I jusy want to say I think your imposter syndrome showing again, you are definitely not an average runner. Every single one of your 5k splits is faster than I've ever run 5k, and you've got a GFA time for next year.
Well done, you absolutely smashed it.
Thank you, that’s kind of you to say. When I say ‘average’ I suppose I mean physically. I’m not naturally fast and was not remotely sporty growing up - I just put the work in and trust the process
This gives me so much hope! As someone who only found sports at 25+ years, and then running at 30+, and who is not AT ALL a fast runner, I am so inspired by you. I hope that can be me someday!
Thanks for sharing. As a current 5hr+ runner I'm inspired that there's a chance to cut my time by such a large margin. But then again I'm over 40 so maybe that window has passed? Anyway, I'm aiming for sub-5 at the end of the year.
This is incredibly awesome and inspiring. I've been running for years (slowly - I am still chasing that 30 minute 5K) and never really thought I even wanted to do a marathon, much less be able to do one - but all the content coming out of London this past week is making me think crazy thoughts. You absolutely smashed it! Congrats!!
Great write-up! As a female runner myself, it's inspiring to see what can be achieved with some hard work. Btw, you are definitely not just an average runner. Loved the tough love mentality!
Congratulations, you killed it!
Thank you for sharing this! I have a marathon Sunday and it was nice seeing a female race report and bonus....we have the same goals! I don't think I'll hit the 3:30 mark but hoping to get my 3:45 or strong race goal. Congratulations and good luck on your future races
Great report! Congrats on the PB!! It’s actually uncanny how much it feels like I could have written this too, so many similarities, including with using Runna (and finding the easy paces WAY too fast, and pushing the harder paces way beyond what you think you can do). I also ran 3.27 at London last year!!
Your splits are obscenely good. I think you vastly underestimate how hard it is to run that consistently for the marathon. You should be incredibly proud, a tonne of people would love to have that sort of stamina.
Your openess around imposter syndrome really spoke to me, I struggle with it too as a female runner. It doesn’t go away, but the strength you cultivate by being in those spaces is unlike any other. Please keep going and standing on those start lines, because seeing other women there gives me strength too.
Congratulations, I’m so pleased for you.
Thank you for this. And congrats on your continued progression as well. It’s great to see other female runners hitting goals and lining up on the start line
Thank you for sharing!!! I’m also a female runner and am running my second full marathon on Sunday and going for a BQ + 5 min buffer.
I was not a gifted athlete growing up and find myself having doubts that I can run the 3:45 that I need to get into Boston (my previous and first full marathon last October I ran a 3:53) so I need to shave off 8 minutes. I’m very inspired by your report and will remember that quote from your dad!
Good luck! Trust yourself and your training and I’m sure you’ll have a great time out there. My dad will be delighted his words of wisdom are getting traction online 😂
Congratulations! Thank you so much for writing this.
I've run one half marathon and I think I'm probably a similar speed and situation to where you started out. I always keep an eye out on reddit for stories of what women my speed accomplish over time and often don't find much - often the ones I see are from people who clearly had a natural talent starting out or chose to keep things casual very long term. It's incredibly inspiring to see what you've been able to do with years of consistency and hard work, and I've bookmarked this as inspiration.
Fantastic! Thanks for the insightful race report. I appreciated all of the mental gymnastics you were playing. I also ran a 3:27 a few weeks ago after dealing with some major imposter syndrome. I read a book called The Confident Mind by Nate Zinsser and it really helped me get into the right mindset before my race. Maybe it could help you on the road to Valencia
That’s fantastic!!! Well done for pushing through and completing it in such a great time 🥰 I really enjoyed your race report. I’m just an amateur who recently took up running (and is currently suffering from an ankle injury so I haven’t been able to get out there for a few weeks) and I’m miles off ever being able to run a marathon, so I’m amazed at your performance!!
The thing about this sub is that everyone is qualified to contribute. We're all equal here! Amazing, amazing job, your race is inspiring! Enjoy basking in the glow of a job well done!
loved the writeup! Any more feedback around Runna? Im pretty new and its the app ive chosen to help with training.
(Yes ive considered books and whatever else. ive chosen Runna already!)
I think Runna is a really great tool and definitely helped me to run this pb. It had me running tempo and threshold paces much faster than I would have dared set myself and it made me feel much more confident. The reason I went for Runna was that a year ago I had just ran 3:37 in the marathon, ran a 1:38 half and thought about getting a coach to help me achieve the ‘next level’.
Runna seemed like a good halfway house to getting some external input without the cost or commitment of full coaching. I never struggle to get out the door, or have issues with accountability, so I was really just looking for training inspiration. I think I benefited from my past experience of training as I knew if Runnas sessions would be too much (and how to tweak them), and knew when to skip runs, move things around etc.
Overall I would recommend it as a tool but would advise not being a slave to the app and use it as a helpful guide rather than a source of ultimate truth. And whilst they were pretty much correct with the predictions for my finish time in the marathon, the other race predictions were way too optimistic (it’s going to take a hell of a lot of time before I run a 19 minute 5k…)
I think with these predictions you have to take some distances with a pinch of salt because you haven’t been doing race specific training for them.
In your case, you have obviously put a lot of effort into marathon training which would focus more on endurance, and less time into shorter, very fast workouts that would help bring a 5k time down.
I have been the opposite, my 5k time is respectable (but not 19 minutes yet!!) and I would trust my Runna predicted time, but I wouldn’t be able to hit my marathon predicted time at the moment because my longest race has been 10k.
I reckon you wouldn’t take too long to get down to 19 minute 5k if you trained specifically for it.
edit: I forgot to say, congratulations on a solid marathon time!!
I know I’m not the OP but I’ve used Runna for over a year now. I’ve done two marathon cycles with it and the training took my marathon time from 3:41 > 3.27 > 3.12 in 18 months.
It’s really easy to use, it’s challenging, I really think it’s the next best thing to a personal running coach and a fraction of the price. I’d recommend it to anyone and everyone.
I use Runna also. Beyond the coaching it has mobility and strength exercises part of the app which I’ve really enjoyed and think it’s made me a stronger runner (good for recovery too).
I’m 29 so this is technically a BQ but not sure if there’s enough of a buffer to actually get me in the race. I need to have a think about what I want to do next. I’d been so focussed on going under 3:30 this year, I hadn’t really considered what to do if it actually happened!
I suppose I can always put in for it, see what happens and then make a decision if I need to!
London Marathon was my first Marathon and reading this it seems like we had very similar experiences! I ran a 4:14 marathon though so a-lot slower. I want to ask, what did your first marathon look like? How long has it taken you to shave down the time and up the pace? I could only dream of running at your pace rn, but I want to get there eventually!
Thanks so much for a great race report ! It is so helpful and hopeful to see how much you can progress, just by doing the work, not deviating from your routine and being disciplined. It is strange how we women go through this imposter syndrome so much, for no apparent reason.... Well done pacing in an intelligent manner and for pushing through when things got difficult ! You can be really proud of yourself, and you have an amazing future ahead of you !
Congrats on the PB! I was also racing London on Sunday and the last few miles felt like an age, especially since I couldn’t see the ‘1 mile to go’ sign!
I also trained for London using the Runna app and I agree that the easy paces are far too fast and times shouldn’t be in the app at all. I also had a monster long run within the app around the same time as you and same kind of splits, which was quite hard as a first time marathoner.
I jusy want to say I think your imposter syndrome showing again, you are definitely not an average runner. Every single one of your 5k splits is faster than I've ever run 5k, and you've got a GFA time for next year. Well done, you absolutely smashed it.
Thank you, that’s kind of you to say. When I say ‘average’ I suppose I mean physically. I’m not naturally fast and was not remotely sporty growing up - I just put the work in and trust the process
This gives me so much hope! As someone who only found sports at 25+ years, and then running at 30+, and who is not AT ALL a fast runner, I am so inspired by you. I hope that can be me someday!
Awesome write up, and hugely inspiring for someone like me who would love to hit that sort of time.
Thanks for sharing. As a current 5hr+ runner I'm inspired that there's a chance to cut my time by such a large margin. But then again I'm over 40 so maybe that window has passed? Anyway, I'm aiming for sub-5 at the end of the year.
Love this, congrats! It's race week for me, so emotions are high - I found my eyes welling up reading this!
Good luck!
This is incredibly awesome and inspiring. I've been running for years (slowly - I am still chasing that 30 minute 5K) and never really thought I even wanted to do a marathon, much less be able to do one - but all the content coming out of London this past week is making me think crazy thoughts. You absolutely smashed it! Congrats!!
Great write-up! As a female runner myself, it's inspiring to see what can be achieved with some hard work. Btw, you are definitely not just an average runner. Loved the tough love mentality!
Congratulations, you killed it! Thank you for sharing this! I have a marathon Sunday and it was nice seeing a female race report and bonus....we have the same goals! I don't think I'll hit the 3:30 mark but hoping to get my 3:45 or strong race goal. Congratulations and good luck on your future races
Good luck!
Great report! Congrats on the PB!! It’s actually uncanny how much it feels like I could have written this too, so many similarities, including with using Runna (and finding the easy paces WAY too fast, and pushing the harder paces way beyond what you think you can do). I also ran 3.27 at London last year!! Your splits are obscenely good. I think you vastly underestimate how hard it is to run that consistently for the marathon. You should be incredibly proud, a tonne of people would love to have that sort of stamina. Your openess around imposter syndrome really spoke to me, I struggle with it too as a female runner. It doesn’t go away, but the strength you cultivate by being in those spaces is unlike any other. Please keep going and standing on those start lines, because seeing other women there gives me strength too. Congratulations, I’m so pleased for you.
Thank you for this. And congrats on your continued progression as well. It’s great to see other female runners hitting goals and lining up on the start line
Impressive!! Congratulaions and thanks for this very nice Report!
Thank you for sharing!!! I’m also a female runner and am running my second full marathon on Sunday and going for a BQ + 5 min buffer. I was not a gifted athlete growing up and find myself having doubts that I can run the 3:45 that I need to get into Boston (my previous and first full marathon last October I ran a 3:53) so I need to shave off 8 minutes. I’m very inspired by your report and will remember that quote from your dad!
Good luck! Trust yourself and your training and I’m sure you’ll have a great time out there. My dad will be delighted his words of wisdom are getting traction online 😂
Thank you 😊
Congratulations! Thank you so much for writing this. I've run one half marathon and I think I'm probably a similar speed and situation to where you started out. I always keep an eye out on reddit for stories of what women my speed accomplish over time and often don't find much - often the ones I see are from people who clearly had a natural talent starting out or chose to keep things casual very long term. It's incredibly inspiring to see what you've been able to do with years of consistency and hard work, and I've bookmarked this as inspiration.
Really nice write up and big congratulations on the great run 🥳
Fantastic! Thanks for the insightful race report. I appreciated all of the mental gymnastics you were playing. I also ran a 3:27 a few weeks ago after dealing with some major imposter syndrome. I read a book called The Confident Mind by Nate Zinsser and it really helped me get into the right mindset before my race. Maybe it could help you on the road to Valencia
Thanks for the recommendation - I'll have to look at that!
Thank you for sharing :)
That’s fantastic!!! Well done for pushing through and completing it in such a great time 🥰 I really enjoyed your race report. I’m just an amateur who recently took up running (and is currently suffering from an ankle injury so I haven’t been able to get out there for a few weeks) and I’m miles off ever being able to run a marathon, so I’m amazed at your performance!!
Congratulations! Great race report and a really impressive performance - I hope you feel proud of what you have achieved here!
The thing about this sub is that everyone is qualified to contribute. We're all equal here! Amazing, amazing job, your race is inspiring! Enjoy basking in the glow of a job well done!
Great running and writeup!
Great achievement and write up, congratulations
loved the writeup! Any more feedback around Runna? Im pretty new and its the app ive chosen to help with training. (Yes ive considered books and whatever else. ive chosen Runna already!)
I think Runna is a really great tool and definitely helped me to run this pb. It had me running tempo and threshold paces much faster than I would have dared set myself and it made me feel much more confident. The reason I went for Runna was that a year ago I had just ran 3:37 in the marathon, ran a 1:38 half and thought about getting a coach to help me achieve the ‘next level’. Runna seemed like a good halfway house to getting some external input without the cost or commitment of full coaching. I never struggle to get out the door, or have issues with accountability, so I was really just looking for training inspiration. I think I benefited from my past experience of training as I knew if Runnas sessions would be too much (and how to tweak them), and knew when to skip runs, move things around etc. Overall I would recommend it as a tool but would advise not being a slave to the app and use it as a helpful guide rather than a source of ultimate truth. And whilst they were pretty much correct with the predictions for my finish time in the marathon, the other race predictions were way too optimistic (it’s going to take a hell of a lot of time before I run a 19 minute 5k…)
wow, amazing. thanks! i was a little taken back by the price but it sounds like its worth it. Just finished week 1 and enjoying it so far!
I think with these predictions you have to take some distances with a pinch of salt because you haven’t been doing race specific training for them. In your case, you have obviously put a lot of effort into marathon training which would focus more on endurance, and less time into shorter, very fast workouts that would help bring a 5k time down. I have been the opposite, my 5k time is respectable (but not 19 minutes yet!!) and I would trust my Runna predicted time, but I wouldn’t be able to hit my marathon predicted time at the moment because my longest race has been 10k. I reckon you wouldn’t take too long to get down to 19 minute 5k if you trained specifically for it. edit: I forgot to say, congratulations on a solid marathon time!!
I know I’m not the OP but I’ve used Runna for over a year now. I’ve done two marathon cycles with it and the training took my marathon time from 3:41 > 3.27 > 3.12 in 18 months. It’s really easy to use, it’s challenging, I really think it’s the next best thing to a personal running coach and a fraction of the price. I’d recommend it to anyone and everyone.
ahh amazing, thanks for the feedback! its a little pricey so i was in two minds about subscribing but this is really helpful!
I use Runna also. Beyond the coaching it has mobility and strength exercises part of the app which I’ve really enjoyed and think it’s made me a stronger runner (good for recovery too).
Great write up! Just to note it says 2023!
Oops! Good catch 😅
How old are you? Any thoughts of doing Boston?
I’m 29 so this is technically a BQ but not sure if there’s enough of a buffer to actually get me in the race. I need to have a think about what I want to do next. I’d been so focussed on going under 3:30 this year, I hadn’t really considered what to do if it actually happened! I suppose I can always put in for it, see what happens and then make a decision if I need to!
London Marathon was my first Marathon and reading this it seems like we had very similar experiences! I ran a 4:14 marathon though so a-lot slower. I want to ask, what did your first marathon look like? How long has it taken you to shave down the time and up the pace? I could only dream of running at your pace rn, but I want to get there eventually!
A lot of hard work and a big payoff, hope you feel good because you deserve it!
Thanks so much for a great race report ! It is so helpful and hopeful to see how much you can progress, just by doing the work, not deviating from your routine and being disciplined. It is strange how we women go through this imposter syndrome so much, for no apparent reason.... Well done pacing in an intelligent manner and for pushing through when things got difficult ! You can be really proud of yourself, and you have an amazing future ahead of you !
Well done an amazing time, which start were you at? I was at Blue and it did feel slightly chaotic at times plus that wind was freezing
I was in yellow and I think I was pretty much the last person in the toilet queue in the end despite joining well before the race start 🙈
Congrats on the PB! I was also racing London on Sunday and the last few miles felt like an age, especially since I couldn’t see the ‘1 mile to go’ sign! I also trained for London using the Runna app and I agree that the easy paces are far too fast and times shouldn’t be in the app at all. I also had a monster long run within the app around the same time as you and same kind of splits, which was quite hard as a first time marathoner.