Thanks, I appreciate your replies and will be sure to ask about that one.

Question for the group... this will be my second marathon with the first one ending with me running into the wall while being underfueled and lacking overall my miles leading into it. This time I'm certainly getting miles in.

With the Philadelphia marathon coming up, I want to make sure I'm not absolutely wearing myself down.

Week 10 - 42 miles; 20 mile long run
Week 11 - 25 miles; 10 mile long run (deload)
Week 12 - 44 miles; 22 mile long run (10/25 - crushed it with PRs in the half marathon, 10 mile, and 30k)

Upcoming weeks
Week 13 - 45 miles; 20 mile long run - I'm hurting pretty good from my long run yesterday. Not sure how necessary it is put in another 20 miler.
Week 14 - 38 miles; 14 mile race practice long run
Week 15 - 24 miles; 8.5 mile long run
Week 16 (race week)

I've been following the Runna plan and I've gotten a ton faster. I do think I'm likely going to run my 2nd marathon in the 3:40 range if I can avoid injury. I finished marathon 1 in 4:17 with the last 5 miles being absolute hell. If it is anything like my 22 mile run yesterday, I feel like my body is ready this time as I easily could've kept a 8:20 average page for 4.2 more miles. Should I keep stacking the miles in the next couple of weeks or maybe reduce the 20 mile long run to 16-18 to give myself a bit more rest?

Looks good to me. Unless your body starts giving you signals, I'd continue as planned. How much of your long runs are at race pace? Be careful with that. I'm sure you're practicing your fueling strategy on these last few long runs.

Are you running similar terrain to the marathon course?
Which race are you running?

About 50% of the miles on the long runs are at race pace but some of other pace targets aren't super off from race pace. This past Sunday, I did go harder to see what I could do. This next 20 miler is fully conversational. First marathon I only hit the 20 mile threshold once. This training block it will be three times which should help with confidence but not sure it actually helps with body recovery.

I'm running more hills than last year as I was unprepared during the 1st one.

Running the Philadelphia Marathon. I'm slightly concerned about how much colder it is there vs San Antonio as I typically have a tougher time with my HR and controlled breathing in the cold.

Jealous. Travel out to the start is a grind but its such a cool experience to run that race.

The 1st Ave wall of sound in NYC is one of my favorite marathon moments. Highly recommend having your name visible so random spectators can cheer you on

I've read that same advice multiple times this weekend about having my name visible, but I may have missed out on that unless I bootleg it with a sharpie.

And yeah, all the logistics are crazy.

Bag drop the day before.
The Expo and Bag drop on different sides of the city.
Getting to the ferry at 5:30AM for a 9:45AM start.

They say not to do anything new on race day, but I ain't ever been on a boat 4 hours before the start of a race...


UPDATE: I bought some Tyvek paper and I'll get my wife to make a nice little nameplate for race day.

So like….when do you poop?

I just ran Berlin last month and I had to be out of my hotel around 7am but that allowed me to wake up around 5-5:30, eat, have coffee and do my business. Being on a ferry at 5:45, four hours before the start significantly changes things

Goldie Wilson said:

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The 1st Ave wall of sound in NYC is one of my favorite marathon moments. Highly recommend having your name visible so random spectators can cheer you on

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I also love the "silence" on the bridge before first Ave.

Also, if you are on the lower deck of the verrazano, don't run next to the edge of the bridge. Lots of dudes peeing off the upper deck + wind is not your friend.

CDub06 said:

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I've read that same advice multiple times this weekend about having my name visible, but I may have missed out on that unless I bootleg it with a sharpie.

And yeah, all the logistics are crazy.

Bag drop the day before.
The Expo and Bag drop on different sides of the city.
Getting to the ferry at 5:30AM for a 9:45AM start.

They say not to do anything new on race day, but I ain't ever been on a boat 4 hours before the start of a race...


UPDATE: I bought some Tyvek paper and I'll get my wife to make a nice little nameplate for race day.

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A few suggestions:
-Wear warm clothing to the start line that you don't mind leaving behind. My last time running NYC, I had some sweat pants and old hoodie that were collecting dust in my closet anyways.
-Bring a book, crossword, sudoku, etc to the start line.
-Bring a trash bag or something else you can sit on in case the ground is wet
-Get in the porta potty line before you think you'll need to go
-Lots of people pee in the start corrals. Watch where you walk

I ran NYC in 2024. I got to Staten Island via bus and arrived over 3 hours before my wave started. It was dark when we arrived and very cold. They had hot coffee and bagels there which was nice. We were thankful when the sun came up - people were standing and facing the sun like zombies in the rays of sunshine soaking up the warmth. Tough course, but the hardest part for me was the waiting for the start. Good luck and enjoy the experience!

Ags2013 said:

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Question for the group... this will be my second marathon with the first one ending with me running into the wall while being underfueled and lacking overall my miles leading into it. This time I'm certainly getting miles in.

With the Philadelphia marathon coming up, I want to make sure I'm not absolutely wearing myself down.

Week 10 - 42 miles; 20 mile long run
Week 11 - 25 miles; 10 mile long run (deload)
Week 12 - 44 miles; 22 mile long run (10/25 - crushed it with PRs in the half marathon, 10 mile, and 30k)

Upcoming weeks
Week 13 - 45 miles; 20 mile long run - I'm hurting pretty good from my long run yesterday. Not sure how necessary it is put in another 20 miler.
Week 14 - 38 miles; 14 mile race practice long run
Week 15 - 24 miles; 8.5 mile long run
Week 16 (race week)

I've been following the Runna plan and I've gotten a ton faster. I do think I'm likely going to run my 2nd marathon in the 3:40 range if I can avoid injury. I finished marathon 1 in 4:17 with the last 5 miles being absolute hell. If it is anything like my 22 mile run yesterday, I feel like my body is ready this time as I easily could've kept a 8:20 average page for 4.2 more miles. Should I keep stacking the miles in the next couple of weeks or maybe reduce the 20 mile long run to 16-18 to give myself a bit more rest?

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Just be careful with Runna. Some people have been getting hurt using it due the app not understanding what the body can take.

Please listen to your body and adjust from there.

Congrats!

Everyone has given you really good advice. Enjoy the run and the zombie walk out of Central Park!

Only thing I will add is to have a predetermined family meetup spot. Preferably a block or two away from the exiting area. The crowds leaving are a nightmare.

Anyone have any recommendations for liquid fueling?

I used the fruit smoothie Honey Stinger gels and they worked great for my half marathon, but the last couple were THICK after racing for a couple of hours. Even with water.

My stomach held up fine, but I had to force them down. Just thinking of trying something liquid.

I use high carb tailwind

aggiespartan said:

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I use high carb tailwind

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I actually had that pulled up on another monitor. Seems like a solid choice to try.

Do you just mix extra packets and make it thick during your run, and then use aid station water to wash it down?

If I'm using regular Tailwind, I do 2 scoops out of a bulk bag or 1 of the single serving sachets. That is 200 calories/50 grams of carbs. If I want more than that, I will do the actual high carb Tailwind product. I think right now it's only offered in lemonade. 1 sachet or 3 scoops out of the bag is 360 calories/90 grams of carbs. Neither of these are thick. Also note - these are 2 different products, not just more scoops of the regular tailwind. If you go dumping in a ton of scoops of regular tailwind, it will get thick.

I have also tried the high carb skratch. In my opinion, tailwind mixes better and has more carbs.

Edit to add, these are drink mixes, not gels.

So, the Alphafly 4 has been out for 2 days now. Who's got a review?

You mean the 1 billion "reviews" by AI aggregators aren't what you're looking for?

I'll buy a pair in the next month or two for Houston in January, but I'm holding off for a bit to see what color options are out there by then.

ptothemo said:

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You mean the 1 billion "reviews" by AI aggregators aren't what you're looking for?

I'll buy a pair in the next month or two for Houston in January, but I'm holding off for a bit to see what color options are out there by then.

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I have a tough decision coming up. Philadelphia Marathon in three weeks. 98 miles on newest Alphafly 3 pair; run the race in those or buy the new shoe and break it in...

Ah, who am I kidding?

Yeah, tough call. I mean, the white 4's are going to get dirty pretty easily. But the orange 4's might not be bright enough to be clearly not burnt orange.

Choices, choices.

This was the best gu I've tried so far

I prefer Amacx gels. Gu is too thick

Average Joe said:

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Anyone have any recommendations for liquid fueling?

I used the fruit smoothie Honey Stinger gels and they worked great for my half marathon, but the last couple were THICK after racing for a couple of hours. Even with water.

My stomach held up fine, but I had to force them down. Just thinking of trying something liquid.

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skratch hi-carb is my go to but that is with water. Amacx gels are more liquidy and what I prefer for runs.

Good luck NYC runners! You got this

Ragoo said:

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I prefer Amacx gels. Gu is too thick

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Nothing I've tried is as thick as Maurten. Legit had to chew it. But somehow still better than gu. Will prob just eat candy when I run out of gels

tandy miller said:

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Ragoo said:

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I prefer Amacx gels. Gu is too thick

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Nothing I've tried is as thick as Maurten. Legit had to chew it. But somehow still better than gu. Will prob just eat candy when I run out of gels

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oh yeah. Tried one in an Ironman 70.3 and spit it right up. That texture is wild.

Lotta steps yesterday… the 6.5 miles in the am helped. Nice having 15k before 9:00 am

I have Monumental in Indy this coming Saturday. I punked out and reduced to the half due to some nagging shin splints that eliminated my ability/interest in doing the long runs I needed to do for the full.

Going to try and clock in under 90 minutes but we'll see how everything feels on race day. Getting old and having nagging injuries and soreness is just the worst. But I did a 10k yesterday at my race pace and was still holding right at 7 minutes per mile, a couple of relaxed 8 or 9 milers this week and hopefully everything goes smoothly on Saturday.

Damn Sweden wins NYC

The women's race was awesome. McClain had a hell of a finish to snag 2nd.

wangus12 said:

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Damn Sweden wins NYC

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First marathon major for the Nike Apex. I'll have to add that to the shopping list for the January release. My Alphafly 4s will be worn out by then.

Does World Athletics or USATF have any rules in place regarding the technology, specs or performance of these advanced shoes? If not, how long before we see the equivalent of amputee blades as shoes?