Marathons Are Getting Faster, but Here’s What Actually Helped My PR

The carbs - People are on a mission to fuel training and races with as many carbs as possible. And when the fuel gauge is high, your body can survive closer to threshold for longer.

 

The shoes -  There’s a lot to be said about super foams, carbon plates, and how light modern shoes have become. And let’s not ignore the “kid in the shoe store” effect.  When you’ve got expensive, bouncy new shoes on your feet, you want to run fast. But the real boom is that shoe tech lets people train more miles with less strain.

 

The culture - Whether you like it or not, endurance running is cool again. That attracts younger, more physically gifted athletes. You might picture fast marathoners as scrawny, but I saw plenty of muscled-up runners comfortably pushing sub-3-hour marathons.

 

Next, I’ll say I had a successful race and ran a personal best.

 

This was indeed supported by the carbs, the shoes, and my desire to be cool…but really, the bigger wins were far less sexy.

 

After a few weeks, I had all green bars—and at that point, I couldn’t let the chain break, especially as it got longer.

 

I was motivated by the race and the goal time, but I also did some mildly unhinged things to get my life organized just so I could mark the line green.

 

At the end of 18 weeks, every line was green.

 

If you have any goal, don’t underestimate how powerful something as simple as checking a box can be.

 

 

I’ll be the first to admit (as the director of a company that sells injury-prevention tools) that injury prevention is a false promise.

 

Despite all the “bulletproof” marketing, pain will still show up in highly active people.

 

I know this because I’ve followed similar plans before, used similar warm-ups and strength routines, and still had issues pop up that forced missed workouts or time on the bike.

 

But this cycle was different.

 

A good bit of that is luck. Some of it is long-term base building. And while strength work won’t make you invincible, it does provide some armor.

 

The real sneaky win, though, was convincing my wife to do the race with me.

 

Because of that, I opted to do many of my easy and recovery runs with her at a slower, conversational, completely ego-free pace. As a coach, I understand why this matters, but as an athlete, I’m not sure I would’ve actually done it on my own.

 

It’s a good reminder that accumulating more volume with less load works!

And that turning some training into a casual social activity instead of a physical beat down is a smart move.

 

 

This last one is oddly specific, and no, I’m not getting paid to say this.

 

Michelob Ultra Zero genuinely changed things for me.

 

I’m not a big drinker, but I do enjoy an occasional alcoholic beverage while cooking dinner, watching a game, or on the all too rare date night.

 

I initially tried this beer because it was labeled as only 30 calories, but I was surprised by how well it scratched the “cold beer” itch without feeling sluggish or crummy afterward.

 

If you’re a die-hard craft beer fan, this probably won’t replace your favorites. But I found it crisp, enjoyable, and easy to find at bars and restaurants.