Committing to my first full-marathon

It’s a marathon, not a sprint.

Said some endurance coach somewhere. I thought it proper to start off this post with some motivation not only to myself but to anyone reading this in the future as well. For me, running has been a journey of ups and downs (mostly ups). However, surrounding myself with positive like-minded individuals and constantly having YouTube recommend inspirational running content helps. It is my hope that this post helps others as I am an average person, not even a “non-elite” runner as some influencers would like to term themselves.

Background

It is no secret that I am in the U.S. Air Force (Google me, go ahead). Having joined in 2010, running and fitness in general was not a focus of my childhood household. I never failed a physical fitness test - but there were close calls. For a solid 12 years of service I did what I thought worked with little additional research: consistent long slow runs. Every time. Routine started getting boring with little increase in performance. The second time I was stationed in the Republic of Korea, I decided it was time for change. I registered for multiple races from 5 kms up to half-marathons. The following is what I have used thus far and how it has worked for me.

Purposeful Training

When I arrived back to Korea, I decided I wanted to do something different. I wanted to set a goal that would be a real challenge. After meeting new friends and surrounding myself with other like-minded runners, I set off on my first purposeful training program. My first half-marathon would be the DMZ Peace Marathon (DMZ 평화마라톤) near Paju City. The training was hard but it paid off.

Training Peaks

I credit my ability to cross the finish line of my first half-marathon to Training Peaks. For the DMZ Peace Marathon half-marathon I used a six week crash-course. I loved the training experience so much that I also bought a 18 week training plan to attempt a new personal best - six months later. Anddddd…. crushed it! My new PB was about 12 minutes faster.

After Seoul Race, I decided to take a small break and enjoy cycling and more time with my family. Fast-forward to mid-January, 2025, and I committed mentally to a full marathon with a coworker. Like before, I started with another Training Peaks-based approach. This time, however, I found it too easy and not varied enough. I could have switched plans but to be honest, I wanted to try something different.

Runna

Runna has been extremely popular within the running influencer space with major YouTuber’s that I routinely watch commenting on it. Being a developer and fan of artificial intelligence, I said “why not”. After installing, selecting my goals and inputing my recent personal bests, a “tailored” plan was generated complete with endurance runner-focused strength workouts. What really impressed was the variety of runs generated: short easy runs, long easy runs, tempo sessions, intervals, and my favorite - progression runs. Three weeks in and I am loving the experience.

Will I accomplish the stated paces by time Chuncheon Marathon rolls around in October, 2025? That is uncertain. However, I feel great and can tell tha plan is working with dips in average resting heart rate, average zone two heart rate, and VO2 max increases.