Top 8 Fall Marathons in the United States (Outside of the Marathon Majors)
We’re closing out the spring marathon season and you may be wondering, what’s next? We’ve compiled a list of our top 8 fall marathons in the United States outside of the marathon majors. This list was compiled from personal experience as well as coaching over the years and some of the most popular fall marathons our athletes choose over and over.
2019 in Review: Leveling Up
The end of a year is always a good time to look back at what we did with the last 365 days. I often set a few goals at the end of each year (not so much a resolution gal, but to each their own!), and I check back on them at the end of the year to see what I did or didn’t get to. After CIM it was hard not to feel disappointed with missing my huge personal goal of running a sub-3, but when I took the time to look back at my year, it was clear that I accomplished so much - a lot of which I couldn’t have done on my own!
CIM Race Recap
First, thanks to everyone who tracked me and sent messages of encouragement and congratulations last weekend. You probably already know that I did not run a sub 3 hour marathon. I came SO close though and ran a 3:01:24. 85 seconds away from goal. Crossing the finish line was a huge mix of emotions and tears, but let’s start from the beginning to how I got there.
CIM - Training Cycle Recap + Goals for Race Day
It’s race week! It’s amazing how different I feel going into race week this season than I did in the Spring heading into Grandma’s Marathon. I was so excited in the Spring for the training cycle to and the race to be done that I completely checked out and didn’t even want to race. I wasn’t really present on race day or in the final weeks of training and it honestly, kinda sucked. Right now, I’m excited to put myself out there on Sunday and see what I’ve got. This is a great sign that I didn’t overdo it and am in a good space mentally.
Journey to Sub 3 - Episode 4: Building Confidence
Things have really turned around the last few weeks and I’m finally building up some confidence after this cycle’s rocky start. I raced a 10K a few weeks ago and while it wasn’t my best performance, I was happy with the results on a hillier course and a lack of confidence in my abilities at that point. Since then, I’ve been recovering quickly from workouts and doing workouts that are slightly new and different to me - challenging me in new ways.
Journey to Sub 3 - Episode 3: 5K Race Recap + Blood Work Results
I grabbed a big 5K PR, but then got tough news in my blood work results. I held off on sharing much over the last 3+ weeks because I was navigating what was happening to me and how to take action. My blood work came back and showed I have a severe B12 deficiency, which explains all the symptoms I was experiencing with fatigue, weakness, poor recovery, etc.
Journey to Sub 3 - Episode 1: So Many New Things
I’m back on that sub-3 journey! As you may or may not know, I didn’t hit my goal in the fall, but I’m back chasing that sub-3 goal this fall at CIM. I thought it would be fun to share this training cycle in a video/vlog series. This goal is huge and hard, so I want to share all the challenges I face each week as an average runner with everyday responsibilities, trying to tackle a big goal.
Well, That Came Quick - My Fall Racing Plans!
When you run a late June marathon, the fall season pops up on you pretty quickly, so I’ve gotta get my racing plans out there! I definitely have a desire to race more this season because I didn’t race a ton during my Grandma’s buildup because running another marathon during your marathon training really wears you out! I want to use my races during the fall as check in points for my fitness to make sure I’m on track for my sub 3 hour marathon goal or to adjust if needed.
