As marathon training season arrives, you may be gearing up for the autumn Marathon Majors. Or perhaps youâve chosen a less hyped, but equally fulfilling, 26.2. So, I invite you to reflect: why do you subject yourself to this funâyet masochisticâactivity? For 99% of the worldâs population, itâs the equivalent of self-flagellation.
Running a marathon is way more than an Instagram post with a medal and a goofy smile (Image by Grok)
Some run a marathon to challenge their limits. Others just for bragging rights. Some want to fulfill a personal journey: 6-Star, 50 States, or something only you know. Regardless of your reason, it wonât define your legacy, affect your paycheck, or change the respect of your loved ones. Keep it in perspective. Enjoy the process. Suffer through with a smile. Embrace the suck.
Enjoying the process so you avoid burnout is the key to any successful marathon training cycle. Sure, it will be hard, and at some point, you will suffer. Absolutely, you will have to sacrifice certain events because you must train the next day. It is a given that something will eventually hurt. And somewhere during the process, you will question your sanity. But it wonât be a fulfilling process if you burn out. If you do, it will be miserable. Not worth pursuing and easily abandoned. So, let’s avoid that. Hereâs how?
Remember why you started âș This is a personal journey, whether it’s your first or your 100th marathon. Make the training a connection to the personal reasons that brought you here. No one is forcing you to do this. Embrace failure (it will happen), grow through the struggle, and own the process.
Trust the Process, not just the pace âș While time goals are worthy and valid and marathon pace training is a key component to the puzzle, trusting the process is more important. Remember that training is about a multitude of stimuli; it is not about perfection. Hit the effort, learn from the session, donât obsess over splits. If you trust the process, you should hit the pace.
It is your race âș Focus on your progress and donât let other runners define you. Beating your friend or earning a BQ are legitimate goals. But if you focus only on those, youâll drain your joy, push too hard, or skip recovery. This is your experience, and nobody elseâs.
It is about consistency âș Consistency beats perfection every time. Miss a workout? Move forward. Focus on the next one. Flexibility is important, but donât mistake it for complacency. Obsessing over a missed long run is stressful and unproductive, especially if you did complete the other 14 of 16 in your program. Life happens.
Fueling for a marathon goes beyond race day (Image by Grok)
Fuel your body properly âș Running a marathon requires a ton of fuel, not just on race day, but throughout training. This is not the time to lose weight, try a new detox fad, or fear carbs. Make sure your body has enough energy to perform and repair, so you can keep moving forward.
Remain resilient through strength training âș Strength training supports running. It protects your muscles, improves durability, and reduces the risk of injury. What more do you need to be convinced? Donât think you can skip legs just because youâre already running. You donât want to find out why the hard way.
Respect and prioritize recovery as part of training âș Rest days and easier weeks bring adaptation. Fitness grows when training and recovery are combined. Massage and therapies are a waste if you donât prioritize sleep. Recovery gadgets are useless if you think they can replace the rest day you need. Be smart. You are not a machine. You are not indestructible.
Make sure to have fun âș As I said at the start, remember the reason you started. Donât let social pressures take over the fun and fulfillment of the journey. Donât be afraid to go easy on easy days. Run with friends and laugh. Give yourself permission for that post-run beer. Remember, your finish time is not what defines you as a human being.
Running a marathon is a formidable achievement. The 26.2 is a remarkable adversary. The challenge of training is what makes it special. So, be present, be purposeful, and above all, enjoy the process. Finishing a marathon is way more than an Instagram post showing a medal and a goofy smile.
Please share your thoughts on this subject in the comment box below.
As in every aspect of our functional lives, we pick up bad habits while running. Some are silly or quirky, while others derail important areas of our lives. They become unnoticeable the longer they remain unidentified, so we become immune to them.
Image by ChatGPT
Weâve heard about Major League pitchers getting drilled because a certain move telegraphs their next pitch; or public speakers who get stuck repeating verbal fillers as they deliver a speech; or job interviewees who undermine themselves by constantly apologizing before answering a question. Those are just bad habits, all of which can be overcome.
Runners are no different.
These are seven bad habits to consider and analyze whether they are sabotaging your progress as a runner.
1 â Diminishing your accomplishments: If you are training for a marathon, running âjust 10 miles todayâ is an easy day. But running 10 miles is running a lot of miles. Take your car and drive 10 miles from your house, and see how far it is and how long it takes. It is a matter of presentation. Be proud of your accomplishments, whether the medal is around your neck or you are training to earn it.
2 â Refusing to embrace rest: Working hard is essential to maximize your running potential. Recovering so your body can adapt to the stress of those hard workouts, so you can do it again and get better, is equally important. If you return to grinding while unrecovered, you will overwork an unprepared body and get injured. Never feel guilty for âexecutingâ your day off as written, or for taking an additional one when needed. Resting is not a sign of weakness, but of mental strength.
3 â Believing you are not a real runner: Do you run? Then you are a runner. You are not a marathoner if you donât complete a marathon, but there is no pre-qualification in terms of time or distance to define you as a runner. The only qualification needed is to run. So, stop feeling guilty because you think you are slow, or because you donât run what you feel like far enough, or because you take walking breaks. None of that matters. You run; you are a runner. Done!
You must ensure your body remains strong and resilient (Image by Grok)
4 â Comparing yourself to others: If youâve read my blog before, you have seen this one: Stop obsessing about what your friends are doing. Avoid overthinking what others share on Strava or Instagram. Donât worry about how fast your friend is running his mile reps. Worry about you, what you can do better, and how you can become the best runner you can be. That last sentence says âyouâ four times. It is on purpose, because your running is all about you.
5 â Running while injured: This is non-negotiable. If you are injured, you donât run. I am not talking about aches and pains, or little niggles here or there. I am talking injured. Not all injuries require a bone sticking out of your flesh. If you compensate your mechanics to avoid pain, you change not only the way the body was designed to move but also the way your body is used to move. This guarantees that something else will get out of whack. And then, instead of taking two or three days now, your body will force you to take two or three weeks (if not months) sometime later.
6 â Neglecting Cross Training: Running is a repetitive exercise. A high-impact sport. You wonât have to crash into a 300-lbs defensive lineman, but in a 10K, you are landing about 5000 times per leg at 3-5 times your body weight. Constant repetition leads to overuse, and overuse leads to injury. You must ensure your body remains strong and resilient. Strength training is key. You can also do other sports activities, such as yoga, cycling, or swimming, from time to time. This will provide physical gains without the pounding of running.
7 â Forgetting to have fun: Does your next mortgage payment depend on your next PR? Is the happiness of your marriage dependent on your invitation by Abbott to the next Marathon Major? Is next weekendâs race-pace effort the key to qualifying for the Olympic trials? Most likely no, no, and no. Understand why you run. Sure, some people run to get over a tragedy or to regain control of their health and lives. But most of us weekend warriors run because of the joy it brings us. The post-run high, the outdoors, the sense of freedom and accomplishment, or the social component. Never forget that. If you do, you are in for a short running career.
Running can be a lifelong sport if we diligently strive to do it right and remain injury-free. Donât overcomplicate it. You have plenty of worries in life to add running to the list. Especially since you are not a professional.
This past February 2nd, a controversy was sparked by an article that ran on the Runnerâs World website. It was an opinion piece by a writer named Cole Townsend (whom I donât know). The piece was titled: âYes, Itâs OK to Wear a Finisherâs Shirt for a Race You Didnât Finishâ. Hence, the rebuttal in the title of this blog post.
If you did not finish the London Marathon in 2025, you should not be wearing this shirt.
Townsend states things as: âI think we need to have an honest conversation about whoâs âallowedâ to buy finisher tees,â and âYour hard work doesnât disappear because mile 1 or mile 19 didnât happenâ.
These statements, just as the articleâs title, rubbed me the wrong way. Sure, everybody is entitled to their opinion. Sure, wearing a shirt that states you finished the Boston Marathon when you didnât is trivial compared with whatâs happening in Ukraine. Sure, you are not going to ponder what I may think when choosing your wardrobe. Yet, in my book, it is still not right.
Would you wear an Olympic medal you did not win around your neck, just because you own it? You can proudly display it at home, especially if a relative earned it. I display my dadâs marathon medals at home. But they are hung separately from my earned medals. They are my property, but not my achievements.
My beef with the entire affair is two-fold:
1 â How can an entity of Runnerâs World’s reputation think that publishing this was OK? I am all pro-First Amendment, but you are not obligated to provide a tribune to someone for just about anything, especially if it is unsound, which it should be for runners. Would you run a story advocating the superiority or inferiority of a certain race, or defending a flat earth, just because it is someoneâs opinion?
2 â The article, as the headline clearly states, talks about finisher shirts. A finisherâs shirt is earned when you finish a race, hence the name. Not when you register, not when your boyfriend crosses the finish line, not when you purchase it in a fire sale. This is not a participation trophy. This is between you and your conscience, sure, but in my book, it is still a lie.
I can’t believe Runner’s World ran this article.
Is it OK to wear a military uniform and let people assume you served your country? Would you walk through a mall wearing a priestâs cassock, or scrubs with a stethoscope draped over your shoulders? Exactly. And no, Iâm not comparing military service or serving God to finishing a marathon. Iâm pointing out something simpler: what you wear creates assumptions about who you are and what youâve done. Letting those assumptions stand when they arenât true is plain wrong.
There is a difference between a finisherâs shirt and a race or a souvenir shirt. If you ran London and brought me a hat, I would be grateful and wear it, even though I havenât run it. When I returned to road racing after a 26-year hiatus, I gave my race shirt to my dad as a tribute, since he inspired me to start running when I was a kid. He wore it proudly. But it only said â2012 Miami Marathon and Half Marathonâ; it didnât state he finished the race, even though he ran the distance hundreds of times.
The author concludes with this statement: âWe donât need to start a âstolen valorâ debate. What you wear should reflect what matters to youânot what the internet thinks you’re entitled to. If you care, flip the question: why are you wearing it? If the answer is âbecause it means something to me,â thatâs enough.â
This would be a logical conclusion if the article didnât state âFinisherâs Shirtâ. Thatâs where, in my opinion, both the writer and the Runnerâs World editors went terribly wrong.
Any thoughts? I really want to hear from runners who disagree with me. Please share in the comment box below.
When it comes to the long run, theories abound. A certain influencer says this, scientific research says that (yet somehow you believe the influencer, but thatâs another story). Or your buddy swears at a new esoteric formula that allows you to run only twice a week and still improve all your PRs, but then, here comes fill-in-the-blank.
Most theories and formulas have their merit, but some are just quacks. Yet certain non-negotiables canât be overlooked if you strive to improve your endurance, times, PRs, and enjoyment in running. These are my six non-negotiables:
Hydration â it is not about drinking water during your long run. It is about setting a hydration strategy that goes beyond your time pounding the asphalt. Hydration is a weeklong strategy. You canât cram hydration the night before or the morning of your long run. A healthy intake of water and electrolytes throughout your day, every day, every week, will ensure you are primed to withstand the sweating rigors of your run, during which you must rehydrate as you go, of course. Donât start on a deficit. In the best circumstances, it is a recipe for a bad run; in the worst, for disaster.
Night-Before Dinner â A key component to the next dayâs long run success. It must be carb-rich, as they will help top off your glycogen (muscle fuel) stores. This is not the time for a big-ass stake or a huge salad. This is not the time to try that new restaurant your family has been dying to go to. This dinner is âme timeâ. It is about preparing for tomorrow. Itâs the time to be a little selfish and make sure your posse understands your nutritional needs. You can please everyone else with their meal choice tomorrow. One more thing: Give yourself plenty of time to digest your dinner.
Pre-Run Fuel â There are plenty of benefits to running in a fasted state, but those do not apply to your long run. Even if you had the perfect meal the night before, your body used glycogen and water to keep you alive through the night. So, even if you feel you can tough it out, hydrate and have a carb-rich snack before you start. There is no reason to start your journey without your tank topped off when the solution is so accessible. Your body will thank you with better performance and less fatigue.
In-run Fueling â Even though your body is designed to perform at a certain level of dehydration and calorie deficit (meaning you donât need to replace every drop of water as you sweat it or every calorie as you burn it), you must eventually replenish so your body continues performing over the energy demands throughout the workout. For that, you must develop your personalized protocol. Forget what experts say and figure out what is best for you. When do you need water? When do you need a gel? When do you need electrolytes? It is all about your individual needs so that you may keep the engine burning hot.
Execute your plan â When you go out for a long run, be clear about what you want to accomplish from your training, and make sure of that before you turn on your watch. You shouldnât be surprised by a mile-repeat in the middle of your run. You shouldnât figure out you are going 12 miles at mile 2. You should have known that yesterday, if not earlier. Being prepared is the key to success, and itâs better to avoid needing a week to recover instead of a day or two.
Purposeful Recovery â You finished your long run. Great! Congrats! Let the Strava kudos and the Instagram likes pour in. What now? Well, if you want your body to benefit from the workout, you must start the recovery process ASAP. This means you should not get in your car 30 seconds after you are done. You should catch your breath, cool down, stretch, rehydrate, ingest protein and carbohydrates (chocolate milk is an excellent way to do so), and make sure that, as your body enters recovery mode, it can recuperate stronger, faster. Eat, hydrate, and sleep so you are ready to use the benefits of that long run as soon as possible.
There are many theories about the long run, some with merits, some without. If you want to build strength, endurance, and confidence, not just for race day, but for years to come, I truly recommend you incorporate your non-negotiables into the long run. These have all been proven.
Please share your thoughts in the comment box below.
If you are reading this post within the first few days of our brand-new year of our Lord 2026, your running goals should already be set and in motion. You shouldnât need to cram in the later months, nor should you have to adjust because you were caught unprepared. If your goals are not set yet, click here before proceeding. If they are, letâs focus on how to achieve them.
It is all about the way you present it to yourself. Image by ChatGPT
A sure way to keep yourself focused on your goals is to shift certain paradigms in your mindset. Little adjustments that, when applied, should put you in a position to achieve your 2026 goals. Some may apply to you, some may not. Letâs check them out:
1 – Focus on effort, not on pace â Easy pace is not measured in minutes and seconds per mile. It is about effort. An easy effort, hence the name. Sure, there are workouts where specific paces must be maintained. There are speeds and progressions to hit. But that is only in selected training sessions. Most of your training is always at an easy pace. So, keep it easy. Let the pace be a product of your effort, not the other way around. If sharing it on Instagram is embarrassing, keep it to yourself.
2 – Break your training into sections â Every single training has components that must be compartmentalized and distinguished so they can be appropriately executed. A light mobility session and a warm-up should be part of every single run. It is once youâve taken care of these that your actual training session, where there are benefits to realize, starts. Regardless of what it is. Short intervals, long intervals, fartlek, progressions, you name it, all consist of segments that should be understood, respected, and executed. They are all there for a reason, so donât rush or skip them. The same applies to the cool-down. Thereâs no need to jump into your car 30 seconds after turning off your watch.
3 – Running is a privilege, not a chore â Why do you run? Is anyone forcing you? Is the Boogeyman going to catch you if you stop? We run because we have chosen it as our sport, our vehicle for health, or our release valve from the stresses of life. Make it an enjoyable part of your day, not a chore. Make it your âme timeâ or your âsocial timeâ with your buddies. Will there be days when you would rather walk through crushed glass than go for a run? Of course! But those should be few and far between. Our running is not guaranteed. Injuries, time constraints, family demands, weather, work, and so many other distractions conspire against our running time. Understand the privilege of being able to run today and be thankful for it.
4 â Reframe your thoughts â Most runs donât fall apart because your legs quit, but because of a thought you let go unchallenged. âIâm slowing down.â âThis isnât my day.â âI should back off.â Reframing is stepping in and editing that sentence before it becomes a decision. Not with unquestioning optimism, but with perspective. âIâm tired because Iâm working.’ This pace still gets me where I need to go. âI donât need to quit; I need to adjust. Once you start deliberately executing this, you will realize how often your mind jumps to conclusions your body hasnât made yet. Running becomes less about fighting discomfort and more about managing the dialogue that surrounds it. Change the words, and the experience will often follow.
5 â Running is a journey, not a destination â There is no finish line. Races, PRs, and medals matter, of course, but they are just checkpoints. Accepting running as a lifetime journey changes the measurement of success. Itâs no longer about faster times or longer distances, but about what running teaches you along the way. The patience to keep training when progress is slow. The humility of setbacks. The satisfaction of keeping showing up. Goals stop being pressure points and become refueling stations. They give direction without defining your worth as a runner. Miss one, and the journey continues. Hit one, and you keep moving forward. This mindset will keep you running for decades to come. Not because you are chasing one more medal, but because running still has something to teach you.
In 2026, letâs focus on the joy of running. Achievements and setbacks are part of the process, part of what makes running special. Always remember why you chose to run.
