Let’s rewind to Chicago, fall 2024. The lead-up to that marathon was textbook — solid training, workouts clicked, I felt strong. Everything pointed to a great race… until it didn’t.
I fell apart.
It was one of the hardest races I’ve ever run. Not because of the course, but because my body wouldn’t cooperate. I limped across the finish line, and it took me three, maybe four months, to feel remotely normal again. My legs were shot, and runs were uncomfortable. I hurt in one place or another.
By January, the fog started to lift. I finally felt like myself again. I’d already thrown my name in for Berlin, hoping for a late entry. My wife got in — I didn’t. Disappointing, but I needed a race, something to aim at. So I signed up for the Buffalo Half.
We’ve been a training partner for the race with RunSmart, and I’ve always liked how it fits into a spring schedule. I built my plan in RunSmart and started working toward Buffalo with the goal of beating my time from the previous year.
About six weeks out, my wife looked at me and said, “You may want to check your inbox, a lot of people are getting third chance emails from Berlin.” With that, hiding in my “Other” folder was an email from Berlin: I was in. It changed everything. Buffalo became a stepping stone—a checkpoint, not a peak. My goal shifted from racing hard to running strong and recovering quickly.
The challenge was keeping that mindset.
The closer we got to race day, the more the ego started to creep in. I was looking at my RunSmart data — fitness was higher than it’s been in a while. Garmin was telling me I was “peaking.” The expo was buzzing. You know the feeling.
I had to remind myself that trashing my legs in Buffalo would cost me key weeks of Berlin prep. So I stayed the course. I stuck to the plan, did RunSmart’s classic race pace repeats the week of the race, and tested some of the new fueling features we’re building inside the app.
Race morning
If you’ve ever run Buffalo, you know it’s typically hot. Not ideal considering May is usually full of cool weather and rain (will it please stop raining!).
This year was different. Cool… partly cloudy… little to no wind. Perfect.
I toed the line with one goal — stay in control.
Off We Go
Mile 1 was my slowest of the race (a small win). It’s a slight uphill, but more than anything, I just didn’t want to go out hot. I eased into the pace and spent the next few miles focusing on form and rhythm. Nothing flashy. Just stacking steady miles, chatting with fellow runners, and waving to a few past patients cheering on the sidelines.
That opening mile clocked in around 6:44, but I quickly settled in.
From there, it was all about consistency. Most of my splits fell between 6:30–6:40, and I was keeping effort in check. Every time I felt the urge to push, I reminded myself: this isn’t the goal race. Stay smooth, stay patient.
The Data Side
I ran a negative split — which honestly surprised me. Last year, I started faster and faded late. This year, it was reversed: I closed strong and felt good doing it.
If you’re wondering, I manually lap my watch on race day, but I missed a few splits while navigating aid stations
Heart rate was the big win.
Last year at Buffalo, I spent over an hour in Zone 5 (ouch). This year? Only 20 minutes, with most of the race sitting comfortably in Zone 4.
It showed. Not just in how I felt during the race, but how I felt after. My legs weren’t destroyed. My head wasn’t foggy. I wasn’t limping around the rest of the day.
It’s one thing to run a fast time. It’s another to finish and still feel like you want to run the next day. I won’t (I won’t), but the fact that I could is the real marker of success.
From Buffalo to Berlin
The best part of this race wasn’t the time. It was how quickly I’ve bounced back.
I took the usual couple days off, did some mobility work, and by Thursday, I was back to running and strength training. No stiffness. No setbacks. Just back to business.
Buffalo did exactly what I needed it to do: build confidence and fitness heading into Berlin training — not interrupt it.
Now it’s time to shift the focus. The next 16 weeks will be about dialing in the long runs, layering in some marathon-specific work, and keeping my legs under me. I’ve already built the plan in RunSmart, and I’ll be testing more of our fueling tools as training ramps up.
Last fall, I hit the wall in Chicago. This spring, I ran right through it in Buffalo.
Now it’s time for Berlin.
Ready to Train Smarter?
I built my entire plan in RunSmart — from pacing to race-day execution — and I’m using it again for Berlin. If you’re training for your next race (or just want to stop guessing), check it out.
