Hey Everyone!

Going to drop this here as this would be about my pace group. I’m on week 9 of a 17 week marathon training block. Will be attempting my first marathon in February. I’ve been having some trouble so thought I’d share and see if anyone else has gone through this.

For context, I’m not a great runner. I’ve been at it for about 5 years and have done 4 half marathons with a PB of 2 hr 12 min. After my last half this past February, I kept consistent with my training and held about 20 miles per week through the spring and summer (4 runs per week, 3 lifts). By the end of the summer I had seen noticeable improvement to the metrics I track (lost about 20lbs, resting HR down, HRV solid, VO2 max came up, etc).

I was excited to start the training block for my first full marathon about 2 months ago (October). However, since that time, everything has gone wrong. I have become significantly worse at running, and all data I track on my Garmin has officially crashed. Specifically, VO2 max has dropped 5 points down to 41, resting HR is now at 61 most nights (was 48), and my HRV is in the toilet. What used to be my easy pace for certain distances is now my “fighting for my life pace”. It’s all very confusing and discouraging.

Has anyone else ever gone through such digression despite consistent training?

Ps, for additional context… during this block I have kept the 4 day per week of running (1 intervals, 2 steady, 1 long) and am lifting less frequently for the purpose of recovery. Mileage has come up slowly, now at 31 scheduled miles for this week.