Run Smarter, Race Better Expert running advice for marathoners and distance runners. Training tips, race strategy guides, nutrition planning, and more from TrainPace.
How to Build a Training Plan for Your Goal Race (Without Guessing) — A good marathon plan is not magic. It moves through four phases: base, development, sharpening and taper. Here is how to build one around your life.How to Pace a Marathon: The Complete Strategy Guide — Most marathons are lost in the first 10km, not the last. Here is how to pace one from start to finish: your splits, your effort, and what to do when it hurts.What is VDOT? The Running Metric That Changes How You Train — VDOT is one number that describes your running fitness. It gives you the right pace for every training zone, from easy to interval. Here is how it works.I Ran the Same Time as Last Year — And It Was a Completely Different Race — BMO Vancouver Half 2026 race report. The same 2:06, but two very different runners. Why the clock does not tell the truth, and what the heat cost me.Understanding VDOT and Training Paces: A Complete Guide — How VDOT works, why it matters, and how to use your pace zones well. This is the system that helped me take 55 minutes off my half marathon time.Marathon Fueling: Everything You Need to Know — From carb loading to race-day nutrition, here is how to fuel properly. I learned this the hard way, with 10 gels and 2 heavy bottles in my first race.How Elevation Affects Your Race Strategy — Hills can decide your race. I studied the BMO course kilometer by kilometer before my personal best. Here is how to do the same with yours.First Half or Marathon? What I Wish I Knew — I went from not being able to run 6 laps in gym class to finishing a half marathon. Here is what I learned the hard way.Recovery Strategies That Actually Work — I had knee pain that would not go away, because I skipped strength training. Here is what I learned about recovery the hard way.Tempo Runs: The Workout That Made Me Faster — One speed workout a week was part of my 24-week plan. Here is how tempo runs work, and why I never skip them.How to Choose the Right Running Shoes — Forget the marketing. Here is what really matters when you choose running shoes, from someone who has run plenty of kilometers in Vancouver rain.Half Marathon Pacing: How I Ran 55 Minutes Faster — The half marathon rewards smart pacing. Here is the exact plan that took me from 3:01 to 2:06 at BMO Vancouver.Strength Training for Runners: What I Should Have Done — I skipped strength training and got knee pain. Learn from my mistake: here is the basic guide, and you do not need a gym.How to Taper Without Losing Your Mind — The taper feels wrong. Less running, just when race day is coming? Here is how to cut the distance and still stay sharp.Why Easy Runs Feel Too Slow Until They Finally Click — I used to turn every easy run into a secret workout. Once I stopped, my hard days got better and my legs stopped feeling dead all week.What I Do the Day After a Hard Workout — I used to treat the day after a workout as a test of toughness. Now I treat it as part of the workout, and my training weeks go much better.How to Pace a 5K Without Blowing Up at the 2K Mark — The 5K is short enough to push you into bad decisions and long enough to make you pay for them. This is the pacing plan I trust when I want a strong finish.Winter Running on Dark, Wet Mornings — Some of my most consistent weeks happened in terrible weather. This is how I stop winter runs turning into skipped runs or miserable ones.How I Built Mileage Without Breaking Down — More mileage helped me improve, but only when I stopped forcing it. This is the approach that kept me healthy enough to stay consistent.The Long Run Mistakes That Cost Me Confidence — My long runs got much better once I stopped turning them into races. A few small changes gave me better fitness and a much calmer mind before race day.What I Eat Before Early Morning Runs — I do not need a big breakfast before sunrise, but I do need a plan. This is what I eat before different morning runs, and what I avoid.Race Morning Nerves: What Actually Helps Me — I still get nervous before races. The difference now is that I do not treat nerves as a bad sign. Here is what helps me settle down and race well.Form Cues I Use When My Legs Start Falling Apart — I do not think about form much when I feel fresh. I think about it late in long runs and races, when one or two simple cues stop everything falling apart.Running Cadence: What It Is, Why It Matters, and How to Improve It — I spent two years at 155 steps per minute, wondering why my legs felt heavy. Here is what I learned about cadence, the 180 myth, and what really helped.Running in the Rain Without Making It Miserable — Rainy runs do not have to be heroic, and they do not have to be awful. A few practical habits made them much easier for me to handle.Carb Loading: What Actually Works (and What Makes It Worse) — Carb loading is not one huge pasta dinner the night before. Done badly, it upsets your stomach on race day. Done well, it adds miles to your energy stores.How to Run Your First 5K: From Zero to Race Day in 8 Weeks — A first 5K is easier to reach than it looks from the couch. You do not need to be fit to start. Here is how to go from walking to running a 5K in 8 weeks.VO2max Intervals: The Workout That Makes You Faster (If You Can Handle It) — Intervals at VO2max pace are the best workout for raising your aerobic ceiling. They are also the hardest. Here is how to do them without destroying yourself.10K Race Strategy: How to Run a PR Without Going Out Too Fast — The 10K punishes pacing mistakes more than any other distance. Go too fast in the first 3K and the last 4K become a long fight. Here is a strategy that works.How to Break Through a Running Plateau — You have trained for months and your times have stopped improving. That is a plateau, and it has clear causes you can fix. Here is how to find them.Overtraining: The Signs I Ignored (Until I Burned Out) — Overtraining does not announce itself. It builds over weeks of feeling slightly wrong — slow runs, poor sleep, a short temper — until one day you cannot run.Other TrainPace tools For AI agents Every page on this site has a Markdown mirror at the same path with a .md suffix (for example /calculator.md), and honors an Accept: text/markdown request header on the HTML URL. The calculations here are also available as callable tools through a free public MCP server — no account or API key.