The Running Thread - 2026

[marty3d]

All the majors except Boston because I don’t know how I’d ever get in. Maybe maintain current fitness and pace until I’m 90?

Honolulu is another one for me.

I’d like to do a marathon on each continent (not Antarctica!). The majors would cover most of those.

@Novatrix - having run on NZ’s South Island (training not a race) it is one of the most amazing places I’ve run. I didn’t know about the Queenstown marathon but if you could do it I would highly recommend!

 

[michigandergirl]

I am checking off one of my bucket list destination races in less than 5 weeks at Big Sur!! I am so nervous for this one, my hill training is not going as well as I hoped...

All the majors except Boston because I don’t know how I’d ever get in. Maybe maintain current fitness and pace until I’m 90?

Same!!

 

[PrincessV]

Does anyone have, or have completed, any dream destination races?

Only as a spectator: I have no interest in ever racing anything other than Disney races, myself. But I fantasize every year of spectating on a mountainside during UTMB! And I’d really love to volunteer at Hardrock or Western States someday.

 

[FFigawi]

I’d like to do a marathon on each continent (not Antarctica!). The majors would cover most of those.

I have two more to go, South America and Antarctica. Hope to knock them out in the next year or two.

 

[Jillfo]

Only as a spectator: I have no interest in ever racing anything other than Disney races, myself. But I fantasize every year of spectating on a mountainside during UTMB! And I’d really love to volunteer at Hardrock or Western States someday.

I volunteered at Western States a few years ago and was stationed in the river. After my shift, I spent several hours in the stands at the finish spectating. Big fun! Definitely recommend.

 

[The Expert]

Well. It was going to be a dream race….until Storm Babet canceled it the night before…..

In 2023, I signed up for the Dramathon Half. The races (also a 10k and full) ran along the Speyside trail, passing whisky distilleries along the way. At the end of the race in Dufftown—at Glenfiddich—you would get a spey dram glass and then get samples of each of the distilleries that you passed.

“The sea was angry that day” and though the race was canceled, we got the swag, got the whisky samples (at packet pickup, and then when returning our old school timing chips) and got a lovely, small race, community vibe and a story. Many racers went and ran anyway, and I did a brief run from Craigellachie to Aberlour and back along a wet and rainy path. Coffee and pastry in a small cafe, followed by a bit of a white knuckle drive to Inverness to catch a flight.

Would like to give this a try again one day.

DH is a HUGE scotch guy and we've been to Scotland several times and visited most of these place you mentioned. I remember when this got canceled and I looked up the race and thought it would be cool to run someday.

As for my answer, we'll see how it goes in Chicago. I've yet to do a non-Disney marathon, but if I don't absolutely hate it, I definitely see London, Berlin and probably NYC on my list. Boston needs to decide what it wants to be before I'd commit to even a charity bib (since I'll likely never qualify by time).

 

[PrincessV]

I volunteered at Western States a few years ago and was stationed in the river. After my shift, I spent several hours in the stands at the finish spectating. Big fun! Definitely recommend.

I’m glued to the livestream every year, so I can only imagine the fun! My stupid body gets altitude sickness as low as 5000’ in the NC mountains, so I’d definitely be stationed in a low valley aid station lol!

 

[SheHulk]

Chicago was a big one for me, which i ran in 2023. My other dream races are London Marathon and Rome Marathon. I'm not a great time-change adjuster, transatlantic travel really knocks me out. I'd need to make it part of a pretty long trip.

 

[Jackie Skellington]

I am checking off one of my bucket list destination races in less than 5 weeks at Big Sur!! I am so nervous for this one, my hill training is not going as well as I hoped...


Same!!

Big Sur is a beautiful, but challenging race. Take your time and take pics as the views are stunning! Enjoy and good luck!

 

[sandam1]

Combination QOTD/What Would You Do --

I'm looking to work with a physical therapist to address some small nagging issues and to help me implement a comprehensive strength plan before I get into the depths of training for Chicago. I'm lucky to have two excellent options to work with, but I'm not sure which route to go:

Option A - A PT's office that is more specialized in dealing with runners and who I've worked with before. While they can probably help with the nagging issues, it's going to be harder to get an overall strength program and I'm probably going to need to figure out how to put a square peg in a round hole on some things.

Option B - Work with a PT without a ton of experience working with runners, but who I worked with for 5+ years as a personal trainer while he was in school. I know that he understands what works for me (mentally and physically) and can build a top notch strength program that will work for my overall fitness. However, I've never worked with him on specific injuries or things to specifically improve my running.

Since I'm completely stuck in the analysis paralysis, I'm going to crowdsource the decision

 

[The Expert]

Combination QOTD/What Would You Do --

I'm looking to work with a physical therapist to address some small nagging issues and to help me implement a comprehensive strength plan before I get into the depths of training for Chicago. I'm lucky to have two excellent options to work with, but I'm not sure which route to go:

Option A - A PT's office that is more specialized in dealing with runners and who I've worked with before. While they can probably help with the nagging issues, it's going to be harder to get an overall strength program and I'm probably going to need to figure out how to put a square peg in a round hole on some things.

Option B - Work with a PT without a ton of experience working with runners, but who I worked with for 5+ years as a personal trainer while he was in school. I know that he understands what works for me (mentally and physically) and can build a top notch strength program that will work for my overall fitness. However, I've never worked with him on specific injuries or things to specifically improve my running.

Since I'm completely stuck in the analysis paralysis, I'm going to crowdsource the decision

I'd lean toward option B. It sounds like it would be a more customized plan for what you need. The lack of experience with runners may not be an entirely bad thing, as they are not likely to make assumptions based on that other experience.

 

[jmasgat]

I say B. If you have someone who will do the comprehensive plan, then I would definitely go with that. You want something that you will consistently use to help you build overall strength, and any qualified PT would also be able to deal with specific imbalances/issues within that framework.

This is essentially what I have just done. Went to the PT who has dealt with my cervical disc issues and had him do a complete upper body set that works for me, with the emphasis on strengthening those muscles that will help with the neck. Then I asked him to do a lower body set that serves me as a runner, addressing some minor issues (cranky left hip and also a fairly new knee issue.)

 

[eminemilie]

Combination QOTD/What Would You Do --

I'm looking to work with a physical therapist to address some small nagging issues and to help me implement a comprehensive strength plan before I get into the depths of training for Chicago. I'm lucky to have two excellent options to work with, but I'm not sure which route to go:

Option A - A PT's office that is more specialized in dealing with runners and who I've worked with before. While they can probably help with the nagging issues, it's going to be harder to get an overall strength program and I'm probably going to need to figure out how to put a square peg in a round hole on some things.

Option B - Work with a PT without a ton of experience working with runners, but who I worked with for 5+ years as a personal trainer while he was in school. I know that he understands what works for me (mentally and physically) and can build a top notch strength program that will work for my overall fitness. However, I've never worked with him on specific injuries or things to specifically improve my running.

Since I'm completely stuck in the analysis paralysis, I'm going to crowdsource the decision

I'm in the same position, sort of. I've been working with a PT I really like off and on for about 5 years. But recently I feel like we've kind of gotten to a point where I'm not improving, and she's really hard to get an appointment with.

A few weeks before princess, I had to go to a different medical group to get a quick MRI to make sure I didn't have a stress fracture. It seems pretty easy to get appointments, and they are an orthopedic medical group and I like the idea of going to a place that is completely focused, and have specialists for each area of the body.

For me, I am leaning towards the new group, BUT I think for you others have made good points. You can also start with your trainer and if you don't see progress move to the PT's office?

 

[PrincessV]

Question for anyone who’s run long distances in extreme heat AND full sun AND high humidity - think 80-90º and 85-100% humidity, plus sun: are UV arm sleeves or a long-sleeve UV shirt helpful in these conditions? I struggle with long runs in FL summers because I can only get so much done before sunrise, when I wear as little clothing as possible so my sweat has even a tiny chance of evaporation. But once the sun is up, I either need to add sunscreen, which reduces the effectiveness of sweat or pouring water on me, or cover up with UV clothing. I’ve never tried long sleeves because it just sounds unbearable. But maybe it’s no worse, or possibly slightly better, than sunscreen? And maybe drenching cloth with ice water from a cooler in my car every few miles would be more effective than doing it on bare skin?? Maybe stuffing a bunch of ice inside sleeves would be better than anything else???

But also: does a white UV shirt/arm sleeves even retain its UV properties if soaked?!

Signed,
A Floridian slightly regretting her life choices after registering for Goofy

 

[nancipants]

Question for anyone who’s run long distances in extreme heat AND full sun AND high humidity - think 80-90º and 85-100% humidity, plus sun: are UV arm sleeves or a long-sleeve UV shirt helpful in these conditions? I struggle with long runs in FL summers because I can only get so much done before sunrise, when I wear as little clothing as possible so my sweat has even a tiny chance of evaporation. But once the sun is up, I either need to add sunscreen, which reduces the effectiveness of sweat or pouring water on me, or cover up with UV clothing. I’ve never tried long sleeves because it just sounds unbearable. But maybe it’s no worse, or possibly slightly better, than sunscreen? And maybe drenching cloth with ice water from a cooler in my car every few miles would be more effective than doing it on bare skin?? Maybe stuffing a bunch of ice inside sleeves would be better than anything else???

But also: does a white UV shirt/arm sleeves even retain its UV properties if soaked?!

Signed,
A Floridian slightly regretting her life choices after registering for Goofy

I follow some ultra runners on Youtube/Instagram who use cooling sleeves/shirts in the heat. Jeff Pelletier has a great video from when he ran Badwater. But I've never tried those sorts of adaptations because those races are usually in dry heat.

I'm wondering if you can find anything online about the Keys 100 race and how people adapt to that.

 

[sandam1]

Question for anyone who’s run long distances in extreme heat AND full sun AND high humidity - think 80-90º and 85-100% humidity, plus sun: are UV arm sleeves or a long-sleeve UV shirt helpful in these conditions?

I'm wondering if you can find anything online about the Keys 100 race and how people adapt to that.

Reading your question, immediately I thought of the Rise and Run episode(s) where people discuss their strategies for running Keys. I can't remember what I heard where, but I know that most of these runners had specialized equipment like ice bandanas (I bought one of these from Ultimate Direction), hats with pockets for ice, and a shawl type thing to wear over the shoulders and arms. Another strategy that sounds effective to me is using a backpack and freezing water in the bladder.

 

[The Expert]

ice bandanas (I bought one of these from Ultimate Direction

@Herding_Cats makes her own and would probably share her pattern!

 

[WillRunForPizza]

March 2026

Running: 11h 17m, 62.4 miles
Indoor bike: 8h 8m
Elliptical: 3h 38m
Strength: 8h 7m
Total: 31h 11m

Well, things were going okay at the start of the month, but then my ankle had a bit of a meltdown. I brought out the big guns and went in for a few SoftWave treatments, which seem to be helping, if slowly. But all that has meant a lot less running this month. (I ran 10 miles last week and 7 the week before. ) And as I've learned from getting back out there for a few runs in the past week or so, cross-training does not mean your fitness is the same when you come back. Le sigh. Someday I will be back to normal running...

 

[nancipants]

March 2026

Running: 63.3 miles
Walking: 36.3 miles
Strength training: 6:43:05 over 12 sessions

Picked the running back up after a slower February when I was sick.

 

[Dopey 2020]

Almost forgot it’s the end of another month. 20 mile long run yesterday went well but not as well as I hoped to be ready for my “A” race in four weeks. Just keep plugging away, another 20 or so next week followed by taper including Springtime Surprise.