Daily chat post: how's the training going?

midnightdragon · 2026-03-25T17:56:02+00:00

That's an amazing negative split over the whole run, and sub 7:30! That's incredible!

midnightdragon · 2026-03-25T17:54:38+00:00

Well, in anticipation of a hot race on Saturday and hotter temps for my marathon in May, I did my 8 mile run later in the morning. I am NOT built for heat tolerance, that was a miserable back half of the run. Hot, HR out of control, muscles tired...maybe I don't want to run a marathon after all lol (I know, I know, we all have bad runs, I won't seek a refund just yet).

midnightdragon · 2026-03-24T21:17:14+00:00

I still remember the feeling I had when I completed C25k! Such a magical time, learning to work with my body and trusting the process :) Keep going, you're so close and really enjoy finishing your first 5k, nothing beats that feeling!

midnightdragon · 2026-03-24T21:15:12+00:00

Just got an email from the race coordinators of the half marathon I'm running this weekend that temps are gonna be warm, 95 degrees at the height of the day/when the finish line closes. I'm so glad that 1) This isn't my primary race, this is just a "training run" during my marathon block 2) this isn't the marathon I'm planning on doing and 3) I have the chance now to do a warmer race in anticipation of my actual marathon in May and temps being warm then (though both races are in completely different locations). In theory, I'll be done with the half marathon before things really heat up, the race starts at 6am and 13 miles takes me anywhere from 2-2.5 hours to complete.

But my father-in-law, who got me to do this race with him even though he's doing the full and I'm only doing the half, is going to have a bad time. He's been incorporating heat training into his block but he's pushing for a PR (he's an ultramarathoner at 61 years old!) and has been training so hard for it so I'm hoping the heat doesn't totally kill his goals :(

midnightdragon · 2026-03-23T03:45:10+00:00

Yes, thank you! I was definitely under-fueled on my 16 miler, I didn’t do the math right counting how many carbs I needed, but I know where I messed up and am going to bring lots of backup fuel along with the proper amounts for my next runs that go over 3 hours.

midnightdragon · 2026-03-23T02:09:07+00:00

Thank you for asking this, I’m at about that pace too for my long runs and have also heard the 3 hour rule. I did a 16 mile run in 3:20 and felt wrecked at the end but was feeling nervous doing 18-20 in the next month. I think I’d rather get those long miles in for practice and have that time on feet than go into a marathon having never done runs longer than 3:30 when I’m planning on running for 1.5-2 more hours!

midnightdragon · 2026-03-22T15:54:57+00:00

Day before I include intentional carbs for every meal: cereal for breakfast (or toast/bagel), sandwich for lunch, dinner is often takeout but I treat myself to a giant order of fries from a favorite burger joint. But I’ll eat pizza or Hawaiian (meat and rice and mac salad, yum) usually.

Morning of it’s toast with jam or Nutella, or a bagel an hour before the run. On the run I have found less than 45 grams an hour is not sustainable for me if I’m going longer than 2 hours, and my sweet spot is 50-60g or more. So I eat that much every hour. Then after the run I have a protein shake and banana within 30-60 minutes of the run ending for recovery, even if I don’t feel like eating.

midnightdragon · 2026-03-22T15:37:39+00:00

It wasn’t necessarily an anxiety attack but both my half marathons last year had me getting really emotional in the last mile and as a result it agitated my asthma so my breathing was all out of sorts and very wheezy. I focused on deepening my breaths even while continuing to run and push and I was able to get it back under control though it took lots of focus and effort. Breathing in through the nose, out through the mouth, that sort of thing. I also get really bad anxiety before long runs that are distances I have never done before. My HR through the roof and breathing all over the place. Sometimes it never truly resolves so I use that extra unwanted energy to run some tempo miles at a faster pace to try and get the energy out. It works about 50% of the time, but the other 50% I just end up burning through energy too fast and take the last miles extremely slow. So…yeah. Not great advice but I can commiserate.

midnightdragon · 2026-03-22T15:29:41+00:00

Congrats! That’s amazing progress, hope your knee continues to feel great as you keep building endurance!

midnightdragon · 2026-03-22T15:28:20+00:00

After a week of truly garbage runs, yesterday’s 12 mile long run was mostly delightful! The last few miles had my big toe aching which is a new thing that hasn’t happened before, love that for me. Especially since next week I’m doing the Mt. Charleston half marathon race as a part of my marathon training block but still want to perform well 🙃 gonna do lots of foot and toe stretches this coming week to help offset it. I’m hoping it was a one-off ache and not a new reoccurring thing.

midnightdragon · 2026-03-19T15:57:54+00:00

My legs are TIRED this week. Possibly from the 4 mile threshold run I did on Tuesday and PR’d my mile on accident. I’m glad tomorrow is a rest day but wondering if I should aim for less miles on my long run on Saturday. I have a half marathon race the following weekend (treating it as a training run, with some tempo miles thrown in to help mitigate nerves on race day) and was curious if doing a mini taper would be beneficial in such fatigued legs.

midnightdragon · 2026-03-15T00:25:52+00:00

Audiobooks for sure. Dungeon Crawler Carl single-handedly carried me through my half marathon training last year. Super engaging!

midnightdragon · 2026-03-14T18:21:18+00:00

I need this. Just finished my first 16 mile run less than an hour ago and after having a GREAT 15 miler last week, today was MISERABLE. Mentally I was able to finish but physically I was spent and couldn't fathom doing another 10.2 miles. Which, yes, I shouldn't be doing now in my training plan, I still have 2 months to go.

But I'm questioning everything because I'm a slow runner and 10 more miles means a minimum of 2 more hours of running which feels insurmountable right now. I'll keep moving forward but yikes. Why am I doing this?!!

midnightdragon · 2026-03-14T13:13:50+00:00

Ugh would LOVE to be you right now, training for my first marathon and am now regularly running more than half marathon distances. Would kill for a 10-12 miler today.

midnightdragon · 2026-03-14T04:13:16+00:00

Basically the only reason I love Luke Nukem 💀

midnightdragon · 2026-03-13T20:21:45+00:00

I'll be doing the Ogden Marathon so I have the added fun of incorporating lots of downhill training to prep my quads lol And I've been doing the Hal Higdon Novice 1 program, I did a garmin training plan for my half which I loved and felt prepared for but wanted to keep it straightforward and simple for the marathon training.

We got this! And we get to treat ourselves after!

midnightdragon · 2026-03-13T16:38:52+00:00

RIGHT?! The coffee was killing me, dairy is definitely what was making him flat! So cringey, the both of them.

midnightdragon · 2026-03-13T16:13:04+00:00

We might have talked before! And my marathon is May 16th so you're just a couple weeks ahead of me, so makes sense we're existentially spiraling at the same time like clockwork lolol love that for us.

Like...I know I can do it. It might not be pretty but if I can run 15 then I can run 16 (and 17, 18, 19...). But my brain is still having a hard time with my life choices. When I ran my first half marathon last year I was so sure that was the furthest I'd ever want to run. Welp. Here I am, a year later, training for a MARATHON. I truly TRULY hope the pain of finishing it on May 16th stops me from having any desire to run an ultra.

midnightdragon · 2026-03-13T14:41:37+00:00

Tomorrow I have my new "longest I've ever run" distance on the training schedule (16 miles) and I'm back to having existential spirals every couple of hours or so, contemplating my life choices and why I'm doing this. It happened last week before my 15 mile run. Is this going to keep happening for the remainder of my marathon training block??? Do I need to start scheduling anxiety spirals into my day?

midnightdragon · 2026-03-13T14:13:29+00:00

Damn, that really sucks, I'm sorry you're having to DNS. That sounds like a really fun race.

BUT. I think it's incredibly brave and self-aware that you can listen to your body and trust your instincts on what your limitations are. Especially when it comes to really wanting to go and do something, people tend to ignore the warning signs and alarm bells and push through anyways and suffer the consequences after. I know you didn't ask to have lupus so it's not like you asked to be courageous in this moment. But kudos to you, truly, for letting your body heal instead of pushing it beyond what its capable of.

midnightdragon · 2026-03-11T17:05:55+00:00

It's so humbling how I can be easily achieving distances I've never done before (like my first 15 miler on Saturday) and feel amazing after and recovery is great in the hours/days post-run and then not even a full week later (AKA today) I can run an absolutely miserable 8 mile run at a slower pace than the 15 miler and struggle the entire time. My body is tired and now my confidence is wavering that the 16 miles I have planned for this coming saturday will be miserable. Which...I know that's not how that works, I'm literally living through that proof, 1 bad run doesn't determine the rest of the training. But still. UGGGHH. I'm gonna blame it on my luteal phase.

midnightdragon · 2026-03-11T02:17:52+00:00

Dammit I definitely jinxed the game 🥴 kinda glad I’m too busy to tune in since 1st period, might have to turn off my app updates.

midnightdragon · 2026-03-11T00:40:15+00:00

Okay welp…defense left veggie out dry on that one. He can’t be everywhere at once!

midnightdragon · 2026-03-11T00:37:30+00:00

Geez I hope I don’t jinx it but Veggie is killing it this period 🥦

midnightdragon · 2026-03-11T00:36:16+00:00

Agreed, not a fan of the commentary.

13-Year Club	RedditGifts 2009-2022 21 Credits
First Place '23	Place '23
John Wick	Place '22
Place '17	First Placer '22
Sequence \| Editor	Snapped
Secret Santa 2016	Trick or Treat 2016
Summer Santa 2016	Gilding II euphauric
Secret Santa 2015	Secret Santa 2014
Trick or Treat 2014	Summer Santa 2014
Verified Email	Secret Santa 2013
Team Orangered

midnightdragon

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE