has become a new obsession , ty for all your videos @@runningwithjane
Great video Jane. I’m a half marathon runner looking to extend my distance to the marathon next year. Great tips in the video - all on point. I’ll check out your video on fueling. I struggle with slowing down and varying paces. It seems almost impossible for me to run but so slow before I feel my form breaking down. Do you have any extra tips for someone like me? Thanks !!
Hi Mark!! Going to do a video on this - running easy can be hard in a very different way. It feels awkward and truthfully it's not efficient. But over time it will be. Your form isn't breaking down so much as it's just not as smooth as when you run fast. Add in some strides to your week and that will help - focus on trying to keep your cadence up - won't be quite as high as when you run fast but you should be able to get pretty close. If you run without music don't once in awhile on those easy runs and just really pay attention to the nuances of your body. It's honestly a necessity for getting faster over time and as you build mileage for staying healthy so just keep working on it and it will come!
ITA on all points, esp. #8 it seems at every turn this year & last, the right info was just right there, blogs, interviews, podcast, websites, or books. My fitness level is still too low for a long race like a marathon, but improving, and for that I'm grateful!
Hey Jane! Any advice on how you would go about incorporating cross training (cycling) into a training cycle? Or some resources on that… I did one full a year or so ago and have done a few halves since. Probably going to do two more halves before another full, but want to be really thoughtful before planning it out…considering working in some bike when I do
Hey there - cross training is great! Things get more tricky when it's marathon training time, but easy enough to get plenty of volume for a half and keep in balance with cycling. I'd do 3 days run and 2-3 days cycle depending on your schedule. And one of those bike days should be aerobic so that it's helping to contribute to your overall aerobic endurance without being too taxing on the body. A long run (mostly easy pace) , easy run and speed run (tempo OR interval) and you should be a in great spot!
@@runningwithjane thanks! I was generally thinking along similar lines. I typically run 5 days per week when prepping for a race-thought would be to replace an easy run per week with bike…maybe a quality session on occasion as well. Thanks so much for getting back.
I am running my first marathon in September 2023. I just skipped a run yesterday because my body was so sore 😬. I am nervous because the race has a 6-hour cutoff. Thank you for the information!
Hi Joshua - sometimes you do have to take an extra rest day as that's the better choice from a recovery standpoint. But I would also consider why you were so sore and think about how you can adjust going forward to try to avoid that. Examples could be not doing easy runs slow enough, adding mileage too quickly, not fueling properly which helps a ton with recovery, not sleeping well, strength training too hard, etc. Is there anything in particular you feel like you've been struggling with in training?
@@runningwithjane I think it is a combination of increased mileage and not fueling properly. I have been doing a lot of research, but applying it personally has been a challenge. How do you go about booking a few coaching sessions with you? I have 15 weeks until the marathon.
Hi Joshua - you can reach out about setting up a 1-hour coaching consult here. readysetmarathon.com/contact-us/?source=consult-button Current pricing can be found on the Coaching Services page. Would be happy to offer guidance for you.
in general i think one has to run an actual marathon event to consider getting better, as the first one gives you an official race time that one can work with and perhaps figure out what to do next? just did a 25km trail event today, it went well, first time on that event, thinking yes i could have done more training, but its ok, i have my first official marathon event next weekend in Ottawa, again i know somewhat undertrained but i am confident of running in in 330 for sure, plus or minus a few minutes, but again, i figure it's my first one, so i can do an assessment on what happens at this marathon. Thanks again and good information as always.
As I tell anyone running their first marathon, you just don't know what it's like til you do it. I can share my experience all day long but until you're in it, you won't truly understand the feeling or know what those last 6 miles can bring. All you can do is prepare as best as possible and do your best! Good luck to you!
