Running goals, motivation and chat 2026 - Part 3!

[BogRollBOGOF]

Hello runners!

Continuing on with our general running chit chat...

You are super fit and fast. I’m scared to ask what your marathon time is 🏃‍♀️ I’m bizarrely looking forward to the challenge. But I’m glad I have a year to buildup my fitness and stamina. There are almost 30 at my running club who have signed up for it so far. A quite a few who will be doing it for the first time. So I’m sure we will support each other over the next year. Excited!!

I’m honestly not that fit and fast and actually quite lazy with my training compared to others I know. That said, I think the marathon may be my distance. I’m comparatively faster at it than I am at any other distance. I think I qualify for England masters vet 40 with my marathon time, but not with any of my other times! 😂.

I didn’t know that when I signed up for my first one though. I’d only entered a handful of 10ks and one half at that point and I had no expectations of time etc. as I went through the training I started to think that I could do a reasonable time and decided to aim for sub 3:30 as that was what my friend from the club I was training with was aiming for.

you may well surprise yourself once you get started on training properly! But with lots of friends from the club doing it with you, you’ll have a blast!

@Whataninterestinglookingpotato wow, sub 3.30 is incredible. I’ve put 5 hours but I’ll train with a target of sub 4.30. Lots of us doing it and all different abilities so will find my gang as we get closer.

@Cantbesure sub 4:30 is a good goal. My first marathon was only a small one and so they didn’t need to you put an estimated finish time.

For Newport I put 3.30 as an estimate as I’d already managed a sub 3:30 marathon so thought it was reasonable. It was nice as it meant I was in the second starting pen along with one of my running friends who was also going for sub 3:30. We didn’t run together but it was nice to know he was around. I came in in 3:25 and him in 3:27 so really pleased.

I’m a bit scared for Bristol half as I have found out I’m starting in the same pen as the elites and I’m worried about getting dragged on to fast at the start and then not being able to see it through!! I’ll have to be restrained.

wow, that’s fabulous starting with the elites. Go you!!! My half PB is 2.08 so hopefully a reasonable base to build on. But not in your league!

@Cantbesure that’s a very respectable half time!! You also likely find that with marathon training your half time will naturally get faster.

I am starting with the elites but in no way shape for form am I an elite runner. I think anyone under 1:45 is in that wave. I’ll be aiming for around 1:35 if I’m feeling on form. There’ll be people in that wave doing it in barely over an hour. I will be in their dust!! But I must remember that and not be dragged on too quick! 😂

@JantoDec I think it’s more stupidity than bravery! I get swept up in things.
I dont really enjoy running with loads of people I’ve discovered. Much prefer just me, nature and an audio book. Was really disappointed as was hoping to be swept up in the crowd etc. I’ve only ever done one race tho so figure it might be different next time.
Training starts in June. I’m using Runna. Have used it for a couple of years now and really like it. I generally keep my pace slow tho despite it telling me to increase.

Wow there are some really fast runners here! Ahh I’m so envious! I’m very much a plodder.

@Girlintheframe I’m sure it will be amazing and would definitely like to do some runs abroad in the future.

Thanks for the feedback on Runna everyone. I don’t have a garmin watch so I think I’ll stick with the Apple Watch/Runna combo until after my half then have a think about switching to garmin. I’ve found Runna really good so far and my pace and distances have been increasing steadily but I’m now suffering with a very painful foot and need to work out if it’s my shoes (possibly too small and narrow) or the training plan itself 🤷🏻‍♀️

@Whataninterestinglookingpotato starting with the elites is very impressive! Good luck!

@Cantbesure My half marathon goal is around that time. Just hoping I get to run it at the moment!
How many miles/training sessions did you do a week to achieve that time?

I think I’m over selling myself here😂. I don’t know how elite the elites will be. Probably championship level rather than olympics etc, it won’t be like the starting line of the London marathon or anything. We have an “elite” female in our club, she qualifies through the championship for London every year and I’ll tell you that I am nowhere near as quick as her. She’s truly impressive!

I will be at the back of that wave, hanging on for dear life with the other fastish, but definitely not elite runners 😂.

I have 2 club runs a week that are about 5 miles. And then added a long run mainly on a Sunday. our club does a long run on a Sunday but we stop and chat etc so I dropped those when the half was getting closer to get used to running by myself and at my own pace. The club long runs were great though in helping me feel confident I could do the distance.

if I couldn’t make a club run or didn’t go because of the weather I tried to get out by myself the next day. I uploaded screenshots from my Strava into chat gpt /gemini and asked it how my run went and what my next steps should be. I found it helpful as you can put in your age, height, any health issues etc so it feels quite personalised. Although Gemini is very focused on my health issues and makes me feel like an invalid!

how far along your training are you and with how long to go?

@Cantbesure
Race is 5 weeks on Sunday and got up to 11 miles last weekend but since then I’ve had pain in my foot and have only managed one steady 5k. Trying to rest it now and hopefully get back on it next week.

A good weekend of running here

I had a leisurely social parkrun yesterday. DS1 is coming back from injury and did his second parkrun of the year with me. DS2 got a new pb... which matches DS1's.

Today I've had another long soul run on content legs. It's beautiful out there at the moment.

It's amazing the difference that a week can make. Last week I was whingy about hormonal dead legs, this week my body just worked, and it was physically fun too. Fatigue didn't really kick in until the last hill in the last mile.

I managed to turn the TV on 5 mins before the finish of the men's elites on the marathon. DS1 popped down and I told him to stick around for 2 mins to watch running history happen. He was actually impressed! I can't watch the marathon footage too long or I'll get too emotional!

@BogRollBOGOF your soul run sounds great. I went out and did 6.5 miles this afternoon which was probably not the best idea when I was out boozing in the sunshine yesterday 😂 it was a warm but enjoyable
one

Hi runners old and new. Welcome to newcomers, great to see you posting.

A good week here too, despite starting a new job which has made me feel very tired. I'm tapering now, so just 3 miles on Tuesday, and 4 miles each Friday and yesterday including parkrun. 13 sunny springtime miles today on some of my favourite trails. I was slightly disappointed to be 2 mins slower today than when I did it 3 weeks ago, but DH has pointed out that it's a lot hotter today, and I'm more tired now than I was last time I did that route as I had a 20 miler last weekend. I also had a nice lake swim mid-week and have been doing yoga, so very pleased with myself for fitting it all in (alongside my head falling off getting to grips with the new role).

No running for me this weekend. We went up Scafell Pike on Saturday. I thought I’d escaped without incident but my calves are SORE today!

Lovely to hear about everyone’s sunny runs and hikes! So nice to have some lovely weather at last.

went for a lovely sunny walk in the new forest on Saturday with DH and who met us there from uni. Beautiful day.

yesterday I wasn’t sure whether or not to do a long run this week but an experienced running friend said I should buy keep the miles easy. So I set out with the gang for an easy run. But one of the guys is faster than the general group and was chatting to him and realised we had gone on a bit quick. He asked if I was ok with the pace (which at the time I was because we were going down hill) so he said shall we just crack on as he wanted to get some faster miles in to prep for upcoming races. I soon regretted my life choices when I was doing 7:30 min/miles all the way home up hill! 😂. But hey. I survived.

my injury had been feeling a bit tweaky since the marathon but the run yesterday seems to have weirdly sorted it out a bit. So that’s a win.

Hope everyone has a nice week of running.

Hello all, can I join please?

After loving running for several years I severely lost my mojo and swapped it for about 3 stones in weight. I got bogged down in life stuff which meant my dream of running a marathon before i turned 40 passed me by unfulfilled. Five years later and I've just completed couch to 5k and reigniting my marathon dream with a tentative plan to run the loch ness marathon at the end of September.

Hoping this group will prove to be a valuable support to help me get there. Don't suppose anyone else on here is doing it?

Welcome @Gizmosgremlins I’ve heard good things about lochness marathon. It’s meant to be beautiful. I’m already signed up to a race with my dd1 at the end of September so won’t be doing it this year, but it’s on my list on potential future marathons.

well done for getting back to running!! I didn’t get as far as a marathon before 40 either but on the 8 months I have been 40 I have run 2! I have my fingers crossed for a London place for next year as I have wanted to run it since I was a kid. I’m sure with some consistent training you’ll get there. I would start training with the marathon in mind now so you have plenty of time to build up slowly.

Thank you @Whataninterestinglookingpotato . I've just tonight started a runna marathon training plan. I wanted to see if I could even stick to completing couch to 5k first as I have become flaky last few years. But with that under my belt I'm feeling a bit more ready to give it a bash.

Well done on your two marathons since turning 40. It really is an amazing achievement 💪💪

Hi, I’m new to this thread but just wanted to share about Runna. The training preferences are a little bit hidden and Runna defaults them to the punchiest setting so the mileage can get big really quickly! The first plan it made me was terrifying until I worked out how to reduce the intensity of the mileage and pace increases. I found it really helpful for my spring marathon and ultra and I’ve just set up a run faster plan as I don’t have a big race until September now so I thought a change of focus would be good after a long training block.

Hi - just found this group :-). I am doing Richmond in Sept. Anyone else planning on doing this or an Autumn marathon - looking for support

Hi all - welcome @Iamanunsafebuilding , @louise12112 and @Gizmosgremlins . Lots of support for all on this thread!

I only had 2 miles on the plan today - hardly felt worth going out for after all the long runs I've done. So I decided to run it all instead of my usual run/walk and was very happy with my speed. Will be working on my 5K time over the summer