Member-only story
I Just Broke 2:40 In The Marathon
Going into my recent marathon today, I did not have very confidence inspiring training. I could barely do easy runs at a seven-minute mile pace. I had one good run, but every other run felt completely terrible as I watched myself get passed by mothers with strollers and 40–50-year-old hobby joggers that I had no business running slower than.
As a 24-year-old four-time marathoner, I should have been training harder. But saying so lacks context — I’m glad I took it so easily over the past six weeks.
Six weeks ago, I ran my best marathon until today. I ran 2:45:56 in the Baltimore Marathon, which was terrifically executed. It was not my best time, but I was proud of the effort given the challenging course and the very humid, hot, and windy day. Since then, however, my body has felt terrible. Some days, the best I can do is get passed by mothers with strollers and 50-year-old hobby joggers. Most weeks I averaged running 30 miles a week, which is well below how much you’re supposed to run to prepare for the marathon.
Today, I ran the Philadelphia Marathon and ran my personal best by 12 seconds — 2:39:55, which is 6:06 mile pace throughout the whole marathon. I was surprised by how good I felt at every point in the race besides miles…
