Supplements for Runners — Running Nutrition | 6AM Run

Somewhere around mile 22 today, a lot of NYC Marathon finishers are going to swear they are never doing this again. By Tuesday, half of them will be Googling spring races. That is not a contradiction — that is just how runners are wired. Here is the thing most people get wrong: a spring marathon PR is not built in the 12 weeks before the race. It is built in November, quietly, one easy run at a time.

Whether you just crossed a finish line this weekend or you are picking a spring goal for the very first time, this is your base-building window. No hero workouts. No race-pace long runs. Just the boring, compounding work that makes the real training block feel easy when it starts in January. Here is exactly how I would structure the next four weeks.

First, Pick Your Race and Count Backwards

Most big spring marathons land between late March and early May. A focused marathon block is 12 to 16 weeks, which means serious training starts between mid-December and late January depending on your date. That gives you four to eight weeks right now that most runners waste — either resting until they feel "out of shape" or jumping straight into hard workouts their legs are not ready for.

Your only job in November: arrive at the start of your training block healthy, consistent, and already comfortable running five days a week. If you raced a fall marathon, your block starts later and your first two weeks are recovery first — our reverse taper plan for weeks 1–4 after a marathon walks through exactly how to come back without getting hurt. If you did not race this fall, you can start building this week.

The 4-Week November Base Plan

This plan assumes you can currently run 30 minutes comfortably. Adjust the days, keep the shape:

• Week 1: 4 runs. Three easy runs of 30–40 minutes, one "long" run of 60 minutes. All conversational pace.
• Week 2: 4–5 runs. Easy runs of 35–45 minutes, long run of 70 minutes. Add 4–6 relaxed strides (20 seconds fast, full recovery) after one easy run.
• Week 3: 5 runs. Easy runs of 40–50 minutes, long run of 80 minutes, strides twice this week. One run can include 10 minutes at a comfortably hard, controlled effort in the middle — a taste of tempo work, nothing more.
• Week 4 (down week): 4 runs, cut every run by about a third. Long run back to 60 minutes. You should finish this week feeling hungry to train, not tired.

Two rules make this work. First, the 10% rule is a ceiling, not a target — never add more than about 10% to your weekly time, and only when the previous week felt easy. Second, easy means easy. If you cannot chat in full sentences, you are stealing fitness from next month to pay for today. We broke down the science of this in our guide to why 80% of your runs should feel easy — it is the single biggest lever most everyday runners never pull. If base building is new to you, our 8-week stamina plan extends this same structure through December.

Add Strength Now, While It Is Cheap

In January, when mileage and workouts both climb, nobody starts a strength routine. In November, you actually will. Two short sessions a week is plenty: single-leg work (split squats, step-ups, single-leg deadlifts), calf raises — slow, full range, both straight-knee and bent-knee — and 10 minutes of core. Twenty to thirty minutes, twice a week. The goal is not soreness. The goal is tendons and calves that can handle February's long runs without complaining. Keep sessions on your harder or moderate days so your easy days stay truly easy.

Fuel the Base Like It Matters (Because It Does)

Base mileage fails for a sneaky reason: runners under-fuel easy volume, feel flat for a week, and conclude they are "not in shape." You are in shape. You are just running on empty. Three habits fix it:

• Before morning runs over 45 minutes: eat something small — 100 to 250 calories of mostly carbs, 30 to 60 minutes before. Our list of what to eat before a morning run has options that sit well at 6 AM.
• During long runs: once a run passes 75 minutes, practice taking in carbs — start around 30 grams per hour and build. November long runs are your low-stakes lab for race fueling, months before it counts. This is honestly why I built our Marathon Gummies the way I did: I wanted something I could carry and chew on a cold training run without the sticky gel mess on my gloves. Whatever fuel you choose — gels, chews, real food — the rule is the same: practice it now, while a bad experiment costs you nothing.
• After runs: get protein and carbs in within a couple of hours, especially after the long run. After my own long runs I use FinishLine because the amino profile covers the recovery side without me having to think about it on a busy morning — but a real meal with 25–40 grams of protein does the same job. What matters is that it happens, consistently. More on the reasoning in our piece on amino acids for runners.

The Two Workouts You Can Add in December

Once this base feels solid — five runs a week feels normal, the long run is 90 minutes, and nothing hurts — you have earned the fun stuff. Add just one quality session a week at first: a tempo run for marathon-specific strength, or short hill repeats, which build power with less pounding than track intervals (our hill training guide has starter sessions). One workout, run well, beats three workouts survived. Your spring plan will layer the second one in January.

Decide Your Spring on Paper This Week

Pick the race. Put the date on the calendar. Count back 14 weeks and mark the day your real block starts. Then write down your honest starting point: current weekly mileage, longest recent run, and anything that hurts. Runners who write this down in November show up in January with a base. Runners who "start training" in January spend February building the base they could have had for free — and chasing fitness is how people get injured in week three of a plan.

You do not need a perfect plan this month. You need shoes on, easy miles banked, fuel practiced, and legs that are quietly getting stronger while everyone else is waiting for January 1st. Start this week, and your spring race is already going better than you think.

Your turn: are you coming off a fall marathon and rebuilding, or starting fresh toward a first spring race? Tell me your race and your goal time in the comments — I read every one.

— Hami, 6AM Run