Issue 41

The Build To Boston

A 2:10:14 PR at the Chicago Marathon in October. A 1:00:54 PR at the Houston Half-Marathon in January…What’s next for Reed Fischer? The Boston Marathon! In less than a month, Reed will return to the streets of Beantown, carrying the momentum he’s built over the past year. Deep in the grind of his Boston build, Reed gives us an inside look at how training is going, his goals for race day, and—drumroll 🥁—his adidas shoe rotation that gets him through those 100+ mile weeks!

Hi Reed! Welcome back to The Hammer. How is everything going?
Hey! Happy to be back. All is well. It’s been a busy spring, with three half marathons, a new puppy, a trip to Moab, and the Boston build—but it’s all stuff I’m excited about which makes it easier to manage.

You just raced the NYC Half a couple weeks ago. Can you give us a rundown of the race? What were your goals and expectations going into it, and how did you feel about the result?

NYC Half was a good one. I’ve raced there the last four years in a row now, so it’s an event and a course that I’m familiar with, which always helps. I raced at the USATF Half Marathon Championships in Atlanta two weeks before NYC and I didn’t compete as well as I’d hoped, so I was a bit unsure how this one would go with the quick turnaround. 

With that said, I’ve never finished outside the top 10 at a race in NYC and I wanted to keep that streak alive, so my plan was to find a pack early and put myself in position to be in 10th or better with 5K to go. That didn’t really pan out, as the lead pack went out in 13:50 through 5K and my marathon legs were not ready for that. I was mostly solo from mile 2 through mile 10, but started to see the group breaking apart up the road as we headed through Times Square. I was able to close pretty hard and picked off a handful of guys in the last 5K to finish 8th in 61:41.

Overall, it was a really nice bounce back from Atlanta. I felt physically and mentally stronger and focused, was able to work the hills well, and progress through the race in a meaningful way. All of that bodes well for Boston.

Looking ahead to Boston, what are you trying to accomplish?
The field in Boston is stellar, as always. I think on the American side we have 6 of the top 10 from the Olympic Trials, plus a few young guns who I think will be competitive. World Majors are getting deeper and deeper every year, it seems, but my goal is always to be as competitive as possible. For me, this means being in a position to compete for top American honors and a top 10 overall finish. I’m going in as the 6th American seed and 24th overall seed based on personal bests, so I’ll have my work cut out for me, for sure. But I think my consistency and experience in the marathon will help me get a jump on some who may not be familiar with Boston or who have an off day.

Time to talk training! In being such a seasoned marathoner at this point, what did your conversations with Coach Hunter look like when planning out this build to Boston? Did you want to keep things pretty similar to what you’ve done in the past? Anything different you wanted to focus on?

This build’s been different, for sure. But to me (and Joan) that’s kind of the fun part of the marathon. Each build is like a puzzle to solve—different timing, different levels of fitness at the start of the build, different tuneup races, different schedules and priorities outside of running, injury concerns or lack thereof. All of that creates nuance and variability, some of which we can anticipate and some of which requires reactivity. I think Joan and I recognize and enjoy the challenge that nuance presents, which is why we work well together.

For this build specifically, things have been much more ‘dialed up to 11’ than past builds. I had a good run in Chicago last fall and have been able to carry that momentum well since then. I did a 8ish week build into Houston Half in January that had me north of 100 miles per week with weekly double threshold sessions (a first for me). The result was a big PR in Houston: 60:54. I took a down week after Houston but then ramped right into the Boston build, so I started the block arguably fitter than I’ve ever been, let alone fitter than I’ve been at the start of a marathon build.

That fitness has allowed me to train at a higher level than usual. I’ve been running higher mileage, bigger workouts, and faster paces this build than I ever have, and I’ve been feeling pretty good doing it. I’ve raced two more half marathons since Houston: 62:07 for 10th at US Half Champs at 61:41 for 8th in NYC, both in the midst of 100+ mile weeks and coming off big long runs. All of that points toward a big day in Boston, but none of that guarantees a big day in Boston. And that’s the fun (and torture) of the marathon: you can be the fittest you’ve been in your life, but that doesn’t mean anything unless you put it together for 26.2 miles.

Can you tell us about a key workout that you have coming up before Boston?

The half marathons have certainly served as ‘key workouts’ during this build. It’s pretty hard to beat the stimulus of 13 miles at ~4:45 pace in training, especially in Boulder. But beyond the racing, I’ve been putting together some solid long runs. I’ve had a couple of 23-24 milers at about 5:45/mile average over hilly terrain that have felt surprisingly comfy, which is a good indication that the strength is there for Boston’s course. We’ll be doing my last true long run tomorrow (3/29) that will be a good final test. I’ll be starting up Lefthand Canyon here in Boulder, dropping about 750 feet downhill across a 12-ish mile stretch of road, then doing 5 miles of 800m hard/800m float. It’ll be a good final test ahead of Boston to see how I respond when I need to run hard and find some pop after trashing my legs with a significant amount of downhill.

What has been the most challenging part of this build so far? The most fun part?

I’d say the most challenging part of this build has been keeping the mental and physical fatigue from training at bay. I’ve been pretty dialed in and training aggressively since mid-November, so we’re going on five months of hard work without much of a physical or mental reprieve. Safe to say I’m ready for the taper.

The most fun part has been the experimentation and relative ‘aggression’ compared to past builds. I feel like I’ve already proven to myself that I can train at a higher level than I have in the past, handle it week over week, and still race well. To a degree, I’m really pleased with that discovery regardless of the result in Boston. It feels like I’ve maybe ‘unlocked’ a new attitude and perspective on what training hard looks like for me, and that’s something that I’ll be able to carry with me well beyond the finish line on Boylston.

Wondering what shoes power a professional marathoner through all those miles? Check out Reed’s training week complete with his adidas favorites.

Reed’s adidas Shoe Rotation 👟🔁

Monday: AM - 5×2 miles @ MP with :90 jog (16 miles total)

Shoes: Adios Pro 4

PM - 5 miles

Shoes: Supernova Prima

Tuesday: 12 miles easy

Shoes: Supernova Prima

Wednesday: AM - 6 mile tempo + 4xMile @HM —> 5K effort (17 miles total)

Shoes: Adios Pro 4

PM - 5 mile double

Shoes: Supernova Prima

Thursday: 11.5 miles easy

Shoes: Supernova Prima

Friday: AM - 11 miles with 8x :20 on/:40 off strides. PM - 5 mile double

Shoes: Supernova Prima

Saturday: 23 mile hilly long run, moderate to tempo effort

Shoes: Evo SL

Sunday: 11 miles easy

Shoes: Supernova Prima

Weekly Total: 117 miles

Next Up!

Wondering about nutrition for running? Tune in to our next issue of The Hammer when we chat with Kelly Newlon of RAD Nutrition about fueling tips & tricks for endurance training and performance.

Your Roadmap to 13.1 with Coach Reed Fischer

Ready to tackle the challenge of your first half marathon? Check out our beginner-friendly training plan, designed by Reed Fischer—one of the fastest half marathoners in American history! Built for runners aiming to finish around 2:00, the plan allows you to self-select your goal pace while considering factors like terrain, weather, and recovery. Runners will progress from 3-mile runs to 10+ miles with interval training. Stick with it, and you’ll be ready to take on that 13.1 mile race with confidence!

Have a different goal in mind? Feel free to reach out to us via email ([email protected]) or DM us on Instagram for guidance in finding the right plan for you.