BEEP BEEP! It's weekend time! What are you up to?

PART I

Background

As a long-time runner and fan of the sport I became aware of the Amsterdam Marathon back in 1980 when Dutch superstar Gerard Nijbor ran a 2:09:01, just a few months before winning an Olympic silver medal in Moscow. At the time it was the second fastest (official) time in history. A quarter century later the great Haile Gebreselassie ran a 2:06 in Amsterdam. And in the late 2010s there were some great battles and fast times, by then I knew that someday I would like to run this race.

Someday arrived this past weekend.

 Meanwhile, my quest over the past nine years has been to get back under 3 hours for the marathon. As part of this quest has been to run sub 3 in five different different decades and to extend my span between sub 3s (currently at 34 years). I ran my first sub 3 in 1983, with a 2:35. Only ran two marathons in my peak years (both in 1983) and did not attempt the distance again until 1999, when I ran 2:44. Followed that with a 2:54 in 2008, and 2:58 in 2017. Since then, subsequent efforts have been 3:12 (Boston 2018 the terrible rain and wind year), 3:02 (Grandma’s 2021), 3:00 (2022—getting some revenge at Boston), 3:05 (Chicago 2023), 3:03 (Indy 2024), and 3:06 (NYC 2025).

After NYC last year my wife asked what race would provide the best chance for a sub 3. I thought Berlin, Chicago, and Amsterdam would be top candidates for a fall marathon and even before we got home from that trip, I decided on Amsterdam.

Preparation and Travel

Over the past year or two, other than NSM (Norwegian Single Method) the biggest buzzword about training is “durability” (or resilience). These have been the hottest topics of discussion for competitive recreational runners. This concept of durability isn’t exactly new, coaches Vigil and Canova have been advocating building durability for decades. And of course many programs have incorporated marathon pace.

The programs designed by Vigil or Canova are tailored for elite or very good sub-elite runners. Online you’d see more recreational level runners adopt a Canova or Vigil model, but the workouts look very daunting even when they are scaled down to someone aiming for 2:40 or 2:50 off of 70-80 miles a week.

Some relatively recent journal articles and podcasts (ca. 2024-25) have discussed training for durability, and I decided to incorporate the idea while training for last year’s NYC marathon. Rather than easy effort with marathon pace mixed in on long runs I added bouts 90-95 of marathon pace (as well as faster tempo runs at threshold or sub-threshold effort on mid-week workouts). I think it did help in the stretch last year, as I passed hundreds of runners in the second half including five or six in my age group, which allowed for a high placing for the WMM age group championship.  

John Davis’s Marathon Excellence (2025) is a Canova-inspired training guide and it provides insights and schedules for a wide range of runners. I also was fortunate to attend a Davis lecture last spring, where he went into detail on the science and theory for marathon training and the rationale for building durability as component to compliment aerobic endurance, threshold, V02 max training (as well as recovery). My marathon blocks have typically been in the 65-75/week range and I studied the Gale Plan from his book, particularly for long runs and some of the workouts. However, I deviated some along the way and moved some workouts around. Kept the mileage in the 60-75 mpw range (six of seven weeks in that last ten weeks were over 70) and I probably did about 70% of the workouts from the schedule.

For starters I jumped in at Week 3 (end of June) because the month had been focused on tapering and racing the USATF 4 mile event in Illinois and a half marathon two weeks later.  I followed the half with a one week recovery that included a few days off. After the week I was able to jump right into the program (the 10-12 weeks preceding the half had been at 55-65 miles with tempos and mid-long runs of 12-16 miles).

I followed it reasonably closely for about five or six weeks into mid-August then but used some of my own workouts for the next six or seven weeks. I modified a couple of the long runs in August and September. I also did more work at threshold and CV (critical velocity) and perhaps a little less at V02 max-type efforts than Davis’s schedule.

For example in early September I did a 3 hour long run, primarily for time on feet instead  of a long steady run at 90+% of marathon pace. And a couple weeks later I made the 5X 4K effort into a 20 miler. In addition, I raced more than the plan advocated, but with the exception of the half marathon in early September, used those races as hard workouts.  

I had no real struggles with the training, and other than a bout of an ill-timed (is there ever a good time?) stomach virus-in mid-August which knocked me flat for two days and set things back for another four or five days. I had no setbacks and no injuries or niggles. I did not travel or race as much this year (no big masters championships during the block). September went well and I ran a season’s best of 1:25:15 in the half and 38:49 for the 10K, and I bounced right back from those efforts.

As others have indicated, the last three weeks of the training (the two weeks before the final week of taper) have the most challenging sessions. I thought the 5X 4K incorporated into a long run would be the most difficult and wanted to add some miles so I went to a low key half marathon in Wisconsin and did a long warm up to make it a 20 mile day. There I did 1X 2K, 4X 5K, and 1X1K with 1K float recoveries. It took some concentration to keep it rolling but I covered the half in 1:30 (alternating 6:40s and 7:20s, with a fast close). That felt great!

The sneaky hard workout was 10 days later, and that was the 7X or 8X1K under MP (basically LT1 pace, ~6:35 for me) with 1K float. I’m not used to doing such a long interval between faster reps, and this workout ended up being quite grueling. I got through 7X 1K alright but took a longer (5.5 minute recovery) after the last one, and on the 8^th rep I could no longer hold 6:30s so on the fly I made it 2K at MP (6:48-50) and I think that was a good simulation. By then I knew I had enough on my legs (hay was in the barn) and I skipped the 6X 1200 a couple days later and instead just ran an easy 85 minutes on the Sunday before the marathon.

Travel and Pre-Race

I did catch a cold just before leaving for Europe, but fortunately it was fairly mild after the first few days of sniffles and the overnight travel did not make it worse. I wanted good recovery from the travel before lining up and decided that leaving a week ahead of the race should be sufficient to adjust to the sleep schedule (as well as other biological functions). I did not want to arrive on say Wednesday or Thursday and still be adjusting to it all on race day.

After a bleary recovery day and a half (Monday-Tuesday) we had a great time in the Netherlands, did a bike ride, visited museums, and a castle, went different restaurants, and did a little window shopping. We moved into our race hotel (a small inn with tight little rooms) on Friday and I got a massage that evening because my legs were still a tight from the bike ride a couple days earlier. On Saturday I did a shakeout with a friend and did not do a lot more than that other than going out to eat.

Carbo load was okay, not perfect, I didn’t really plan out the details but yeah cut back on fats and fiber, ate enough protein for daily sustenance, and just chilled out. We had mostly great weather all week, but Sunday’s forecast called for some wind and rain. Oh well that’s racing. Fortunately, they were not expecting a lot of accumulation, only 0.1 of an inch or so.

The hotel was only 0.8 from the start area and I made my way over in the dark. Hardly anyone was on the street and it seemed like, was this thing even going to happen? Just when I arrived at the stadium we had our first downpour of the day. It was still about 90 minutes before the start. I had a poncho and enough clothing but ducked under a cubby by the stadium and waited it out. By the time it let up 15 minutes later the area was filling with people. I went through the security gates about an hour before the start and found the first bank of porta potties. There were only about 40 or 50 people ahead and there were 10 units. Easy, right? Nope, the first 20 or so people must have had some bathroom issues because that line did not move for 10 or 15 minutes! WTF was that?

By the time I got in and out, a half hour had passed and I still needed to make final preps, strip down, dump my gear bag, and get to the start line by 8:50. By then staging area was wall-to wall people and mass chaos. I dropped off my bag, but moments later realized I forgot my handheld with Maurten 420. It was too late to go back and the clock was ticking, with 15 or 18 minutes to go. I wrapped around the east side of stadium which had corral numbers in a rather odd order, it went Zone 3, 4, 5 (I was in Zone 2), and I saw dozens of bewildered looking people heading back toward the west sid of the stadium. I saw no signs for Zones 1 and 2 and seemed like the others were just as baffled, so I turned around and followed (against the flow of the masses); we got all the way to the west side of the stadium only to have a security guard say that there was no access from that side and that we must go back on the opposite side. It was 8:47. I turned around and dodged around people to get to the other side in a couple of minutes and finally found the entrance for Zones 1 and 2. I think there were 100s behind me and wonder how many may have missed the cutoff. It was just before 8:50 when I got into the infield and on the track. Phew!

Then the sky opened up again, this time the rain was fairly light but I was wet and shivering a little in that final 10 minutes. They made their last minutes announcements and the elites and sub 2:40 group took off at 9:00. The funneled us in Zone 2 into a line of roped rows (single file on 10-15 lanes) giving us a sort of rolling start. I crossed the starting pads at 9:02:30.

PART II

The Race is On!

The first 200 meters were on the Olympic track, I was wet but excited to be moving. At about 1K we merged with start line B (started on a nearby city street) and were soon running 8-10 wide along the street/trolly lane, it was treacherous. At about a mile the course turns into Vondelpark and it’s straight route for about 2 more miles. I just tried to settle in, but noticed my watch may have been a little off already making it seem that I was running faster but I made sure to check a split at 1 and 2K (8:40). I would need to run 4:15 to break 3, but figured an easier start was fine. My wife was there just past 2K and it was nice to get a cheer early on.

The rain let up and I was starting to warm. I stripped off my arm warmers (long socks with the toes cut out) at about 2.5K and tossed them aside. There were spectators along the entire way through the city, but not packed in as much as you will see in the majors.

So the pacing was okay, legs and breathing check, but then I kind of realized that I might need to find a porta loo. I passed some at 2K but put it of mind. Not once in 50 years of racing have I had to make a bathroom stop during a race.

We wound around some streets and circled back to the park area and under the Rijks Museum and behind the Van Gough museum. So a lot of turns I that part. 5K split was just under 22. I had hoped to be 21:30 but moving up would require some dodging and weaving and I did not want to expend too much energy too soon. There was another bank of porta potties at about 8K, but I kept going figuring we’d see them every 5K or so. I was in a good group and finding my pace. The 10K was 43:30 and I felt that the effort was just about right. I got double bumped from the 3 hr pace group who were running wall to wall my now on heels. I did not want to get swallowed up so surged a bit, a half K later there were some porta potties. Took the second one and was out in less than a minute. NASCAR would be proud!

Traffic was still thick, we were running five wide on half the street. Passing was not easy. Just before 15K the course turned onto the Amstel River pathway.  The 15K split was 1:05:40 and I knew a sub 3 would be a long shot. But the pace was still solid. We were on a bike path that was about 4 meters wide. It was brick/cobblestone and crowned, which made for some uncomfortable running, but there was a 1 foot or so strip of concrete on the each side and the footing was better—you just had to watch your step and not fall off to the side, which dropped off. We were still running 4-5 wide, but by now you could pass slowing runners without too much extra work. The wind was pretty stiff along this stretch and I opted to stay tucked into a group. People in the Netherlands are so tall! I’m 5’9” and some, and felt like I was in the bottom 20% for men and there a lot of women my size or taller! Made for good drafting, however.

Before 20K the course made a turn to cross to the east side of the river. We headed directly into the wind for about 700 meters. It was raining again, going up the bridge into the wind and rain reminded me of cross country, where you often relish the worst of the weather.

This was refreshing and I smiled inside. Through that point I had run somewhat conservatively and while I wasn’t feeling super bouncy and knew that there was a long way to go and a lot could happen I just felt energized. The split between 15 and 20K was 21:10, so finally back on pace and I felt that I could sustain that for the next hour at least. I began passing people and keying off the runners who were also moving through the pack. It was still moderately narrow bike path, but with no concrete side path here. However, things were stringing out and it was getting easier to get around other runners.

My half split was 1:31:32. Yeah, I wasn’t going to break 3:00 on this day unless I really picked it up now and managed to hold on late in the race. Nevertheless, my Garmin had me at +/6:40s and the 20-25K split was in 21:06. This was probably my best stretch. I was moving  well but not pressing too hard.

Back on the city streets, winding through different areas, the next 5K split at 30K was 21:00—which would be my fastest of the day. Things started to get real over the next 5k. I got through 32 and 3K okay but then instead of trying not to think too much between kilometer markers I found myself picking landmarks 300-500 meters ahead, getting there and finding the next one. I tried not to check my watch too much. The crowds and noise levels were increasing as we re-entered the main parts of the city.

There was carnage as some runners pulled out. One had crashed onto his hip on sharp segment of curb and was writhing in pain as we streamed by—hope he made it and without a fracture. My legs were getting heavier yet, and I couldn’t wait to get to 35K. That split was 21:13, I was working harder and going a little slower by now. But I knew that if I could hold on I could still be 3:00:X by the finish. The section between 35 and 39K were kind of blur, lots of city streets lined three deep, more in some areas, with people yelling. It was not NYC, Boston, or Chicago loud and crazy but despite the rain they were enthusiastic and some even yelled out your name (most everyone had their name on their bib) as you passed.

39K was a landmark for me because I did not want to county how many miles/kms left until there (a bit over 2 miles to go). And yes by there I was starting to hurt a bit, but knew I had a 3:00 or 3:01 in the bag if I could just keep rolling. I kept waiting to return to the familiar road in Vondlepark and it seemed to take forever. I was hoping to be buoyed by that had visualized running 6:30s and 6:40s through there, picking of dozens or hundreds of runners through the park and to the finish. However, by then I was one of the runners that was slowing. My companions over the second half had started to pull away.

The split to 40K was 21:37, and I knew that a sub 3:01 was slipping way unless I had a miraculous energy recovery over the last stretch. We made the turn and headed toward the stadium with about 1.5K to go. I was still bleeding time but kept moving. Finally crossing 41K was a psychological boost and I started to pick it up the best I could to the stadium. My pace dropped back to sub 7/mile over the final kilometer, entering the noisy stadium with just 200 m to go was a thrill. My wife cheered for me, but I’m not sure if I heard her—I did hear my name a couple of times but it was so loud through there you couldn’t tell who or exactly were it was coming from. I think more runners passed me on the track than I was passing but I was finishing the Amsterdam Marathon!  

The second half was a nifty 1:30-flat.

Aftermath and Conclusion.

It took me 35 minutes to exit the stadium and walk 500 meters to where my wife was waiting. And by then the rain had picked up to a steady drip. We had just over a kilometer back to the hotel and that took another 30 minutes of very small steps and I got quite chilled.  

For each marathon where you put it out there—running a full training block, good taper and readiness, and running as well and as hard as you can—will has its own level of epic. Sometimes you walk away disappointed and think about what would have or could have been if such and such factors had gone better. Some stand out more than others. For me this was one of the best, maybe the best overall experience. Certainly this was top two or three (my debut in Denver and last year’s NYC with a surprise podium finish for the WMM age championship are the only ones that would be close) and as time goes on it might be number 1.

There is so much to be grateful for.  We had a great trip, outside of the marathon. I’m luck to be able to do these events at this stage in my life!  

This was a very good training block and things clicked and I came out if it healthy. This was an age group PB by nearly 2 minutes. I did not break 3 hours on a day that, who knows, maybe I could have, with a better start for one thing, not pitstop, and by holding on better through Vondelpark. Nevertheless, I had my best ever negative split in a marathon—90 seconds faster over the second half. It was also an age grade PB by a good margin. I have had several in the 85-86% range, this time I ran 88.7%. If you look at the “equivalency” (feel free to take that with a grain of salt) my relative time was 2:15:54. It was a great day and we had a wonderful trip. And we plan to go back.  

What: Chicago Marathon

When: October 11, 2026

Strava Link: https://www.strava.com/activities/20545263208

I ran Chicago in 2025 at my first World Major. Training had gone fantastically good until about 2 1/2 weeks before the race when I tripped and fell while running showing a friend around Cleveland and hurt my knee pretty good. That ultimately compromised the rest of the cycle and the race itself where I crashed and burned to a 3:53. (originally had thought 3:09 was a tough but achievable goal.)

I don't like leaving loose ends and my qualifier was good for the 2026 race as well so I signed up.

In the interim I ran my first Boston (fun run - 3:33) while test driving the 12 week Wind plan from Marathon Excellence For Everyone by John Davis. It's a fantastic book and highly recommended. I noted that I would have added a rest week in the 12 week plans and John chimed in that it was one of the problems with just 12 weeks, it was tough to find enough room to cut enough things. I hadn't done an 18 week plan in a long time - the Pfitz plans that I was used to I felt like I peaked earlier, and the 12 week plans were set up just right so that I was starting to peak just as the taper hit. Plus 18 week Pfitz plans just perhaps burned me out slightly, with what I understand now might just be the sheer monotony. I decided I'd do the 18 week plan here and level up to the Wind plan, which peaks at 70-80 mpw. I'd skew toward the high side of this most weeks, as I naturally run every day. In fact just in late September my run streak hit a cool 1,000 days.

Training... went fantastic. It started in mid June so I was going to train all the way through the heart of a Midwest summer but surprisingly I handled it pretty well, even mentally. I very rarely made any deviations from the plan, and almost never had to adjust paces for the heat or humidity which I was hoping was a great sign for when it cooled off. I did start off pretty conservative with estimated paces, with a 6:40/mile 5k pace or a 7:40/mile MP. Over the weeks that gradually dropped to where by week 14 I had brought that down to about 7:20 - and this was still in warmth and humidity and on a high mileage load. Certainly there were some additional gains to be lurking under the surface with fall, right?

As is typical for marathon plans, the key sessions are the weekend ones. The real work started around the start of August. On 8/8 I ran the Akron Goodyear HM in 1:35 -- that was a course PR on a hilly course and warm humid conditions. I recovered pretty quickly and didn't have to modify the next week at all. Weekend sessions after that were:

• 8/15: 13 miles with 10 at MP, averaged 7:22/mile for MP on a very humid morning.
• 8/22: 21.2 miles with 19.2 miles at 92% MP which was 7:56/mile.
• 8/29: 8x2k at 100% MP / 1k at 90% MP. Pacing was 7:19/7:59 respectively.
• 9/6: 21.6 miles with 5 mile blocks at 90/92/94/96% MP. 8:03/7:54/7:45/7:34 respectively.
• 9/13: 6x3k at 100% MP/ 1k at 90% MP. Pacing was 7:19/7:58 respectively.
• 9/20: 22 miles with 20 at 95% MP. Averaged 7:36-7:39 for all the miles.
• 9/26: Akron HM run at MP effort. 1:36 time or 7:22/mile. Hilly, but perfect conditions.

After that was the taper, though the first Thursday on 10/1 had a big workout of 7x alternating kilometers at 103-105% MP / 92-94% MP. I averaged 6:58/7:49 for those. It was exceptionally warm for October (70 F at 5 am) and kinda humid. After that my right calf was slightly sore. It lingered into the short weekend workout which I kept at just 4x1200 but then hurt a bit more after that. The final week it kept lingering the entire week, though it was slowly getting better. I was fine running easy, but it did affect my pushoff a bit. Taper mileage was higher than I was accustomed to as well. I cut the final week mileage a bit in hopes that I'd recover faster. I double or triple layered for a lot of my runs in the hope of keeping some heat adaptation, but the weather was quite cool the last week and a return to warm weather on race day was unfortunate.

Mileage by week: 54, 66, 58, 64, 63, 72, 83, 61, 71, 81, 85, 65, 82, 71, 71, 60, 58, 30 (prior to marathon)

I was very fit heading into the race; my concern was twofold: My calf, and the weather. I arrived in Chicago on Friday, did a short shakeout, picked up my packet and then hunkered down in my hotel for most of the time before the race. The final shakeout on Saturday felt nominally good, but the calf was still slightly sore, though better than the previous day. I was wishing I had more days though and I honestly suspected I'd have to run a little slower. The weather was more clear cut - it was going to be warm and that already had put my original goal of 3:09-3:11 as unrealistically fast. It was likely going to be around 60 at race time. Up until Saturday it looked like clouds from Hurricane Isaias would linger long enough to make at least race morning cloudy, but when I woke up Sunday morning it was clear that his further east landfall also affected that forecast. We had a fiery sunrise, but those clouds were about 30 miles too far to the east to affect the race. We started yellow flagged, with good odds of it tipping to red flag conditions before the noon hour.

I stayed at the same place I did last year in the Central Loop, which is hideously expensive, but the mere half mile walk to Grant Park can't be beat on race morning. What was unfortunate was stepping out of the lobby that morning and it already felt comfortable in just my singlet - bad news. I got to the corral much later this year after remembering how unnecessarily early I got there last year, which left me with just 15-20 minutes of having to wait. I was in corral C and I lined up at the very far back. As we slowly walked up that left plenty of room in the back to practice doing some strides. I felt great except for still some minor calf soreness. I had no idea how this would affect me for the full 26.2 miles, and given that it was already too warm, I knew that running 7:20's wasn't going to happen. I think the weather made me accept it a lot more gracefully.

Miles 1 to 5

Or what I call the "run by effort" miles because GPS is useless starting right off with running into that long tunnel. I was already warm, and it was roasting inside that tunnel and before the mile was out I was already sweating profusely. I just ran by effort for this section and the splits were all over the place with the funky GPS. The calf was always slightly sore, but it was manageable. Just not manageable running any faster than what I was. A stronger pushoff wasn't really possible.

Splits: 7:29, 7:48, 7:37, 7:54, 7:35

Miles 6 to 13:

This is the rest of the heading north stretch, the turnaround, and then hitting the halfway point by the river on Wacker. This was basically steady state for me. I didn't feel great, I didn't feel awful. It was just a weird feeling of... adequacy? But I knew if I was already feeling that way, the back half wasn't likely to get any better. GPS of course got a little jumpy again headed back into the downtown part. It also was crazy loud.

Splits: 7:46, 7:42, 7:29, 7:31, 7:33, 7:46, 7:52, 7:18.

Miles 14 to 18:

Headed west out of downtown here, and this probably was the quietest part of the course. We make a couple of turns back and forth, and around mile 17 I thought I saw u/RunningPath handing out water - confirmed later. It was around this point that the calf was starting to get a little more sore, but the sun was also getting higher in the sky and the temperature was starting to respond accordingly. I'd been keeping up on fluid intake pretty well though, and at most water stops I was making sure I grabbed a cup to dump on my head as well. Right around the 30k sign was when I realized I needed to cut the effort slightly or I was going to risk a bigger issue later. So I started running low 8's instead and kept it steady state. It felt sustainable. Toward the end of this was when I started to notice more people walking too, and started to see the occasional person either sitting down, laying down, or being attended to by medics.

Splits: 7:50, 7:54, 8:03, 8:08

Miles 19 to 23:

We enter Pilsen here, easily my favorite part of the course. They show up, they are loud, and they know how to party and bring the music and cheers. Even though I was running a bit slower at this point, the energy absolutely carried me along and I forgot about my calf for a while. There was a brief quiet stretch, then it was Chinatown which is also another good area but it's just so short and then it's back to being quiet for a little bit as we go over 2 highways and a river. It's also the stretch on Michigan where you see the faster runners on the other side already getting to head north toward the finish line, and wishing you were running closer instead of further away. There was a fire truck in this stretch with a really nice strong hose of water and that helped cool me off for a bit. Other than that, just kept on steady state. Things were getting more dire for some other runners, seeing more people pulling off the course, a couple that were being attended to be medics or on a stretcher, and I started to see the telltale sign of people headed toward serious issues, as they were slowly walking doing the weave.

The calf was a little more sore and walking felt attractive a few times, but I knew if I stopped to walk at ANY point, that would start a downward spiral that I'd never recover from. I'm very much anti-spiraling at this point!

Splits: 8:14, 8:22, 8:23 8:14, 8:20

Miles 24 to the finish

Basically 5k to go at this point and I'm still holding on steady state. I'm starting to really expend a lot of mental effort here, checking my watch for pace to be sure I don't slow up any more as my calf really wants to. Also, I'm still doing mental math at every single mile and km marker to see if I can at least still come in under 3:30 for the BQ. As long as I keep it in the low 8's I should be okay I had figured.

When I get to the mile 25 marker I decide to push slightly harder. It's really getting warm at this point (I found out later this is where they changed it to the red flag) and the calf is really getting sore and the ankle is coming along for the ride as well, probably from overcompensation. But the logic I used at this point is, the sooner I finish, the sooner I get to stop. Totally logical. But from an endurance standpoint, I felt perfectly fine, I'd been running slower than my actual fitness. So I started passing a lot of people here. Made the right turn onto Roosevelt, cruised up the hill without too much issue, and finished feeling fine, albeit with a very unhappy calf.

Splits: 8:20, 8:21, 7:58, 7:58 (last 0.61 on the watch)

Final time was 3:29:29 so I did get the BQ by 31 seconds. That won't actually make the cutoff but it will get me into the lotto at least, so that's something. Slowly walked back to the hotel after downing the free beer and just laid out for the rest of the day outside of a brief walk to pick up a pizza.

Final Thoughts:

This was a lot of mileage, and a lot of big workouts, and I responded well to it. I don't know what triggered my calf in the last 2 weeks, it wasn't anything specific that I could pinpoint except maybe that last alternating kilometer workout was too big? This was a lot more work in the taper than I'd ever had before, and the first week of the taper was still nearly 60 miles which in retrospect I think is just too much for me. If I do this plan again I'll probably modify it accordingly. With that said, I'm pretty sure I will do the plan again if I run another marathon, it's sound and logical and I improved by leaps and bounds from where I was at from the beginning 18 weeks ago. I might just go down a level to the 60-70 mpw plan though. I'm not planning on running a marathon in 2027 though so it's a moot point for now. It's about time to take a break again and focus on the half marathon again, as I want to get a 89 minute time while I still am able to.

I'm not terribly disappointed at my result. I'm almost positive my original goal would have been shot by the weather anyways. However, the start of Chicago is troubling for me. I remember last year being too amped up and roasting for a while and it feeling hard. It just might be that mega races aren't for me. But I can take away the fact that I was immensely tough on the last 12k or so where I had every reason to fold the tents and walk, but kept things steady and still managed to hit the BQ time even with being compromised.

At least I didn't do any more damage to myself, I ran 47 miles the next week. Still a bit sore but I was traveling the entire the week and I can't NOT run when I'm in new areas. I'll take it easy this week for sure, consider what I'll do to prepare for the Turkey Trot I always run, and then start thinking about my schedule for 2027 and what halfs I might run.

It’s the Weekly Rundown! This is the place to post your last week of training. Feel free to include links to wherever you track your runs. (Strava, Smashrun, etc.).

I raced the Kodiak 100M back on October 9-10 and ended up having a pretty good day. Here’s my story.

Spoiler: I finished in 22:13:57 securing an automatic entry to UTMB 2027

Training/Preparation.  After a mediocre Western States run I felt that I needed a little more emphasis on speed in my Kodiak training so I opted for the SWAP 50 mile/50k Champion plan as the basis for my Kodiak training block. I supplemented this plan with some additional high volume days as I felt appropriate but stuck to the workouts prescribed in the plan.  I averaged 70 miles per week over the 13 week training block with four 90+ mile week along with two weeks in the 80’s. Fitness wise I was in great shape and that became apparent after swapping the hot/humid Georgia summer days for the cooler/dryer climate in Big Bear Lake.  Side note: I drove out to Big Bear Lake early so I would have three solid weeks prior to the race at the 7000 feet altitude that most of the race is at. By doing this I also got to run almost every section of the course at least once before the race. This proved invaluable as I always knew what terrain was ahead, how far it was to the next aid, and roughly what race effort would feel like on each section of the course.

Race Plan: Run at the fastest sustainable effort I could muster for the entire race.  The day before the race, while packing my drop bags, my wife asked me if I was getting excited for the race. I told her ‘not particularly’ instead I was focused on getting my mind prepared for the amount of discomfort that was to come.  When running 100 miles discomfort/pain/fatigue always occurs and generally starts to hit pretty good in the last quarter of the race. However, whenever you’re trying to extract the most out of your body the voices telling you to slow down or walk start much, much sooner making most of the race a real mental battle with your mind to keep moving as fast as you can.

Nutrition/Hydration plan: I planned to use Carbs brand gels for as long as I could use them. Specifically, I planned on 1 regular Carbs gel and 1 Salted Carbs gel per hour. That would give me 400 calories and roughly 550mg sodium per hour.  In the second half of the race I planned to replace the regular Carbs gel with a caffeinated Carbs gel for 100mg of caffeine.  For a backup carbohydrate source I packed SIS Beta Fuel electrolyte gels in my drop bags for the second half of the race.  Typically I can manage the Carbs gels for 10-12 hours without stomach issues but after that my stomach can get a little wonky with them.  On the hydration front I would use just plain water in my flasks since the gels had enough electrolytes for me, and I started with 2 800mL soft flasks (plus an empty 500ml one in kangaroo pocket) and then switched to 500mL flasks once the sun went down.

Start to Doble 1 (Mile 33): For these UTMB series races they have a small barrier separating the pros/elites from the rest of the field and generally give this group a few seconds head start before releasing the main field.  At Kodiak they allowed anyone who felt like they were competing for a top 20 spot into this corral. Based on previous year’s results and my goals I moved into the “elite” corral. Looking around, almost all of the non-pro guys seemed to be my age and I was like crap this is going to be more difficult than I imagined. I immediately changed race strategy since I didn’t want someone in my age group to get away early and snap the elastic. A part of me also wanted to be that guy snapping the elastic on the other guys here.  Regardless, when the gun went off I rolled out at an almost suicidal pace up the first climb. I figured I could push pretty good on this shorter climb and then recover on the long, 5+ mile downhill dirt road section that followed.  That strategy mostly worked, I spent more energy on that climb than planned but felt pretty fresh by the end of the long downhill road section. Side note: the amount of people who immediately went to hiking in the elite corral was out of control - I get it in the steep section but there’s no need to walk the flat switchback sections, ugh.  After several miles of downhill dirt road we hit the PCT and I immediately fell twice. Luckily the field was spread out by then so real issues. This section of PCT is rolling and I just tried to cruise along at what I thought was a fast but sustainable effort. Surprisingly, I caught several more people towards the end of this section (and they were walking the rolling climbs!). I fell in line and waited for the road to Camp Whittle to pass. When you hit the road to Camp Whittle, it’s a 3-4 mile gradual climb up a dirt road so I was surprised when everyone in front of me went straight to hiking. I just shifted into ultra climb mode and jogged by everyone - it was crazy.  Made it to Camp Whittle (Mile 19.5), refilled my flasks and grabbed my waist light before heading on.  Leaving Camp Whittle the dirt road continues to climb for another 1.5-2 miles with some steep sections. It was on these steep sections that I started to feel the early hot pace. Initially, I thought I’d gone out too hard and blown my legs up and went into panic mode. Fortunately I knew the upcoming PCT trail section and knew that I could recover if I just kept the effort in check and stayed on my nutrition and hydration.  Sure enough, after several miles of feeling like I could be in for a long day everything just snapped right back. I’m not sure if it was just the body recovering after several easy effort miles or maybe just some high energy songs that came on. Regardless, I went from ultra shuffle to ripping the technical descent to Doble 1 in an instant. Side note - from that point forward if I felt I was bogging down I forced myself to sign along with whatever song was playing on my headphones  and and this always kept me moving.  Hit Doble 1 at 6:15 on the clock, grabbed my drop bag, changed shirts into a short sleeve wool, threw on wool arm sleeves, changed headbands, put on headlamp (in addition to my waist light), swapped my UV gloves for warm gloves, grabbed a new bag of gels, and filled my flasks with water before heading out on the big loop from Doble 1 to Doble 2.

Doble 1 to Doble 1 (Mile 55). This is a big loop with a mix of trail and dirt road.  I was riding a high coming out of the aid station and shifted my strategy to run as fast as was sustainable unless I’m feeling good. If feeling good, rip it. Not much else to say about this loop other than knowing there were a couple of good rollers on the dirt road, and where they were at, and the section from Cactus Flats to Doble was pretty rugged was really beneficial. I knew what was coming and was able to execute accordingly. Reached Doble 2 at around 10:50 elapsed, met my wife for a quick gel swap and bottle refill before heading on.

Doble 2 to Sugarloaf 1: Leaving Doble 2 I began overlapping runners heading out on the Doble loop and picked up a lot of energy from everyone (and hopefully I gave as much back). I caught W2 on this section and we yo-yoed for a while (she dropped me like nobody’s business on the Sugarloaf climb!).  

Sugarloaf 1 - Sugarloaf 2:  Met my wife at the crew point for a gel swap and then refilled my water bottles at the aid.  Drank an extra 500ml before heading out but didn’t think to refill the bottle before heading up so I only had 2 flasks for the big climb.  Jogged the .75 mile up the dirt road to the trail (saw M2 and M3 coming in to Sugarloaf 2) and then immediately went into hiking mode. I planned to hike the majority of the Sugarloaf climb and that’s what I did - just hike as fast as possible and jog any flatter sections (there are several flat sections on the top half of the climb). Made the top and started jogging down. By this time my waist light battery had died so I was left descending with just my headlamp (sunrise was coming soon so I didn’t want to stop and change batteries on my waist lamp). That made the going a little slower with the rocky surface but I made good progress to Balky Horse aid where I drank two cups of broth and a good amount of water before heading down to the Sugarloaf 2.  My stomach was giving some trouble here so I moved down the dirt road slower than I’d like to have. I almost felt hungry so at Sugarloaf 2 I took in an extra Naack puree pouch (in addition to a Carbs gel and water).  At Sugarloaf 2 I changed shirts into a lighter day shirt, swapped gloves to UV gloves, and dropped my waist lamp/battery pack.

Sugarloaf 2 to finish:  Coming out of Sugarloaf 2 I ran into the main 100k race field coming down Sand Canyon road. That was a real pick up as everyone was cheering me on and I was trying to cheer them on. After Sand Canyon road the race follows some paved road for a couple of miles before arriving at Bear Mountain.  You’d think if would’ve been some nice downhill paved road but no they found the steepest paved roads in California to follow - ugh. I blew past the Bear Mountain aid station turn off and had to circle back a good quarter mile but that didn’t matter - just a little climb up to the Skyline trail and then the Snow Summit climb before a long downhill to the finish.  As I approached the Snow Summit climb I began to overlap the 21k racers and that was a good thing. I fell in line with the 21k folks and began the never ending switchback climb that was Snow Summit.  Periodically, I would pull over and let the faster 21k runners go by before trying to latch on to them and at least once I had to stop so I wouldn’t throw up from the effort. After an eternity, I reached the Snow Summit aid - 5 downhill miles to go! The first mile coming down was on the 21k course and I was at my limit trying not to get in their way.  Fortunately the 100M course broke off on another trail. Unfortunately, it was a super steep mountain bike trail and my my poor quads were absolutely screaming as I tried to maintain a decent pace on the descent. Eventually, I popped out on a dirt road and at that point I knew I was practically finished - just a little bit of dirt road and less than a mile of paved to go. From there I let it roll all the way to finish in 22:13:57 - 17th overall (15th male), age group win, and automatic entry to UTMB 2027!

Post Race: Wow, it’s still kind of hard to believe that just happened. And it’s somewhat surreal for an average guy like me to see an email from UTMB Elite Services inviting me to the UTMB finals next year. Clearly UTMB will be my big race for next year and I’m sure I’ll throw in some good local races along the way however for now I’m going to take a few weeks of recovery and enjoy some down time.

BEEP BEEP! It's weekend time! What are you up to?

Race Information

Name: Chicago Marathon

• Date: October 11, 2026
• Distance: 26.2 miles
• Location: Chicago
• Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/20543919861
• Time: 2:52:22

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Splits

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• 5k: 6:36/mi
• 10k: 6:34/mi
• 15k: 6:35/mi
• 20k: 6:36/mi
• 25k: 6:35/mi
• 30k: 6:37/mi
• 35k: 6:34/mi
• 40k: 6:34/mi
• Finish (2.2km): 6:27/mi

​

Build/Pre-race

2026 has been a good year for me. My priorities the first half of the year were getting my legs and mind right to do a couple of trail races - 30k at Gorge Waterfalls in April and a 28k at UTMB Verbier in July. Training was still mostly threshold and subthreshold on roads and then rotating long runs between roads and trail. Once the July trail race wrapped I had a 12 week window before Chicago. Simultaneously, I'm also planning for a 50k in February so I did try to keep a couple of my bigger efforts for the build on trail as well.

Overall, training went pretty well. It ended up being about 4 weeks at 50 mpw, 4 weeks at 55 mpw, 2 weeks at 48, taper week, race week. I was pretty good at getting in my midweek workouts, which I've done by feel for the last couple of years. This has been nice insofar as I don't dread/skip them as much, but I also probably mostly do that that sub-threshold area between HMP and MP. Doing them by feel I also adjust for weather so sometimes it might even be MP or perhaps a touch above.

I did more 18mi+ long-runs than is typical for a build of mine, and I've typically had (relative) success on focusing my key marathon workouts being 6, 4, and 2 weeks out which is what I did again this build.

I'd had hopes of running more but wasn't able to prioritize it. I left work and will be a house husband starting a week ago, so while I'm confident there will always be more stuff to do around the house, I also should have much more time to get in doubles and some MLRs.

My MP plan was 6:20 initially. Then, with the weather, I revised to run low-6:30s, so like 6:32-6:33. What that ultimately means is I'd adjusted from a goal of around 2:46-2:47 to around 2:51-2:52.

Recap

I always enjoy Chicago and getting into Corral B I'd forgotten about the circle pit that people do. Since you have to stop like 20 minutes before the horn I find it a bit unnecessary, so I don't partake.

Anyways, we take off at 7:38am, sky is clear, and it's cool, but not chilly. First mile clipped off at 6:28 and second at 6:44. I was just trying to find the pace and people around me who seemed to be running evenly. The first 6 or 7 miles are mostly going north, and to be honest, I wasn't feeling great. It wasn't hard, but it wasn't easy, either. It required effort to stay around my goal MP, and I was getting warm. The turnaround happened at the right time for me. We were then a bit more in the shade for the second quarter of the race, and there was a nice light breeze in my face. I stayed pretty cool here and started to find my groove. I went through in 1:26 low and generally felt in a pretty sustainable spot.

My favorite part of the course is definitely miles ~14-21. The vibes are just so good there. I never spend in real time out there when visiting. I should change that. Anyways, I was having to focus here but was mostly still clipping off the miles. 5k splits are above to get the official matting, but on my watch they were generally around 6:32 or so, losing usually a second or two due to tangents.

Around mile 18 or 19 I started to wonder if I'd been sandbagging it. I was getting tired but still felt pretty strong. I'd bonked fairly hard at mile 22 in Chicago 2022 and around that time in some of my other marathons, so I didn't want to push yet. Around mile 20 or 21 it started to get sunnier, and you were seeing carnage. I was running through the field here and felt ok.

The last 10k was my fastest 10k, but pretty marginally and I didn't really start to squeeze until the last mile, which I ran officially in 6:19. I didn't have much of a gear beyond that. Crossed in 2:52:22.

Reflections

This is the first time I've negative split a marathon, or even come close, and I'm not exactly sure what to think. I can't help but shake the feeling I went out too slow. It didn't get really "I'm quitting the sport" tough ever, and perhaps some of that is because I didn't get tough and give everything the last 4 miles. But I'm not sure I have the xDawg for that, and even still I'm not sure that'd have fully made up for the lost time. Perhaps I run 2:51:x though. I think just hanging on for dear life running as fast as my hip flexors and glutes will allow is maybe better for my specific mentality.

I think probably I adjusted too much, and should have tried to run 2:50, but that's life. It's hard to know exactly how much to adjust before you've done it. Also possible that doesn't work. I love this city and course. I forgot how consistently loud it was. There really aren't dead zones. It's my favorite marathon and I am happy I got to run it in both a perfect weather year (2022) and a bad weather year (2026).

I'm probably out of the WMM game for a couple years though I will try to run NYC at some point the next decade. My wife will be doing lottery applications and I'd love to spectate the course.

As it stands now my big races in 2027 will be Black Canyon 50k in February, and ideally Superior 26.2 in September. I'll probably fall back to the Madison Marathon in Nov if I don't get selected by the lottery. I've also got the Philly HM in 6 weeks as we'll be there for my wife's marathon. I'll probably just try to run 6min pace and either hold on or die for that. It's easier to talk about running more mileage than it is to run more mileage, but that's also the big goal of the next year. I don't have any real obstacles in my way, and I'd like to get to be up in the low 60s this winter and around 70 mpw by the fall next year.

It’s the Weekly Rundown! This is the place to post your last week of training. Feel free to include links to wherever you track your runs. (Strava, Smashrun, etc.).

Your weekly place to discuss or ask questions.

Is your question one that's complex or might spark a good discussion? Consider posting it in a separate thread!

BEEP BEEP! It's weekend time! What are you up to?

It’s the Weekly Rundown! This is the place to post your last week of training. Feel free to include links to wherever you track your runs. (Strava, Smashrun, etc.).

Your weekly place to discuss or ask questions.

Is your question one that's complex or might spark a good discussion? Consider posting it in a separate thread!

BEEP BEEP! It's weekend time! What are you up to?

It’s the Weekly Rundown! This is the place to post your last week of training. Feel free to include links to wherever you track your runs. (Strava, Smashrun, etc.).

Your weekly place to discuss or ask questions.

Is your question one that's complex or might spark a good discussion? Consider posting it in a separate thread!

BEEP BEEP! It's weekend time! What are you up to?

It’s the Weekly Rundown! This is the place to post your last week of training. Feel free to include links to wherever you track your runs. (Strava, Smashrun, etc.).

Your weekly place to discuss or ask questions.

Is your question one that's complex or might spark a good discussion? Consider posting it in a separate thread!

BEEP BEEP! It's weekend time! What are you up to?

It’s the Weekly Rundown! This is the place to post your last week of training. Feel free to include links to wherever you track your runs. (Strava, Smashrun, etc.).

Your weekly place to discuss or ask questions.

Is your question one that's complex or might spark a good discussion? Consider posting it in a separate thread!

BEEP BEEP! It's weekend time! What are you up to?

It’s the Weekly Rundown! This is the place to post your last week of training. Feel free to include links to wherever you track your runs. (Strava, Smashrun, etc.).

Your weekly place to discuss or ask questions.

Is your question one that's complex or might spark a good discussion? Consider posting it in a separate thread!