Personalized Marathon Training Plan Guide
Preparing for a marathon requires a systematic training plan. RunBox AI coach creates a customized 16-20 week marathon training plan based on your fitness level, goal time, and available training time.
Why Choose an AI-Customized Marathon Training Plan?
- Personalized Assessment: Based on your running experience and fitness condition
- Smart Adjustments: Training intensity optimizes automatically with progress
- Scientific Pacing: Based on your target finish time
- Injury Prevention: Reasonable intensity progression to avoid injuries
rizhao marathon | surprisingly broke down yet pb by 8 seconds!
Completing a marathon is not just an athletic achievement, but also a victory of willpower. It tells oneself that there are infinite possibilities!
——Jone Hanc, running writer
On Wednesday, my dad asked me, 'Are you going back to run the marathon?'
'Yes, I am.'
'Has the spot where you got hurt in the crash last time healed? Does it still hurt?'
'It's almost healed, still hurts a little.'
'Why run if it still hurts!'
'...' Actually, this time, I also thought about quitting. After all, I was unprepared and injured...
Even though I understand the principle of 'not mythologizing the benefits of running and not underestimating the risks of injury,' I was still unwilling to quit. After work on Friday, I headed straight to the train station, feeling like I was about to face my first marathon while dealing with my period: I'll give it a try, take it easy, and quit if I can't go on...
Going to another city alone just to run a marathon was both exciting and disappointing... Exciting because I was going to run my hometown's marathon! Disappointing because I was alone again. The worst part was that I couldn't get a sleeper ticket for the trip! I had to sit in a hard seat for over 12 hours...
Fortunately, this sense of disappointment and torment eased a lot when I found out that the people opposite and next to me were also going to Rizhao to run the marathon. At first, I just listened quietly to their conversations about running, training, pacing, and results... I didn't say a word, pretending to be just an observer, focusing only on finding a comfortable position to sleep...
When I woke up in the morning, my whole body ached... Adding to the muscle pain from a previous trail run at Sanfeng, I couldn't help but take out my fascia ball for a massage. Then an uncle started chatting with me, and soon I was mingling with the runners around me... I later found out that the person next to me was Dai Guangchen. I even Googled him and found out he was a champion in China. I felt so lucky... Yes, just lucky, because I had the chance to hear him talk about training face-to-face, and later we ate, drank, and warmed up together, with him giving me pre-race and post-race advice.
Regarding the running elites, some people always say, 'I know so-and-so,' or 'I have so-and-so's WeChat.' I want to say, so what? It's lucky to have a chance encounter and take a photo to show off, but knowing someone doesn't mean you're part of their circle. Just like everyone in the running community knows Li Zicheng, but no one becomes amazing just by knowing him. It's better to spend time running more and training more to improve yourself. What you should be proud of is always how much you've improved your personal best and what you've gained, not who you've taken a photo with or who you know. Making others recognize you is far more fulfilling than you recognizing anyone else.
The uncle in the blue T-shirt, I later found out through social media that everyone calls him 'Brother Universe.' Clearly, he's about the same age as my dad, born in the '60s, yet he's called 'Brother'? This must be the charm that running has given him.
He said he could help me break 3:30. At first, I was skeptical... because everything he said was so funny and not serious at all, and he loved alcohol. To what extent? He would bring an empty suitcase to any city just to buy alcohol; later, when we went out to eat in Rizhao, he carried a big bag, also for buying alcohol! The day before the race, despite my and Dai Guangchen's strong dissuasion, he still drank, causing me to break my abstinence. The next day, my heart rate was high right from the start, and that was the reason!
If there was anything happy about the Rizhao Marathon, besides having someone waiting at the finish line, it was meeting these two great runners. One had a personal best of 2:25 and could participate in 18 marathons a year; the other had a personal best of 3:05, running marathons everywhere in the name of drinking, and even carried a homemade ping pong paddle with him.
Also, at the expo, a staff member recognized me: 'I think I've seen you somewhere... Was there an article about you online?'
Before the race and on the course, many friends greeted me with 'Kuang Kuang,' 'Kuang God,' 'Go Kuang God'... After the race, some even came to the beach to take a photo with me.
Doing something seriously and influencing others, I think that's the meaning of my persistence in running.
I got up at 5:30 in the morning, ate a piece of bread, and hurried to the venue. Brother Universe saw me wearing shorts and said, 'This silly kid, you can't dress like that! Put on some pants and take them off after warming up.'
Fortunately, the temperature in Rizhao that day wasn't very cold, otherwise, I would have felt like a silly kid, even though I already was quite silly.
Warming up, taking photos, and then entering the venue... Because I had applied for an elite bib, I needed to go to the elite area. To let Brother Universe guide me, I had to give up the elite area and sneak into the A zone. At first, the volunteers refused, but then Brother Universe just dragged me in—
I was stretching, and Brother Universe was discussing strategy with me beside me.
Brother Universe said, 'We'll run side by side in the first half, and in the second half, you follow me, and I'll break the wind for you.' This was the first time I knew that running could involve breaking the wind... However, with our height difference and different strides and cadences, it felt impossible to achieve the wind-breaking effect. In the first five kilometers, he kept reminding me: 'Too fast, too fast.' However, in the following thirty kilometers, it was me who kept telling him: 'Too fast, too fast.'
Around 20km, we caught up with the 3:30 pacer and ran with them for a few kilometers. The Rizhao pacer was the warmest pacer I've ever seen. How warm? They would hand out water and supplies to the people around them. 'Miss, would you like some water?' This was definitely the warmest greeting on the marathon course.
Later, we overtook the 3:30 pacer. Despite me constantly saying 'Too fast, too fast,' we didn't slow down, and then I hit the wall, involuntarily slowing down... Brother Universe said, 'At this speed, you won't break 3:30.' At first, I didn't take it seriously: 'The 3:30 pacer is still behind us, how can we not break 3:30?' But when I hit the wall and slowed down at 34km, he told me to stop and stretch, and the 3:30 pacer passed us. At that moment, I was still hopeful that I could catch up...
However, at the 36km uphill, I couldn't move my legs... When I stopped to walk, I began to realize: breaking 3:30 was completely hopeless!
At 38km, I stopped to stretch for the third time;
After recovering for a kilometer, I started slowing down again... Brother Universe kept looking back at me while running. I said, 'You go ahead, don't worry about me,' but he was unmoved, even stopping to wait for me.
At 40km, he said, 'Stretch again, if you don't stretch, you'll slow down again. Stretch for 10 seconds, 20 seconds, and you'll catch up in a while.' Then, in the last two kilometers, we stopped to stretch every kilometer...
Just like that, between 34-42km, we stopped six times! Each time, he would wait for me. Then he would repeatedly confirm with me: 'Breaking 3:30 is hopeless, let's aim for a personal best, okay?' Although I said 'okay,' at that time, I didn't care about the result anymore... Even if the finish line was right in front of me, even if there were only 200 meters left, so what! My legs felt like they weren't mine anymore!
When there were 100 meters left to the finish line, he suddenly stopped, grabbed me, and sprinted to the finish...
Just like that, I achieved a personal best by 8 seconds! And it was Brother Universe who dragged me to it. The Rizhao Marathon ended with the failure and pain of the 3:30 challenge...
Fortunately, there was someone waiting at the finish line. It was still full of warmth and emotion...
'Great Rizhao! I! Crashed! Hard!'
The subtext: I will be back!
Thank you, Brother Universe, for letting me experience a marathon with a 'personal pacer,' although the feeling of entrusting my fate to someone else wasn't great;
Thank you, Sister-in-law, for preparing such a delicious meal for me. Good food can heal everything!
I also want to thank every friend who greeted me... Your recognition and affirmation have strengthened my resolve to keep surpassing my past self and move forward without hesitation.
The failure of the Rizhao Marathon 3:30 challenge ultimately came down to insufficient training. In the future, I will—
Train well,
Train well,
Train well!
Fight again in the next race.
Start Your Marathon Training Journey
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- GPT-4o powered personalized training plans
- Daily training guidance and feedback
- Nutrition and recovery advice
- Real-time progress tracking
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