A weight lifted

How 6 months of *not* marathon training has been going (spoiler: it's great)

After I ran the Berlin marathon in September, I knew I needed a break. I ran three marathons in 2025; two too many. Even though my sub-3 marathon goal was left unchecked, I made the decision not to run a marathon in 2026.

With the decision not a run a marathon, I turned my focus to speed (the type of training I find most fun) and flexibility (with training…you won’t catch me stretching). I wanted to run some 5ks to flex the mental muscle of racing without the pressure of a big goal, have some time when life didn’t feel dictated by my long run schedule, and be less rigid about the role running played in my life. I’d spent more than a year completely bogged down by marathon training and I needed to reset.

Before running Berlin, I recognized and acknowledged that I was burnt out on marathoning. If it weren’t ✨Berlin✨ I likely would’ve pivoted skipped the race. I expected to feel relieved when it was over, but what I didn’t expect was just how drastically my quality of life would improve.

As soon as I started running after taking a period of post-race downtime, I felt different. Within a few workouts, paces I’d struggled to hit in the height of training came easily. Instead of dreading every run and workout, I started looking forward to them again.

I started sleeping better. I felt more present in social situations. Running felt lighter both physically and mentally. Lately, I’ve been finishing long runs at faster simply because I feel good and it’s fun. A few months ago, I struggled to hit those same paces in structured workouts. The mind is a powerful thing.

Over the years, I’ve made massive progress in my relationship with running, but it’s hard not get caught up in goals and expectations. Even when I’ve told myself I won’t let it happen, it’s difficult to control one hundred percent of the time. Taking this step back has been eye-opening to see just how much peace of mind I was handing over to something that is supposed to bring me joy. My most important reason for running is to benefit my mental health, not harm it.

It’s hard not to feel like you should always be striving for more. At least, it’s hard for me. But right now, as I am doing less and not pushing myself quite so intensely, my life overall feels better. I’m happier, less anxious, and enjoying the process more.

Ironically (or maybe not so ironically) I’m also becoming fitter than I was in all of 2025.

I’m sure the next time I marathon train I won’t completely avoid the same pitfalls, but hopefully I can come back to this and remember that this is supposed to be fun. Nobody cares about my marathon time as much as I do. If running it isn’t making my life better, what’s the point?