You must be swift as the coursing river (as long as it's the Lazy River) - comments welcome

[avondale]

I did stalk you because I got impatient/worried waiting to hear how you did (hoping no injury and DNF), so I found your time Sunday night. Like the others have said, I'm sorry the race didn't go well for you, because you definitely put in a ton of work. I know that you have the athletic capability for a BQ, so hopefully you'll get the low iron, etc., issues worked and come back strong. I am waiting to follow along! LOL

I enjoyed the race recap. Sort of sad to know that since I last did MCM in 2017, the Metro situation has not improved. My big wait (like 45 min) was getting OUT of the station for the start line. But it sounds like the "seeded racer" perqs were pretty nice!

 

[GollyGadget]

Sorry you race didn't go well. I know you didn't have high expectations but it still sucks.

I also know that you've got a bq in you if you still want it. Take a few weeks to recover your body & mind then decide what you want to do next.

 

[WillRunForPizza]

Thanks, everyone. I'm finding that missing my goals is more annoying than upsetting, because under normal circumstances I think I could run a BQ too. And I didn't miss it because I did something wrong - I trained as well as I could and ran the race as well as I could. So that's kind of frustrating.

I am assuming this mess is all due to biomarker deficiencies, which I guess I don't know for sure, but I don't have another explanation. Otherwise, it's hard to see why I would be getting slower.

With that in mind, I think the one thing I would change, knowing what I know now, is to do less training. I'm pretty sure I actually got slower throughout the training block, and I think it's because it's not just my paces that were affected but also my recovery. I think I could normally handle this level of training, but because my recovery was slower, I just kept digging the hole slightly deeper every week.

But I didn't actually know what the problem was until about 11 weeks into a 16-week training block, and then it was too late. If I can manage it, I might try to do a blood test at least at the beginning of each marathon block so I know what I'm getting into and have time to address any issues.

But now I'm thinking about what comes next. Not that I've done much of anything this week besides a little bit of yoga. I'll probably try a very short run tomorrow and see how I feel. But in a broader sense, I'm planning to dial it back for a while to give myself a chance to get back to normal. I'm thinking of stepping back to five days of running per week for now (once I get back to a regular schedule). I might do a little more strength with the extra time, but not much more - that would kind of defeat the purpose.

So we'll see how that goes. I'm looking at a couple of 5Ks in the new year, since I don't really need high mileage to run a decent 5K. I might also run the Celebration Half Marathon in January just for fun; I'm thinking about making that my next marathon (even though it wouldn't be until 2027) and that would be a chance to try it out and get a sense of the event. I asked about it in another group and the reviews were pretty positive. That would mean not running any marathons in 2026, but that's okay. Avoiding summer marathon training would definitely be a plus!

Right now, the only race I'm actually signed up for next year is the DC Half (just because I do it every year and the early bird price was ending). It's kind of weird not having an obvious goal coming up next, but it's probably helpful in terms of giving my body a chance to build up its missing micronutrients rather than devoting all its energy to training.

(Okay, there are technically two months left in 2025, but it's going to take me pretty much that whole time just to recover from the marathon, so in running terms, my year is over. That's just how it works.)

So that's what's going on here. Seriously, thank you all for following along - having a little virtual running community is the best.

 

[avondale]

I was wondering if you have a blood test scheduled to see how things have changed since you've been supplementing. But of course all the docs will say that you need time for things to change, so I don't know what time scale is typical for that. Hopefully any deficiencies are improving, but if they aren't, then that's also good to know because it may mean there is a deeper problem.

But, you may want to do it soon while you're just coming off of a lot of running. If you wait until you haven't been running for a few weeks, then you'll wonder what was caused by supplementation and what was caused by not running.

 

[WillRunForPizza]

I was wondering if you have a blood test scheduled to see how things have changed since you've been supplementing. But of course all the docs will say that you need time for things to change, so I don't know what time scale is typical for that. Hopefully any deficiencies are improving, but if they aren't, then that's also good to know because it may mean there is a deeper problem.

But, you may want to do it soon while you're just coming off of a lot of running. If you wait until you haven't been running for a few weeks, then you'll wonder what was caused by supplementation and what was caused by not running.

So I was supposed to have my annual check-up tomorrow, but on Friday they called me to reschedule, and they didn't have any appointments available before I leave. So I have no idea when I'll be able to do that.

On the other hand, I only care about my biomarkers to the extent that they affect my paces, so if my paces get better, I feel like I can assume that I am fine. (Just...waiting for the paces to get better.)

 

[WillRunForPizza]

Hello! I am still here, just back in Florida and busy. Plus not much to talk about training-wise.

I did get back to running after the marathon eventually, though it took a couple days longer than I planned. Post-marathon running was about what I expected, which is to say several weeks of crap before starting to feel semi-normal again just last week. I've done some strides now but no actual workouts. I might make the very informal local Turkey Trot into a light progression to dip my toe into a little faster work. My ankle has also remained less than thrilled with running, so I'm working on that.

Last week I finally settled into a normal schedule. The next few months will probably look something like this, just with a workout once a week and a slightly longer long run.


All of my running since the marathon has been "easy," with the exception of some strides, but Thursday was the first time since the race that "easy" was actually easy.

In total I have run 57 miles so far this month - so about a week in marathon training terms.

Hope everyone has a happy Thanksgiving!

 

[nancipants]

Welcome back to Florida! Hope we can hang out at Disney one day.

 

[WillRunForPizza]

November 24 - 30, 2025
In which (almost) everything is terrible

• M: off
• T: 5 miles easy/strides + core
• W: 4 miles easy/strides
• T: Turkey Trot + lower body strength
• F: upper body strength
• S: 5 miles easy
• S: 9 mile garbage dump

So I felt okay the first half of the week. My ankle hurt a bit when I tried to do strides on Wednesday, but it was fine for the whole Turkey Trot on Thursday (which I actually won, lol, despite running like four minutes slower than my PR). I was doing a progression every half mile, so I started out ~9 min/mile and ended ~7 min/mile. All reasonable - running hard actually feels better than running easy right now, I think because I expect hard running to feel hard but I don't expect easy running to feel hard. Which it does.

Anyway, I was also okay on Saturday, but then I did a couple of strides and my ankle hurt, so I stopped and walked back. I went out on Sunday thinking I would do 10 miles. I didn't feel too bad for the first few miles, but then my ankle started to hurt, and then I think I started to tense up to take the pressure off my ankle, and then everything felt really hard and I was way slower than normal, even for current values of normal, and I ended up doing 9 miles but taking as long as it would normally take me to do 10. Aerobically I felt fine, but my legs were a disaster.

So I guess it wasn't actually all terrible, but Sunday was about as badly as I've had an easy run go. I did run today, and I felt like crap for the first mile or so (which isn't unusual so it didn't really bother me) and then okay for the next mile and a half, and then my legs started to feel tight/heavy again, and then my ankle started to ache, and I stopped after 4 miles.

I already took nine days off after the marathon and that obviously didn't help, so time off doesn't seem to be the solution, and I'm also already doing all my PT exercises, so I'm not sure how to make this go away?? I could deal with either the ankle issue or the dead legs, but both is driving me a little nuts right now.

 

[avondale]

Funny that the fact that you WON A RACE in this week didn't make it seem any better...

I'm sorry to hear things are still so blah for you on running. I do think that this sort of recovery can take quite awhile, so maybe it's just a matter of more time. Maybe you want to try some cross-training and less running? Maybe biking or swimming? Hiking? Give your body a change.

If I were you, I'd be wondering if the relevant biomarkers were improving. If they aren't, then maybe that's also part of the problem.

I hope things change for the positive soon!

 

[WillRunForPizza]

Funny that the fact that you WON A RACE in this week didn't make it seem any better...

Lol, well it wasn't really a race - I imagine not for anyone else either - so I don't know how much it counts. Also being the first of like four women actually running (most people just walked) isn't that impressive.

I'm sorry to hear things are still so blah for you on running. I do think that this sort of recovery can take quite awhile, so maybe it's just a matter of more time. Maybe you want to try some cross-training and less running? Maybe biking or swimming? Hiking? Give your body a change.

Yeah, I've been thinking about appropriating my dad's old exercise bike, but I've been putting it off because it is not very fun. A couple more runs like last week's, though, and I will probably have to give it a try anyway.

If I were you, I'd be wondering if the relevant biomarkers were improving. If they aren't, then maybe that's also part of the problem.

I am quite confident they are not.

 

[col1]

Sorry to hear things are not improving for you right now, I can’t offer any insights unfortunately only moral support.

Hang in there we are rooting for you

 

[WillRunForPizza]

December 1 - 7, 2025
In which I'm not sure whether I've solved or created more problems

• M: off
• T: 4 miles + core
• W: 3 miles + upper body strength
• T: 4 miles + lower body strength
• F: yoga
• S: 4.5 miles w/ strides + core
• S: 5.5 miles + PT exercises

Tuesday's run was...not great. My legs felt quite heavy for the first mile or so, then they felt a bit better for a while, and then they felt heavy again, and then my ankle started to get sore, and then I stopped and walked the last ~half a mile.

On Wednesday I decided to try running on the grass. Which...sort of worked? It was easier on my ankle, for the most part. However, Florida grass definitely leaves something to be desired when it comes to running.

1. It is very thick and squishy. Good for sore ankles, bad for pace. So when you run on a paved surface, or even packed dirt to a lesser extent, the ground pushes back when you land on it and kind of propels you forward. This grass is not like that. You put your foot down and then basically have to pick it back up again. It is EXHAUSTING. And slow. I estimate that I lose ~a minute per mile running on grass vs. running on the road, even though I'm not adding any elevation, and my cadence is probably 5-7 spm lower.
2. The grass is usually wet in the morning, which means wet socks. Yuck.
3. The grass is not at all even - it is filled with divots and sneaky bumps that constantly threaten to make my ankle problems worse rather than better. Although I'm moving so slowly that it hasn't been that much of an issue.
4. While the other issues are mostly just annoying, this last one is an actual problem: the camber. A lot of the grass on the side of the road is more cambered than the road itself. And my ankle does not like camber, especially when it gets tired. That's been causing me some difficulty.

Despite these flaws, I did run mostly on grass the rest of the week, and it was mostly okay. I managed some strides yesterday on a relatively smooth field. I thought I would do some strides today too, but the area I planned to use was riddled with potentially ankle-breaking hazards, so I didn't. And I didn't even try for a long run - I just ran for an hour and called it a day.

So I'm still workshopping the grass strategy. I might have to add in some cross-training anyway, because at this point 20 mpw isn't going to do much for me. But we'll see. I'm also trying to add some ankle-strengthening exercises to my routine so that I can get back to normal someday.

I am doing plenty of strength training though.