So it’s officially late April now, a time when (if you started training for a race at the beginning of the year) your race day has just happened or is coming up in the next few weekends.
Which means your training is already or almost complete, and we head into a time of the year when we scale our running back a bit, to maintaining our fitness level until the next time we’re ready to scale up for a race again. (Or, we don’t even have to train for a race — we can just run as we like all the time 😃)
Where are you with your training (if you’re training) and how do you transition off it, and maintain your fitness level so you’re ready if and when you want to run another race again? I always love hearing your thoughts. — Terrell
I’m ready to commit to the first race since 2021. Kind of burned out on organized runs for a while. I run for fitness not for a PR. A co-worker has recently caught the run bug from me so we’re doing the Fox Cities 10k together. So that’s fun! Thanks for this outlet for crazy runners to talk to other crazy runner, Terrell. 😬
I was training for the Brooklyn Half in May but on a whim decided to head that way early and do the Ladies Shape Half next weekend. I’ll probably have to walk some but that’s ok! Then it’s training for the Chicago Marathon and New York City Marathon.
Back to training regularly now and doing a 5K race every weekend. It is now my speed run in the training rotation. Where am I headed? Only the passage of time will tell. Half season for me is September through November. How many depends on how I feel. The one thing I do do know is I still am working toward a marathon on my 70th birthday next year. Just got on Strava and started using a GPS watch, so play time is over, but not the fun.
I was in a sort of training-maintenance mode just making sure I’d be ready for my 6.5 mile leg of the Vermont City Marathon Memorial Day Weekend, but it was going so well I decided to fit in a 1/2 earlier in May and so went into full training mode for that. I’ll do a 10 miler this weekend in preparation, and then just try stay well til race day.
Maintaining right now until July when monthly races start (15K, 20K, 25K, and 30K) leading to the Honolulu Marathon in December. I joined the Honolulu Marathon Clinic which meets every Sunday morning by Diamond Head for longer run to get me motivated. I hope to find a destination race somewhere during my annual trek out of this rock. I'll be dropping off my college student at Mizzou this August so looking at races around that area.
Love the energy from all your raving fans Terrell. Running is alive and well.
I am training to run a sub 8:30 mile at age 76. If I do it, I win a dinner at the 3 star Michelin Vegan restaurant in NYC called Eleven Madison Park. If I lose, I treat. Almost down to my ideal running weight and logging about 30 miles of walking a week. Track jogging/running starts this weekend. I trust this “wager” will inspire me to run the October Tow Path half-marathon this October in Cleveland, my hometown. If I can avoid plantar fasciitis, I believe I can do both!!!!!
I have 4 weeks before the Urban 10 Miler here is Denver. It is part of the Colfax Marathon weekend races. There is the full, half, urban ten and a marathon relay. I’ve run this 10 miles twice before and I am determined to get over the mind funk the last few miles- does to me-ts up a slow steady hill😩 Im using your 10 mile training plan Terrell and so far so good! Our weather has been hot/cold the last few weeks, typical springtime! After this race I’ll take a month off then begin training for the Covered Bridges Half in Vermont in sept/oct. … can’t remember exact date at the moment🤦♀️
Hi Terrell! My plan was to take a couple of weeks off entirely after Boston but a slow 7km around Central Park this morning was beautiful.
I’ll probably do two or three 10k’s per week until August & then start training for the Valencia Half Marathon in October. Hope to beat my PB of 1:41:17.
Beautiful area. Though I have not done the run, I know West Seattle pretty well from skating. I've done many of the Orca Running races. Well organized and lots of fun--not too expensive, either. . .
(I think it is $91 today, but it will go up.) I'd do the one coming up on Bainbridge Island on June 1 if I were in better running condition. Here's a link. https://orcarunning.com/orca-half/ Seattle is expensive, but it not so much as many of the bigger cities that you mentioned.
I had a right shin ankle problem that DLed me for Jan. and 1/2 Feb. wasn't sure if it was tibia SF or not, MRI showed nothing so doc said start running again. I had signed up for half mar May 7th so I am working up to that.
I always have a race to train for. i can't run every day its too much. i exercise on off days. i have to or i'll get injured. BTW the ankle shin problem came from not doing any shin exercises. I now ex my shins every other day and feel a lot stronger. I am 65 yo
I should be doing the Big Sur Marathon on 4/30, but I'm not. Waaaaay too much happening this winter between moving and injury. I won't complain. . . that's life, and though I didn't enjoy it, I'm taking it slow and noticing improvement all the time. First things first, Stop Whining!! Second, work on posture, third, change shoes, and follow the ChiWalk/Run Method. There is improvement everyday, especially with improving posture and I can now walk at a really good pace!
Marathon training starts on May 16th with Chi Running and goes until Oct. 24th (I think!) It's supposed to be for Older Runners, so I'm jazzed to do it. Danny, being my age, himself, understands. Yes, I can still run. . . I've been doing it for the last 2 weeks! :)
Now, if the rain would stop for a little while and the temps climb a few degrees and get out of the 40s, I'd be happy. Hopefully, we'll get a break this weekend, but maybe not. Alaska keeps blessing us with Cold Fronts. :)
Definitely in a maintenance phase. I don't have a race that I'm worked toward at the moment, but I feel like I should because it's harder to get up the motivation to run a few times a week without an end goal. At least the weather seems to have finally turned into Spring (knock on wood)?
I'm maintaining. Had a race at the end of March and am in the middle of an international move so my performance is in the toilet anyway!
half of my runs are just to keep mileage up and half are 'last chance' runs to say goodbye to an area of the world I love.
I'll also use this maintenance phase to take off a couple pounds I gained; I typically struggle to maintain as my training load increases; as my body does the opposite of what one would expect with higher mileage (gotta love cortisol). I also find it easier to have the mental bandwidth to monitor diet more closely in off season. Next race will be either Bilbao, Basque Country or Venice (thanks to you!) in October.
I’m maintaining now. Florida races in the summer are as popular as a kick in the shins. I see my weight gain is the opposite of my miles curve, so I joined a local gym. I’ll go there a few times a week to keep the fat monster at bay.
I am currently not training for any races. However besides running, I also do Muay Thai and did my first competition this year! I would like to do one again this year so I'm mainly running to keep my cardio up.
I am maintaining at the moment. But I am going to ramp it up some this next week. I want to do the AF full in Sep, so will try 20 week training guide. I am still dealing with runner’s knee from 1/2 in March. But it is slowly getting better.
If it does not go as planned, I will scale back to 1/2 for AF. I have been able to even do some speed work so that has been good. I might do a 1/2 this summer but have yet to find one I want to travel to. Cincinnati Flying Pig is coming up soon but I haven’t been able to get ready because of knee.
I am an autumn race guy so I am starting the dreaded ramp up period. I find my strategy works well on the backend, but there are about 6-8 weeks in July/August when I wonder if I should just change everything and be better about running in the winter.
But I'm in Montana, so sometimes that's not overly feasible.
When I decided to run marathons, it was only to do the Marine Corps Marathon in DC, but since I had never run one, I wasn't about to fly clear across the country only to find out that I couldn't do one, so I signed up for the L.A. marathon first. Almost as soon as I finished it, I signed up for the Marine Corps Marathon lottery and was chosen. I was ecstatic. That was in Spring of 2020. It was cancelled. I deferred to the next year, ran it virtually in October, and continued training. In 2021 it was cancelled again, only, last minute, so I ran the L.A. one again since I had been training. FINALLY, last October, I ran the MCM. I LOVED it, but suddenly, I didn't have that goal anymore, and I admit that although I kept running, I cut back both on miles and on how hard I trained.
Fortunately, I have a daughter that likes to do HM, so she talked me into two. One in January and now one in May. VERY long story short. I am still training, but just not as seriously.
What I do to keep a bit more motivated is to listen to books about running. I will even register to them. Helps keep me going.
Training for the Harpers Ferry half on May 20. Since I ran a marathon last month not really worried about the distance but Harpers Ferry has 1400 ft elevation so I have been trying to do hill repeats at least once a week.
After returning home post Boston this week has definitely been a much needed recovery. But, have another race 2 weeks from Sunday. Here in Canton, Ohio it’s the NFL Hall of Fame Marathon. It’s the 10th and year final of this event and my 5th year taking part. I’ll be running the half marathon and aiming for a PR. Excited for race day. Use these next two weeks to slowly build up and work on tempo.
I do two a year: the first the last Saturday in April along the American River in Northern California; the second the first Sunday of October along the Sacramento River and neighborhoods nearby. In 8 days the first occurs. I should probably work another half marathon or two, ideally two to three weeks after either of these events.
I'm turning 67 in 2 weeks; I ran one full marathon 4 years ago and finished in just over 6 hours. That's enough for me.
I don't race, and I don't have a specific massive other goal I'm training for right now, like I had the PCT for the couple years before I did it in mind. That can make motivation tricky, because I know I need running for my happiness, mental health and fitness, but it's nicer when there's something you're aiming towards. But I always remind myself of a funny thing Alex Honnold said - most know him as a climber but he dabbles in ultrarunning and was on a running podcast, Some Work All Play - I think it was on that podcast that he said it? Anyway somehow the conversation got around to the idea of honor and how to live an honorable life, maybe vaguely in relation to warrior culture, and he said for him, it boiled down to the idea of being on the program, staying on the program. Whether climbing, running, living healthy, getting enough sleep - there are so many areas of life where that's applicable and so when I'm trying to be on some kind of program even without an end goal in sight, I remind myself that it's about honoring that version of myself I want to be and showing up, being consistent. Hard to say if that produces training that's more like building, or maintaining, but at least it helps me get out there.
Had to CX the Nashville HM this weekend. I developed acute plantar fasciitis in early Feb & had to stop running. I am trying to ease back...oh so gently. It’s been a lot of one step forward and two steps back, but I’m confident I will get better. At times it’s exasperating. Had to focus on training on my stationary bike. ‘Watched a lot of Netflix while pedaling! 😎
i'm just maintaining. no races until october, and i'm coming off a years long achilles injury so these past few months i've just been enjoying being able to run! its a gorgeous 60 degrees in OC today and i had a lovely run on the boardwalk. have a great weekend y'all!
Maintaining is hard for me. Once I finish a race I give myself about 2 weeks off. Then I start looking for the next one. I am always training for something. I wish I was better at motivating myself, but if I am not on a schedule I end up not doing anything.
Last day of my taper, marathon is Saturday morning. This will be my first one after getting injured last year. Curious to see how quickly I can get back to running and what my weekly mileage will be when not training. Thinking I will try for around 30 - 35/week??
Also, now that we are entering the training season, so to speak, I also know you mentioned the idea of finding a location where we as a group might be able to plan out a "weekend" running event [maybe where a 5k. 10k, 1/2 and marathon are all available].
All, do you think it could work? Maybe a fall event to begin next season?
My big races are in late July (trail marathon) and mid November (road marathon), so I'm training now, just having really shifted from ski season into running season (which for me coincides with rowing season, and that makes for some good cross-training). Thankfully, shifting from one sport to another as the seasons shift has helped me stay fresh--both mentally and physically. This winter I really committed to strength training, too, and that will be a constant across all sports. I used to focus entirely on rowing. But life is too short and there are too many fun sports experiences I want to have. Hence the multi-sport/cross-training approach!
Wow, so appropriate for me right now. Been so busy lately that barely have time to do more than read the thread BUT this one makes me want to reply! I'm at the point where I've got no "planned" races, at last not for a while, and I just had a talk w/wife about how I'm now going into "indoor training" mode [opposite NY, train indoors for the summer]. Next week, my runs now go on a treadmill [not a big fan] because I don't want to run at 8pm, or later, at night. Feel like my winter racing went well but could also have been better. Get now to work on trying to make it both better and more enjoyable! Great thoughts here Terrell.
I'm not much of an official racer, been mostly maintaining 5k several times a week for many years now (although, of course, running is always growth, not just maintenance). And yet. Partially inspired by this Substack, also by reading recently Born to Run, I'm experimenting with running longer distances, albeit less often. So in a few minutes I'm heading out for 10k (maybe more) on the trails of the Judean foothills where I live, crossing the Elah Valley where David battlefd Goliath. Thanks Terrell for the thread!
Training hard for my 2nd marathon at the end of June. Grandma’s in Duluth, MN!
Thank you Terrell. I am nursing a hamstring issue so I am gonna take it nice and easy very slow.
Doing final prep for the Indianapolis half. Running it May 6. Excited to do the “2.5 mile lap” on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway!
I’m ready to commit to the first race since 2021. Kind of burned out on organized runs for a while. I run for fitness not for a PR. A co-worker has recently caught the run bug from me so we’re doing the Fox Cities 10k together. So that’s fun! Thanks for this outlet for crazy runners to talk to other crazy runner, Terrell. 😬
I'm finally back outside consistently after COVID keeping me down for months. Have done one 5k and have a trail 10k next month. Then back to halfs.
I bet!!!
I was training for the Brooklyn Half in May but on a whim decided to head that way early and do the Ladies Shape Half next weekend. I’ll probably have to walk some but that’s ok! Then it’s training for the Chicago Marathon and New York City Marathon.
Love all the energy from your raving fans Terrell. I have a friend who promises me a dinner at the 3 star Michelin restaurant in NYC,
Just maintaining although I have a 5k coming up this week. I’m actually more like nursing my Achilles.
Back to training regularly now and doing a 5K race every weekend. It is now my speed run in the training rotation. Where am I headed? Only the passage of time will tell. Half season for me is September through November. How many depends on how I feel. The one thing I do do know is I still am working toward a marathon on my 70th birthday next year. Just got on Strava and started using a GPS watch, so play time is over, but not the fun.
I was in a sort of training-maintenance mode just making sure I’d be ready for my 6.5 mile leg of the Vermont City Marathon Memorial Day Weekend, but it was going so well I decided to fit in a 1/2 earlier in May and so went into full training mode for that. I’ll do a 10 miler this weekend in preparation, and then just try stay well til race day.
Maintaining right now until July when monthly races start (15K, 20K, 25K, and 30K) leading to the Honolulu Marathon in December. I joined the Honolulu Marathon Clinic which meets every Sunday morning by Diamond Head for longer run to get me motivated. I hope to find a destination race somewhere during my annual trek out of this rock. I'll be dropping off my college student at Mizzou this August so looking at races around that area.
Love the energy from all your raving fans Terrell. Running is alive and well.
I am training to run a sub 8:30 mile at age 76. If I do it, I win a dinner at the 3 star Michelin Vegan restaurant in NYC called Eleven Madison Park. If I lose, I treat. Almost down to my ideal running weight and logging about 30 miles of walking a week. Track jogging/running starts this weekend. I trust this “wager” will inspire me to run the October Tow Path half-marathon this October in Cleveland, my hometown. If I can avoid plantar fasciitis, I believe I can do both!!!!!
I have 4 weeks before the Urban 10 Miler here is Denver. It is part of the Colfax Marathon weekend races. There is the full, half, urban ten and a marathon relay. I’ve run this 10 miles twice before and I am determined to get over the mind funk the last few miles- does to me-ts up a slow steady hill😩 Im using your 10 mile training plan Terrell and so far so good! Our weather has been hot/cold the last few weeks, typical springtime! After this race I’ll take a month off then begin training for the Covered Bridges Half in Vermont in sept/oct. … can’t remember exact date at the moment🤦♀️
My friend also proposed to his girlfriend halfway through the run this morning!!
Yep, it’s in Spain 22nd of October.
Hi Terrell! My plan was to take a couple of weeks off entirely after Boston but a slow 7km around Central Park this morning was beautiful.
I’ll probably do two or three 10k’s per week until August & then start training for the Valencia Half Marathon in October. Hope to beat my PB of 1:41:17.
Beautiful area. Though I have not done the run, I know West Seattle pretty well from skating. I've done many of the Orca Running races. Well organized and lots of fun--not too expensive, either. . .
(I think it is $91 today, but it will go up.) I'd do the one coming up on Bainbridge Island on June 1 if I were in better running condition. Here's a link. https://orcarunning.com/orca-half/ Seattle is expensive, but it not so much as many of the bigger cities that you mentioned.
Skyline Half in Dallas tomorrow!
I had a right shin ankle problem that DLed me for Jan. and 1/2 Feb. wasn't sure if it was tibia SF or not, MRI showed nothing so doc said start running again. I had signed up for half mar May 7th so I am working up to that.
I always have a race to train for. i can't run every day its too much. i exercise on off days. i have to or i'll get injured. BTW the ankle shin problem came from not doing any shin exercises. I now ex my shins every other day and feel a lot stronger. I am 65 yo
I should be doing the Big Sur Marathon on 4/30, but I'm not. Waaaaay too much happening this winter between moving and injury. I won't complain. . . that's life, and though I didn't enjoy it, I'm taking it slow and noticing improvement all the time. First things first, Stop Whining!! Second, work on posture, third, change shoes, and follow the ChiWalk/Run Method. There is improvement everyday, especially with improving posture and I can now walk at a really good pace!
Marathon training starts on May 16th with Chi Running and goes until Oct. 24th (I think!) It's supposed to be for Older Runners, so I'm jazzed to do it. Danny, being my age, himself, understands. Yes, I can still run. . . I've been doing it for the last 2 weeks! :)
Now, if the rain would stop for a little while and the temps climb a few degrees and get out of the 40s, I'd be happy. Hopefully, we'll get a break this weekend, but maybe not. Alaska keeps blessing us with Cold Fronts. :)
Definitely in a maintenance phase. I don't have a race that I'm worked toward at the moment, but I feel like I should because it's harder to get up the motivation to run a few times a week without an end goal. At least the weather seems to have finally turned into Spring (knock on wood)?
I'm maintaining. Had a race at the end of March and am in the middle of an international move so my performance is in the toilet anyway!
half of my runs are just to keep mileage up and half are 'last chance' runs to say goodbye to an area of the world I love.
I'll also use this maintenance phase to take off a couple pounds I gained; I typically struggle to maintain as my training load increases; as my body does the opposite of what one would expect with higher mileage (gotta love cortisol). I also find it easier to have the mental bandwidth to monitor diet more closely in off season. Next race will be either Bilbao, Basque Country or Venice (thanks to you!) in October.
I’m maintaining now. Florida races in the summer are as popular as a kick in the shins. I see my weight gain is the opposite of my miles curve, so I joined a local gym. I’ll go there a few times a week to keep the fat monster at bay.
Just trying to hang on to fitness with a newborn in the home
I am currently not training for any races. However besides running, I also do Muay Thai and did my first competition this year! I would like to do one again this year so I'm mainly running to keep my cardio up.
June marathon for me
I am maintaining at the moment. But I am going to ramp it up some this next week. I want to do the AF full in Sep, so will try 20 week training guide. I am still dealing with runner’s knee from 1/2 in March. But it is slowly getting better.
If it does not go as planned, I will scale back to 1/2 for AF. I have been able to even do some speed work so that has been good. I might do a 1/2 this summer but have yet to find one I want to travel to. Cincinnati Flying Pig is coming up soon but I haven’t been able to get ready because of knee.
I am an autumn race guy so I am starting the dreaded ramp up period. I find my strategy works well on the backend, but there are about 6-8 weeks in July/August when I wonder if I should just change everything and be better about running in the winter.
But I'm in Montana, so sometimes that's not overly feasible.
When I decided to run marathons, it was only to do the Marine Corps Marathon in DC, but since I had never run one, I wasn't about to fly clear across the country only to find out that I couldn't do one, so I signed up for the L.A. marathon first. Almost as soon as I finished it, I signed up for the Marine Corps Marathon lottery and was chosen. I was ecstatic. That was in Spring of 2020. It was cancelled. I deferred to the next year, ran it virtually in October, and continued training. In 2021 it was cancelled again, only, last minute, so I ran the L.A. one again since I had been training. FINALLY, last October, I ran the MCM. I LOVED it, but suddenly, I didn't have that goal anymore, and I admit that although I kept running, I cut back both on miles and on how hard I trained.
Fortunately, I have a daughter that likes to do HM, so she talked me into two. One in January and now one in May. VERY long story short. I am still training, but just not as seriously.
What I do to keep a bit more motivated is to listen to books about running. I will even register to them. Helps keep me going.
Is there a The Half Marathoner Strava group?
Training for the Harpers Ferry half on May 20. Since I ran a marathon last month not really worried about the distance but Harpers Ferry has 1400 ft elevation so I have been trying to do hill repeats at least once a week.
After returning home post Boston this week has definitely been a much needed recovery. But, have another race 2 weeks from Sunday. Here in Canton, Ohio it’s the NFL Hall of Fame Marathon. It’s the 10th and year final of this event and my 5th year taking part. I’ll be running the half marathon and aiming for a PR. Excited for race day. Use these next two weeks to slowly build up and work on tempo.
I do two a year: the first the last Saturday in April along the American River in Northern California; the second the first Sunday of October along the Sacramento River and neighborhoods nearby. In 8 days the first occurs. I should probably work another half marathon or two, ideally two to three weeks after either of these events.
I'm turning 67 in 2 weeks; I ran one full marathon 4 years ago and finished in just over 6 hours. That's enough for me.
I don't race, and I don't have a specific massive other goal I'm training for right now, like I had the PCT for the couple years before I did it in mind. That can make motivation tricky, because I know I need running for my happiness, mental health and fitness, but it's nicer when there's something you're aiming towards. But I always remind myself of a funny thing Alex Honnold said - most know him as a climber but he dabbles in ultrarunning and was on a running podcast, Some Work All Play - I think it was on that podcast that he said it? Anyway somehow the conversation got around to the idea of honor and how to live an honorable life, maybe vaguely in relation to warrior culture, and he said for him, it boiled down to the idea of being on the program, staying on the program. Whether climbing, running, living healthy, getting enough sleep - there are so many areas of life where that's applicable and so when I'm trying to be on some kind of program even without an end goal in sight, I remind myself that it's about honoring that version of myself I want to be and showing up, being consistent. Hard to say if that produces training that's more like building, or maintaining, but at least it helps me get out there.
Had to CX the Nashville HM this weekend. I developed acute plantar fasciitis in early Feb & had to stop running. I am trying to ease back...oh so gently. It’s been a lot of one step forward and two steps back, but I’m confident I will get better. At times it’s exasperating. Had to focus on training on my stationary bike. ‘Watched a lot of Netflix while pedaling! 😎
i'm just maintaining. no races until october, and i'm coming off a years long achilles injury so these past few months i've just been enjoying being able to run! its a gorgeous 60 degrees in OC today and i had a lovely run on the boardwalk. have a great weekend y'all!
Maintaining is hard for me. Once I finish a race I give myself about 2 weeks off. Then I start looking for the next one. I am always training for something. I wish I was better at motivating myself, but if I am not on a schedule I end up not doing anything.
Last day of my taper, marathon is Saturday morning. This will be my first one after getting injured last year. Curious to see how quickly I can get back to running and what my weekly mileage will be when not training. Thinking I will try for around 30 - 35/week??
Also, now that we are entering the training season, so to speak, I also know you mentioned the idea of finding a location where we as a group might be able to plan out a "weekend" running event [maybe where a 5k. 10k, 1/2 and marathon are all available].
All, do you think it could work? Maybe a fall event to begin next season?
My big races are in late July (trail marathon) and mid November (road marathon), so I'm training now, just having really shifted from ski season into running season (which for me coincides with rowing season, and that makes for some good cross-training). Thankfully, shifting from one sport to another as the seasons shift has helped me stay fresh--both mentally and physically. This winter I really committed to strength training, too, and that will be a constant across all sports. I used to focus entirely on rowing. But life is too short and there are too many fun sports experiences I want to have. Hence the multi-sport/cross-training approach!
Wow, so appropriate for me right now. Been so busy lately that barely have time to do more than read the thread BUT this one makes me want to reply! I'm at the point where I've got no "planned" races, at last not for a while, and I just had a talk w/wife about how I'm now going into "indoor training" mode [opposite NY, train indoors for the summer]. Next week, my runs now go on a treadmill [not a big fan] because I don't want to run at 8pm, or later, at night. Feel like my winter racing went well but could also have been better. Get now to work on trying to make it both better and more enjoyable! Great thoughts here Terrell.
I'm not much of an official racer, been mostly maintaining 5k several times a week for many years now (although, of course, running is always growth, not just maintenance). And yet. Partially inspired by this Substack, also by reading recently Born to Run, I'm experimenting with running longer distances, albeit less often. So in a few minutes I'm heading out for 10k (maybe more) on the trails of the Judean foothills where I live, crossing the Elah Valley where David battlefd Goliath. Thanks Terrell for the thread!