We are well into the new year now, past the point where you can still say “Happy New Year” to someone you have not seen yet. This past weekend brought the first major marathon of the season, the Houston Marathon, and it delivered one of those rare combinations of great weather, a fast course, and a lot of big performances and personal bests.

 

As we continue into 2026, it is becoming more and more clear that many runners are fitter than ever. When the weather cooperates, the times can be incredible. But when conditions turn, even the fittest runners can find themselves struggling. It can start to feel like luck plays a huge role on race day, especially when weather is involved.

 

That is exactly why it is so important not to place too much weight on a single race result. Perfect conditions or difficult ones do not erase the work you put in during an entire training block. I went through a stretch of nearly 16 months of consistent training without a single personal best, only to finally have the right day with the right conditions and see that fitness carry me through six months of PRs.

The work always shows up. Sometimes it just needs the right moment. Keep trusting the process and keep stacking the work.

 

-Nick K

 

January has a way of making us runners feel like we should already be there. New year, fresh start, big goals, and suddenly every run feels like a test. We want workouts to click, paces to feel smooth, and motivation to be high every day. When that does not happen, it can be easy to question whether the training is working at all.

 

The truth is, January is not the month where you prove fitness. It is the month where you quietly build it.

 

Early season training almost always feels harder than expected. Legs feel heavy, paces feel a little clunky, and effort does not always match what your watch says. That does not mean you are behind. It means your body is adapting. A lot of the most important work you are doing right now is happening under the surface: building aerobic capacity, reinforcing durability, and laying the foundation that will support harder workouts later in the year.

 

One of the biggest mindset traps in January is trying to “win” every run. We push paces on easy days, force workouts to hit exact splits, or judge an entire week based on how one run felt. But training does not reward urgency. It rewards consistency. The goal right now is not to feel amazing every day. The goal is to stack solid days on top of each other without digging a hole you have to climb out of later.

If your workouts feel controlled but not flashy, that is a good sign. If your easy runs feel easy again after a few weeks of consistency, that is progress. If you are showing up even on the days you feel tired or unmotivated, that is where real fitness starts to take shape.

I have seen this play out countless times. Runners who stay patient in January are often the same ones who feel confident and strong when it matters most. And almost every breakthrough race you will ever have can be traced back to a period of quiet, unglamorous work that did not feel special in the moment.

So if you are questioning your pace, your motivation, or your fitness right now, take a step back. You are not behind. You are building. Trust that the work you are doing now is setting the stage for the versions of yourself you are trying to become later this year.

Keep showing up. Keep it steady. Let January do its job.

 

-Nick K Baltimore, MD

This month’s workout is a staple early marathon block session. While it is written as a standalone workout, it can also be folded into a long run or converted to a time-based format if that is how you prefer to train.

 

The workout:
3 × 1.5 miles at Marathon Pace (MP)
0.5 mile easy jog recovery between reps

 

Be sure to include your normal warm-up and cool-down, or account for them if you are incorporating this into a longer run.

 

The key to this workout is restraint. This is not a session where you try to crush marathon pace or prove fitness. Early in a training block, the goal is simply to feel out what MP comfortably hard actually feels like. You should finish each rep feeling challenged, but not depleted, and able to confidently move on to the next one.

 

If you have a marathon pace in mind and it feels harder than expected during this workout, adjust. That is exactly what this session is designed to reveal. The recovery should remain honest. You should not need an extended or overly generous recovery to complete this workout well.

 

The purpose of this session is to introduce marathon pace early, build familiarity, and layer in quality work without compromising your ability to continue stacking training. You should finish feeling accomplished and ready to keep building, not flat or overextended.

 

If you try this workout, let me know how it goes and what marathon pace felt like for you at this stage of your training.

 

Nick Klastava, Baltimore, MD

What question do you want the Running Explained team to answer in next week's newsletter mailbag? You tell us! Is there another question you'd like us to answer in a future issue? Send us a note!

 

— JoJo

 

This is a great question and one that is on a lot of runners’ minds. Many athletes worry that slowing down in training means they are setting themselves up to slow down on race day, so let’s add some context.

 

First, let’s clarify what we mean by slowing down. We are not talking about being a few seconds per mile slower at the end of a long run. That is normal. What we are referring to is a significant drop-off. For example, if your final rep of a workout is 30, 45, or even 60 seconds per mile slower than the earlier reps, that is worth paying attention to.

 

Let’s take easy days out of the equation first. Easy runs are about effort, not pace. There is no exact speed required to get the aerobic and recovery benefits of an easy day. If your pace naturally slows, it often means one of two things: either you started the run a little too fast, or you are intentionally backing off to keep the effort where it should be. In both cases, slowing down is not a problem. In fact, it is often the right choice.

 

For workouts such as speed sessions and tempo runs, the goal is to finish feeling strong and in control. Ideally, you should end these workouts feeling like you could complete another rep or extend the tempo a bit if needed. If you are significantly slowing down at the end of these sessions, it usually indicates that the early pace was a little too aggressive. That is a cue to adjust and start slightly more conservatively next time.

 

Long runs are a bit more nuanced. A small slowdown late in a long run can be normal, especially with fatigue, terrain changes, or weather. However, if your pace is consistently dropping off in a major way and it is not due to hills or external factors, it is worth checking a few things. Fueling, hydration, early pacing, and how gradually you ease into the run all play a big role. Repeatedly “blowing up” at the end of long runs is not something we want, as it can negatively impact recovery and the quality of your training in the days that follow.

 

In most cases, slowing down is not a red flag. It is feedback. Pay attention to the pattern, adjust when needed, and remember that strong finishes come from smart pacing, not forcing the pace early.

 

 

-Nick K Baltimore, MD

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