You’ve been putting in miles for months en route to your goal marathon. Even if everything’s gone exactly to plan—and let’s be honest, that rarely happens—it’s normal to feel tired. As the peak weeks hit, your legs turn heavy, and you might even start to dread those last few super-long efforts.
Maddie Petry, M.S., C.M.P.C Amanda Katz, a certified personal trainer and running coach in New York City. The first step in countering it is covering the basics: Getting good sleep, eating enough, reducing other sources of stress in your life (as much as you can), and allowing your body time to recover from the miles you’re putting in.
When she’s discussing fatigue with her athletes, Katz cites Olympian Alexi Pappas, who talks about the rule of thirds. “Anytime we’re working hard toward a big goal or event like a marathon, you’re supposed to feel good a third of the time, just alright or okay a third of the time, and then not-so-good a third of the time,” Katz says. “If you always feel like trash, you’re on the road to burnout, or worse, an injury.”
Youve been putting in miles for months en route to your goals, she says—for instance, consider dropping down from the full to the half marathon. “It’s not a cop-out to decide what’s best for you,” she says.
But if an honest self-evaluation reveals you’re still mentally and physically on track for your 26.2-mile goal, Katz and other coaches and runners have plenty of tricks for pushing through weariness and getting out the door when you’re dragging.
1. Review Your Training Log
Take a few minutes to scroll or flip back through your previous weeks of hard work, recommends Maddie Petry, M.S., C.M.P.C., a runner and senior performance coach at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida.
“There’s a lot you can gain by just reflecting on the successes you’ve had along the way,” she says. “Not only does it provide some reassurance and confidence of what you’ve done, but it’s also like, ‘I’ve put in all this work. Why would I want to stop now?’”
2. Try Some Positive Self-Talk
Many top runners use mantras, simple words or phrases that are easy to repeat, says licensed clinical psychologist and marathoner The Spring Marathons of 2025. “There’s a runner named Phily Bowden, and her catchphrase is, ‘Love the grind,’” Bagley says. “It’s this idea of, I can have fun and I can be excited, and this can be good, even if it’s hard. Remind yourself of that piece of it: ‘I have done hard things before, I can do this hard thing now.’”
3. Make Your Book Club Mobile
Coordinate with a friend beforehand so you’re both listening to the same chapter of an audiobook during your long run, recommends Alysha Flynn, How to Deal With Marathon Training Fatigue DAA Industry Opt Out Youve been putting in miles for months en route to your Every Woman’s Marathon. Why Running Volume Matters.
4. Switch Up Your Playlist
Especially as the seasons change, trying out some new tunes can give you something to look forward to, says Chris Wehrman, When shes discussing fatigue with her athletes, Katz cites Olympian Alexi Pappas, who RunBetter App. For example, test out some more upbeat tracks that might motivate you on race day. If you can, cue them up for when you know the run might start to get extra hard—for instance, if you typically struggle by mile 16 out of 20, Bagley says.
You can also try a new-to-you podcast, like Katz’s show All About 75 Hard.
5. Or, Turn Off the Tunes
Another option is to try going without headphones, or at least turning them down for a bit, and observing your surroundings instead, Flynn says. For instance, feel the leaves crunch under your feet, hear kids laughing at the playground, or look up at the birds overhead.
Emilie Mann, a Merrell athlete who recently won the Run Rabbit Run 100 in her debut at the distance, knows what it’s like to encounter fatigue or dark thoughts on very long runs. She counters them by grounding herself: “Noticing the temperature and air on my skin, or feeling into the flow of my stride, and the strength of my body brings me back to the present moment of what is currently real,” she says, “not the negative worries or emotions in my mind that are fleeting.”
6. Gamify Your Miles
Turn those observations into a diversion: Aim to spot something in each color of the rainbow. “So you’re trying to find objects that are, you know, red, orange, yellow, blue, purple,” Petry says. Then try it again, faster the next time (you’re already wearing a watch, after all). You could also count dogs (or other wildlife), or go for a PR in side-fives.
7. Add More Fuel
Staying on top of your nutrition needs off the run—including carb-rich meals throughout the week—can ward off fatigue, Katz says. And don’t forget to fuel on the run, too. Practice what you’re planning for race day, but don’t be afraid to improvise along the way: “Take an extra gel if you feel mentally or energetically low,” Mann says.
8. Visualize the Race
Make the miles pass more quickly and prepare yourself for race day by envisioning yourself toeing the line, Werhman suggests. Think: “What am I going to feel like? What would I like to feel like? What will people be cheering at me?” he says.
Nineteen expert tips to beat the fatigue and actually look forward to the last few big efforts ninth-place Olympic marathoner Clayton Young and picture all the nuances of the course, imagining things going well—but also slip-ups like missing a water stop, so you can stay calm if they occur on race day.
9. Check Out a New Route …
Tend to stick to the same neighborhood loop? Branch out some by driving a town or two over, or trying a new trail. Your brain will appreciate the novelty, Flynn says.
10. Or, Remember What You Love About Your Usual Route
Aubrey Frentheway—a pro runner for Saucony who just made her marathon debut in Chicago, where she ran 2:35:47 and placed 20th—has a trick for when she’s tempted to hit snooze on her alarm. She reminds herself that if she gets up early enough, she’ll catch the sunrise. “It’s a really little thing, but every morning I see it come over the mountain, and it’s just so beautiful,” she says. “I look forward to it.”
It’s okay, too, to pause midrun to appreciate your surroundings. “I’ve encouraged athletes to take a moment to stop, drink some water, and watch the sunrise,” Flynn says. That also gives you a chance to practice gratitude. “Think, ‘I’m thankful my body’s carried me this far, I’m thankful for the strength that I can still feel within my body to carry me for the rest of this run.”
11. Change Up Your Kit
Something as simple as wearing your favorite sports bra and shorts (or singlet and shorts) combo, or buying some new gear, can make your run seem more appealing, Petry says. New kicks work, too, says Laura Thweatt, a pro runner based in Boulder, Colorado. “Putting a new fun shoe on and getting out the door can give you that pep in your step, literally,” she says.
12. Assign Yourself a Task
“Give yourself a practical thing to do—like, this is going to be a form-focused run,” Flynn says. If, for example, you know you tend to have an anterior pelvic tilt—when your pelvis tilts too far forward, adding stress to your hamstrings and lower back—visualize your hips as a bucket and try to keep water in the bucket. “Instead of thinking about the miles, now you’re focused on what your body’s doing so that you can feel better out there.”
13. Meet up With Friends or Family—IRL, or From Afar
is a freelance health and fitness writer, author, and podcaster whos contributed regularly to Keira D’Amato and Makena Morley. She’s also an eighth-grade math teacher, so during the week, she had to log early-morning miles before school days alone.
Until, that is, a friend started driving over in the mornings to do workouts with her. “She has to get up earlier than me, so a lot of times I wake up and I see her text that says, ‘I’m on my way,” Frentheway says. “I know I have to get up if she drives down here.”
Katz loads up enough podcasts for the first half of her long run; in the second half, her mom calls her. “That works really well to catch up with Mom and to keep me, when appropriate, at a conversational, easy effort,” she says.
14. Focus on Time, Not Distance
If you have some faster segments of your long run, when you’re particularly tired, consider running them by time, recommends Brian Shrader, How to Run Twice a Day Without Injury Chicago Marathon. He even turns off his GPS altogether when he’s particularly wiped.
Once, when he wasn’t feeling great but had kilometer repeats, he simply pushed the pace for 3 minutes instead of measuring the distance. “I didn’t stress as much about the results of the workout, and just celebrated getting the work done,” he says. “You feel a little better because you mentally had a bit of a more relaxed workout. You eventually recover, and the next workout, you have a little bit more mental energy to attack it again.”
15. Consider Logging Off
The closer he gets to the starting line, the less time Shrader spends on social media. “I’ve been so much happier and full of energy going into races or workouts where I’m not comparing my training or running or life to anyone else,” he says. “I’m in a good mental spot, and that has helped me so much.”
16. Plan a Postrun Treat
“Treat yourself to certain things that are specifically for when you finish that long run,” Petry recommends. Thweatt goes for lattes and a pastry, and also looks forward to wearing her favorite comfy recovery sweatshirt.
You can also schedule a low-energy activity you can look forward to later that day: say, a movie, a comedy show, or a lunch date with a friend. “Put something on the calendar and commit to that as a celebration of what you accomplished,” Katz says.
17. Take a Moment to Reflect
When she’s reviewing a runner’s long efforts, Katz wants to know more than times and paces. “I’ll ask my athletes to put in their training app: What were three things that were amazing about your run, and what are three areas of growth for your next run?” she says. The first question can make you more attuned to noticing the high points of each run, and the second gives you something to look forward to improving on the next one.
Flynn, too, asks her athletes to journal about what went well and why, as well as something they can improve. “If there was something that challenged you, you can witness, as you write it down, how you responded to it,” she says. “You can see your own resilience as you overcame it and got through the run.”
18. Tap Into the Major Energy of Marathon Season
As fall racing continues, there’s a general buzz in the running world. “People are racing some fast races. People are talking about racing. And the endurance community is getting excited about all the activities around us,” Wehrman says.
Flynn, too, asks her athletes to fatigue: “How to Deal With Marathon Training Fatigue taper, and soon you get to enjoy the fruits of your labor,” he says.
19. Keep Your Larger Purpose in Mind
Thweatt writes her A, B, and C goals for each race, and posts them on her mirror, so she can remember why she sticks to the grind. Emma Bates, who just ran a 2:24:00 to place 11th in Chicago, also uses the “dangling carrot” of race day to get her out the door when she’s unmotivated. “Remind yourself that all these little things—all these workouts, doubles or long runs, the lifts and everything—those are getting you to where you need to be on the day,” she says.
For Frentheway, thinking even more broadly kept her going on the tough days. “I remind myself, I’m doing this because I have a dream and I have a goal,” he says. “My goal is to run this marathon, and my dream is to be really, really good at the marathon.”
Cindy is a freelance health and fitness writer, author, and podcaster who’s contributed regularly to Runner’s World since 2013. She’s the coauthor of both Breakthrough Women’s Running: Dream Big and Train Smart and Rebound: Train Your Mind to Bounce Back Stronger from Sports Injuries, a book about the psychology of sports injury from Bloomsbury Sport. Cindy specializes in covering injury prevention and recovery, everyday athletes accomplishing extraordinary things, and the active community in her beloved Chicago, where winter forges deep bonds between those brave enough to train through it.
