The Big Mistakes Costing You That Marathon PR

The Big Mistakes Costing You That Marathon PR

by | Oct 12, 2026 | Training

(From BQ to OTQ, and a few lessons that carry over to ultras)

 

There are so many athletes I’ve coached who have made at least one of these mistakes, whether they’re training for a marathon or an ultra. They want their goal so bad and they’re so deep in the training that it’s hard to take a step back and see what they could do better. We also hear so much information that our thoughts get jumbled, and we end up ignoring what we know we should be doing.

If you’re feeling stuck, you’re probably doing a ton right already. Sometimes you just need one tweak, or a few small ones, that make a big difference.

Here are the ones I see the most.

1. You run your marathon pace long runs too fast.

If you’re doing 10 miles at marathon pace in a long run, it should feel controlled. You might even feel a little bit bored. That’s because if you were actually racing 26.2 miles, you’d still have 16.2 miles to go after those 10. The first 10 miles of a marathon should not feel that hard.

Marathon pace workouts aren’t just preparing your body for the demands of the marathon. They’re preparing you to stay patient.

This is one of the hardest things to get athletes to believe. I coached a runner who always ran his marathon pace workouts a little too fast. On race day, he’d go out too fast too, and every time he’d fade at the end, just trying to hang on for dear life.

I convinced him to trust the process and slow down his marathon pace long runs and things started to change. He felt better throughout the week. His speed workouts went a little better. When race day came, he was finally able to execute a good pacing strategy. He finished strong and even sped up a little at the end to get a big PR.

That’s what patience in training can buy you. Not just a better long run, but feeling good week after week and better executed races.

And if you do a couple of marathon pace workouts that feel too hard, maybe you need to adjust your expectations for race day. That’s not a bad thing. That’s setting you up for a strong race, not for blowing up.

 

2. You’re trying to do a big VO2 max session and a marathon pace long run in the same week.

If you’re feeling wrecked, it’s because those are two big workouts. VO2 max sessions have their place, but it’s not when you also want to be doing your biggest marathon pace workouts.

If you want to hold on to some of that short speed late in a marathon build, there are better ways to do it. You could do a threshold run and tack on something like 5 x 1 minute at 5K pace with 1 minute easy running in between. Or you could do intervals at 10K pace with a decent recovery so it almost feels like a threshold session.

You keep a little sharpness without stealing energy from the workouts that matter most for the marathon.

 

3. You’re forgetting that as your training goes up, your carbs need to go up too.

A lot of people forget to fuel a bit more when their mileage or intensity climbs. This doesn’t mean loading up on sugary treats, though there’s room for those too. Think more whole food carbs like rice, oats, potatoes, and fruit.

In 2016, the American College of Sports Medicine, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, and Dietitians of Canada put out a joint position statement on nutrition and athletic performance. It gives daily carb targets based on how much you’re training:

  • Light (low intensity or skill-based activity): 3 to 5 g/kg of body weight per day

  • Moderate (about 1 hour a day): 5 to 7 g/kg

  • High (1 to 3 hours a day of moderate to high intensity exercise): 6 to 10 g/kg

  • Very high (more than 4 to 5 hours a day of moderate to high intensity exercise): 8 to 12 g/kg

So if you weigh 60 kg (about 132 pounds) and you’re training 1 to 3 hours a day, that works out to roughly 360 to 600 grams of carbs a day.

The statement also makes the point that nutrition goals aren’t static. Your fueling should change with your training, so your biggest weeks deserve more fuel than your base season.

What does under-fueling look like? Often at the start, it’s subtle. If you’re just a little under-fueled, you might feel flat and always a bit tired. If it’s more extreme and it’s been going on longer, you might start noticing niggles, feel much more tired, and even feel like you’re getting a little bit worse instead of better.

That matches what the research shows too. The International Olympic Committee’s 2023 consensus statement on under-fueling in athletes lists a reduced response to training, longer recovery, and more time lost to injury or illness among the performance effects.

 

4. You’re not staying in touch with your joy for running and what makes you happy outside of running.

This isn’t toxic positivity. If you sit down and think about it, you may notice you tend to recover better when you’re happy, and your running tends to go better too.

I learned this the hard way. Early in my running career, I had so much pre-race anxiety that I’d be in tears the day before a race and not want to race at all. I loved running and training. But I was using doing well in races to help me feel better about myself.

When I was able to separate my performance from who I was, things shifted. I found so much more joy in running and racing. And I took better care of myself, because feeling good and enjoying what I was doing became the priority.

Now, racing feels more free. Still not the same as training (that’s still by far my favorite part!), but better. No matter how I do, I’m okay with it, because it doesn’t define who I am. I get to be curious at the start line and open to all outcomes without stressing about it.

How you handle stress doesn’t just change how racing feels. It affects your body too. A review of 50 years of research on injury in sport found that how athletes respond to stress is the strongest psychological risk factor for acute injury. Your body doesn’t keep separate accounts for training stress and life stress.

This is part of why I care about what’s happening in your life outside of running and I often say that high performance and joy belong together.

Ready for some help?

Sometimes it’s hard to see what needs to change when you’re in the middle of it. That’s where a coach comes in.

We’ve got some great coaches at Higher Running with available spots who would love to work with you. Fill out this contact form and I’ll help you find the right coach for you, or check out higherrunning.com for more information.

Coach Sandi

 

Sources

  • Thomas DT, Erdman KA, Burke LM. Nutrition and Athletic Performance. Joint position statement of the American College of Sports Medicine, Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, and Dietitians of Canada. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 2016;48(3):543-568.

  • Mountjoy M, et al. 2023 International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) consensus statement on Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (REDs). British Journal of Sports Medicine, 2023;57(17):1073-1097.

  • Tranaeus U, et al. 50 Years of Research on the Psychology of Sport Injury: A Consensus Statement. 2024.

The Signs That Show You’re Improving, No Testing Required

The Signs That Show You’re Improving, No Testing Required

by | Sep 14, 2026 | Uncategorized

You don’t need a time trial or lab test to know whether or not your training is working.

Testing absolutely has a place at Higher Running, and we do use it. We can use testing to establish or refine an athlete’s training zones and paces, particularly when an athlete has access to a sports physiology lab where lactate and gas exchange can be measured directly. This can give us a much clearer picture of physiological markers like LT1 and LT2. A lactate threshold heart rate field test can also help refine zones, but it isn’t as precise as laboratory testing. There’s also using time trials or short races to dial in pacing.

That said, we don’t need to test constantly to know whether an athlete is adapting.

The key is looking for trends across repeated workouts. A single workout can be influenced by sleep, stress, hydration, fueling, temperature, terrain, and accumulated fatigue. But when we see consistent changes under similar conditions, those trends can tell us a lot about how an athlete is responding to training.

Here are some of the signs we look for:

Is your pace improving at the same effort and/or heart rate?

This is one of the clearest (and most fun!) signs that fitness is improving. As your aerobic system adapts, your heart can pump more blood with each beat, your blood volume can increase, and your muscles can become better at delivering and using oxygen. Improvements in running economy can also mean you use less energy to maintain a given pace. Together, these adaptations can show up as faster paces at the perceived effort and heart rate.

Last week I got to tell my athlete Sherry that her pace on a 10 x 3-minute threshold workout was about 10 seconds per mile faster than the last time she did it a month ago, at almost the exact same heart rate. Same treadmill, and the room was still 80 degrees, so conditions were very similar. That’s a meaningful sign that her training is working, no test needed.

This shows up from the other direction too: if your threshold pace stays the same but your heart rate is now 5+ beats lower at that pace, that’s another sign of improved efficiency. This may be a reason to consider whether your current training paces need to be adjusted.

Is your heart rate decoupling less over long efforts?
During a long, steady effort, heart rate can gradually rise even when your pace stays relatively constant. This is often called cardiovascular or heart rate drift. Heat, dehydration, fatigue, and the length of the effort can all contribute to it.

Some drift is normal. But if you see less drift than you used to during a similar effort, in similar conditions, that’s a good sign. It suggests you’re becoming better able to maintain your pace and effort over time without the same cardiovascular strain.

Just be careful about reading too much into a single run. Temperature, hydration, fueling, terrain, and accumulated fatigue can all affect heart rate, so we’re looking for trends over time.

Can you sustain more work at the same relative intensity?
Maybe you started with 2 x 10 minutes at threshold. Later on, you can handle 2 x 20 minutes at a similar pace and intensity.

That’s a meaningful sign of adaptation. You’re becoming better able to sustain a high level of effort for longer without your pace and/or form breaking down. Improvements in aerobic capacity, muscular endurance, and fatigue resistance can all contribute to this.

The goal isn’t simply to do more for the sake of doing more. We want to see an athlete gradually become capable of handling a greater workload at a similar relative intensity.

Is your body getting more resilient to hard training?
Maybe your first hill workout left you really sore and fatigued for several days. Eventually, you can handle that same workout, or even a slightly bigger one, with less soreness and less lingering fatigue.

That’s another sign that your body is adapting to the training load. Your muscles, connective tissues, and nervous system can become better equipped to handle repeated training stress, while your ability to recover between sessions improves.

Again, we’re looking for a pattern rather than judging adaptation based solely on how sore you are after one workout.

How We Track This at Higher Running
Every Higher Running athlete has a workout history sheet where we track things like pace, heart rate, RPE, and conditions for many of their key workouts.

That allows us to compare an athlete’s performance over time and look for meaningful trends. It also gives us the context we need to interpret the numbers correctly.

It always makes a coach’s day to be able to tell an athlete something like:

“You ran this 8 seconds per mile faster than last time, and your heart rate was almost exactly the same. That’s great progress!”

It’s always important to be mindful that conditions are an important part of that comparison. If you’ve been running through 80-90 degree Fahrenheit summer heat and suddenly you’re running in 60 degree Fahrenheit temperatures, your pace will likely improve even if your fitness hasn’t changed. The reverse is true, too. Moving from cooler to warmer conditions can slow your pace without meaning that you’ve lost fitness.

That’s why we don’t look at any single workout or number in isolation. We’re looking for trends across repeated workouts and considering the conditions surrounding them.

We track these signs for both road and trail athletes, it just looks a little different for trail athletes.

You don’t need to test constantly to know whether you’re getting better. Sometimes, the best evidence is already sitting in your training log.

If you’re looking for help interpreting your training and seeing these kinds of improvements, find out if 1:1 coaching is right for you with a free 20-minute introductory coaching call. Send us a message if you’re interested. We’d be happy to hear from you!

-Coach Sandi Nypaver

 

 

You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know

You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know

by | Aug 23, 2026 | Trail Running, Uncategorized

Last year, Sage and I were coming down from Maroon Peak, a class three fourteener outside Aspen, when we crossed paths with two hikers who were clearly struggling. It turned out they were supposed to be doing the Four Pass Loop, one of the most iconic and well-traveled routes in Colorado, but they’d taken a wrong turn and ended up climbing Maroon Peak instead.

 

If you don’t know Maroon Peak, it’s extremely steep, even before you hit the actual class three section, and it’s the kind of terrain where it’s very easy to lose your footing and slide. Not seriously exposed exactly, but steep and loose enough that a mistake there has real consequences.

These two had big backpacks on, clearly geared up for a multi-day loop, not a technical peak, and they were struggling badly just trying to move upward. We stopped and turned them around, and stayed with them for a bit as they headed back down. Going down with them was scarier than watching them try to go up because we could tell they were terrified of slipping and getting seriously hurt.

There was no sign at the junction where the couple made the wrong turn, so Sage and I reached out to the people who manage that trail system and asked if they could add one. The trail up Maroon Peak actually looks like the more obvious route, even though the Four Pass Loop is one of the best-known loops in the whole state. The response we got was that other people had made the same mistake and had even needed to be rescued, but that people need to be more prepared. They should know better.

I can understand that instinct after living in the mountains for years, but here’s the thing. Not everyone grows up in Colorado. Not everyone has someone in their life who taught them how to read a mountain, what to pack, what questions to even ask before heading out. When you’re new to something, you genuinely don’t know what you don’t know, and that’s not a character flaw, it’s just where you’re starting from.

I first came to Colorado soon after I graduated from college. I grew up in Cleveland, Ohio, and most of my trail running experience came from Cuyahoga Valley National Park, where the trail systems were clearly marked, there were usually plenty of people around, and most routes even had water fountains. When I got to Colorado, I knew nothing, and I made a ton of mistakes. I could look back now and think about how stupid I was, but really, I wasn’t stupid, I just had no clue what I was getting into or what I needed to learn to be safe. It took getting to know more experienced people and making some mistakes of my own to learn how to safely navigate the mountains.

We post beautiful photos and videos from these trails, and they really are beautiful and freeing. But actually being out there, especially somewhere remote and technical, can be intimidating and disorienting, particularly if nobody’s ever shown you the ropes.

Even experienced road runners can feel like beginners when they start tackling mountains. Balancing training volume, speed work, and significant vertical gain requires a different approach than training on flatter terrain. If you’re new to trail running, there’s also a learning curve with things like using poles effectively, figuring out how to run uphill efficiently, and becoming more comfortable and confident on technical descents. That can be a really fun part of trail running. There’s always something new to learn and get better.

 

This is exactly what our coaches at Higher Running are here for. We help people feel genuinely prepared, whether that means understanding mountain safety and navigation, learning to move confidently on technical terrain, or figuring out how to train effectively for the unique demands of mountain running.

We’re not here to judge anyone for where they’re starting from. We just want people to actually enjoy their time in the mountains, because happy people out there tend to become people who want to protect these places too. That’s better for them, and it’s better for the world.

So whether you’re finishing out this mountain season or already thinking ahead to next year, we want you to feel confident out there, not just hopeful. Reach out to Higher Running and let’s get you prepared, not just inspired.

Should Your Easy Pace Get Faster as You Get Fitter?

Should Your Easy Pace Get Faster as You Get Fitter?

by | Aug 23, 2026 | Training, Uncategorized

For advanced runners, sometimes your easy pace getting slower can actually be a sign that things are going right.

If you’re a newer runner slowly building your mileage, maybe adding in a touch of speed here and there, you’ll probably see your easy pace getting faster over time. That’s normal, and it’s a good sign your aerobic system is developing.

But no matter who you are, I don’t want you to care about your easy-day pace too much, because here’s what I actually see in well-trained athletes:

Often, their easy paces stay the same. And sometimes they get slower the deeper they get into specific training for a race.

I coach a lot of sub-three-hour marathoners, some even down to 2:30. They have no problem running 9+ minute miles for an easy run the day after a key workout, even though that’s significantly slower than their marathon pace. And it doesn’t rattle them one bit.

I see the same thing with my ultra runners and mountain runners. Big long runs and all that eccentric loading from downhill running can leave a lot of residual fatigue in the legs. When we get deep into their most race-specific training weeks, their easy paces often get slower. And being okay with that is part of what allows them to keep their key runs high quality.

Cumulative training stress from repeated long runs and key workouts leaves you with some combination of glycogen depletion, muscle damage, and residual fatigue that hasn’t fully resolved. When you’re carrying that fatigue, the same pace can feel harder and your heart rate can be higher. So the same easy effort will often simply produce a slower pace.

Your aerobic engine isn’t getting worse. Your legs are just carrying the bill from the work you’re doing.

The days after key workouts or long runs, the goal is simply to maintain or build volume while getting in some truly easy miles that aren’t going to interfere with your recovery from those key runs. That’s it. That’s the whole job of an easy run in that window.

I want your confidence to come from your key runs, and from your ability to handle more of that work over time as you gradually progress. Not from how fast your easy pace is.

If your key workouts are consistently getting slower and it’s not because of something obvious like warmer temperatures, then there’s some problem-solving that needs to happen.

But if you’re deep into a hard training block, your legs are tired, and your easy pace is the same or slower than it was six weeks ago? That’s a normal part of training.

 

Some call this training…

We call this doing what you love.

You might think hiring a coach is just about getting a better training plan, but we think it’s about a lot more than that.

It’s about helping athletes find alignment between what brings them joy, what’s best for their bodies and health, and how running fits into the rest of their lives. And that’s not sacrificing performance, it’s enhancing it.

An athlete can only push harder for so long when they should be resting, or chase goals that don’t actually bring them joy. But an athlete who loves what they’re doing, feels good in their body, and stays focused on the journey is an athlete who can perform well and keep running for years to come.

You can absolutely have a coach who provides an excellent training plan, thoughtful feedback, and high-quality information while also caring about your joy and love for the sport.

We don’t just coach you. We help running become part of a lifestyle built around happiness and health.

That’s what we do every day here at Higher Running. Learn more about our 1:1 coaching here.

When should we be flexible with our structured training?

When should we be flexible with our structured training?

by | Jul 8, 2026 | Uncategorized

If you are reading this, you may be a remarkably busy person in your day-to-day life yet are persevering with your running goals! I want to commend you for your efforts and to let you know we are here to support you in your journey whether it be with training tips, articles, or customized training. Now, let us tuck in.

Examples of schedules or situations that require adjustments:

· Long workdays: 12-hour shifts or 48 hours on / 96 hours off

· Athletes who need more recovery time

· Folks who travel frequently or have long commutes

· Mental fatigue from long bouts of screen time or concentration

· Jet lag

· Weekend commitments

· Illness and weather

There are many runners out there who can have a stable “workout Wednesday” and “long run Sunday” but for folks who work a variable schedule (shift work) or have children who participate in weekend extracurricular activities, this may not be possible week in and week out. I work 12-hour shifts with one week being the “long work week” and the next week being the “short work week.” I adapt the strategy of holding what I have on the long work week and then extend the workout durations a bit on the short work weeks. Factory type work and first responders often have shifts structured this way. The key is not forcing workouts as soon as a day off comes because these longer shifts often bring shorter sleep sessions and that needs to be restored before productive training can safely happen. For example, if the last day of my long work week is Sunday, I have an easy run Monday with strides and I try to take a little nap during the day to help speed up recovery and then Tuesday, I work out!

My Week 1 (long work week) with rest days taken as needed:

· Monday – very easy (shift)

· Tuesday – easy again (shift)

· Wednesday – workout (modest goals since I am tired from two shifts)

· Thursday – easy long run

· Friday – easy (shift)

· Saturday – easy (shift)

· Sunday – easy with light fartlek (shift)

My Week 2 (short work week) with rest days taken as needed:

· Monday – easy (I am tired from the long work week, try for a nap)

· Tuesday – workout

· Wednesday – easy (shift)

· Thursday – easy (shift)

· Friday – easy with strides (again nap to recover from the low sleep)

· Saturday – long run with workout OR workout

· Sunday – easy OR easy long run if I worked out or raced on Saturday

The takeaway, be patient during those long work weeks. Just maintain and then use the shorter work weeks to push for those bigger sessions.

Examples from my athletes:

One of my athletes does most of her long runs on a Friday and that can leave her feeling a bit lonely. Her friend, often, can join her for part of the run and what we do to give her social time that fills her cup while building in the quality tempo is to split the long run into sections. She will cruise for 45-60min with her friend and after her friend splits off, she will grab her drink/gel and then settle into her tempo efforts. Often, of our long runs for half marathons and marathons involve considerable amount of tempo on tired legs so this is a perfect fit.

Another one of my athletes had a crazy June! She had to work in the office during the day while also working security detail for the FIFA world cup soccer matches. We absolutely had to structure very carefully. 16+ hour workdays into the early hours of the morning is brutal, hard stop!

Recovery needs can also extend/change our training week. It is perfectly fine to stretch a traditional seven-day block into a ten-day block to allow an extra day between hard sessions. Remember, recovery is part of the training process, and adaptations will have a greater impact on our goals.

Our main goal is to keep you happy and healthy during your training. If you get sick for a week, we monitor and pivot your training. If we find a way to optimize your training week to week, we will discuss and implement the changes.

Happy training!

Coach Rachael