Maddi's First Marathon Recap: The Prairie Fire 2026
Prairie Fire Marathon 2026, I finished in 3:30:57. 1st in my age group. 6th overall woman. I am incredibly proud of this result for my first marathon.
This training cycle for my first marathon was....fair. Not bad. Not great. Just the realities of raising 2 kiddos 3 years and under, and running a business. I had very minor foot pain early on in the training cycle that derailed my training for a bit. With new shoes and some PT, I got back on track after a week. I was very conservative with increasing my mileage because I didn't want to risk ANY chance at further injury or a stress fracture. This girl ain't got time for that!
My Training Recap
I didn't have a training "plan". I built the foundation through my podcast "education" - shout out Strength Running podcast! I ran ~4-5 days per week, had a speed workout and a long run day each week. I would do ~20 minutes of strength training at least 2 days per week, and sometimes would try to add in even 5-10 minutes of some band/core work. I got some helpful advice from a local running coach (s/o Daniel Herbert with ReRun Endurance!) that I mostly followed. He really encouraged me to take my easy days EASY and to not overshoot my long runs and potentially injure myself. For those curious, most of my training took place at 5am. :)
My peak week I got up to 40 total miles, with my longest run hitting 18 miles. While still an impressive weekly mileage and long run - I am incredibly excited to see what I can accomplish in a training block with higher mileage and longer, long runs.
Fueling Marathon Training
Leading up to this training block, I had a couple touch bases with another Sports Dietitian (s/o Sophia Jones!). I have a history of Anorexia, and I wanted to have an unbiased perspective. Someone, quite frankly, to call me out on some of my bulls*** that I was still holding onto when it came to fueling myself correctly. One thing that I could tell I was still struggling with was making sure to alter my daily nutrition based off of my training. I am a creature of habit and I like what I like, but I can't eat the same thing(s) on a recovery day that I do on a long run day. Carbs need to go up, protein and fiber need to go down. For example, I typically have a big salad for lunches. On workout days, training days of >1 hour, and long run days, I swapped this out for a more carb rich meal lower in fiber (typically a sandwich with sourdough bread). It also meant I was typically getting seconds at dinner.
Prioritizing good fueling during training paid off. I kept a consistent monthly menstrual cycle throughout my entire training block. This is one of the things I am most proud of myself. 2026 I ran the Prairie Fire spring half marathon (where I started my period the morning of after weaning from nursing my son) and kept a monthly cycle ever since. In fact, I started my period about 3 days prior to marathon race day. While not ideal, I believe that it is God's reminder to me that I am my best self when adequately fueled. I try to view it as my super power.
During training, I routinely practiced my fueling & hydration strategy. One part of my Anorexia recovery is holding the boundary that no workout can ever be fasted. Regardless of what I had for that morning, I was eating. My go to morning routine became; 4am alarm, graham crackers + coffee and water. Depending on my workout, I would scale up or down the amount of grahams to ensure I had the energy for that day. On any run that was >1 hour, I would bring fuel with me. For a while, I used RNWY salty carbs and practiced with a couple different gel options; GU, SIS and BPN. I worked on training my gut to tolerate 50+ grams per hour. Later in the training cycle, I tried Skratch High Carb mix (lemon lime flavor). I really liked this option to try and get more carbs in. It was very refreshing and wasn't overly sweet at all.
The Carb Load
I did a three day carb load; Thursday, Friday and Saturday. I was shooting for 450-500+ grams of carbs per day. I kept track on my notes app where I was at the for the day, and planned out 3 meals and 2-3 snacks. The third snack in case I didn't hit my goal. This is an area I want to improve in for next time. Thursday was a really busy work day for me, so I definitely struggled to get in what I needed. I estimated I hit only ~310 grams of carbs for the day. Friday and Saturday I was able to really step it up, though. Friday I got in ~440 grams and Saturday I definitely hit at least 500 grams. For those curious, you want to shoot for 8-10g carbs/day in your carb loads. Carb loads can give you ~3% improvement in your performance. For a full marathon, that is a substantial amount of time!
I primarily used Costco bagels, jelly, fig bars, orange juice, bananas, dried mangos, pretzels, grahams, sourdough bread, rice, Costco Orange Chicken, and had a big pasta meal with baguettes and some pumpkin bread. I routinely ate these foods in training, so I knew I would tolerate them well in my carb load. I didn't eat a single vegetable on Saturday! My meals were mostly carbs with some protein and fiber from fruit. It is hard to hit those numbers, so decreasing protein, fat and fiber to leave room in your stomach for the carbs is essential.
Race Day: Before the Start
Nothing new on race day! I read my Bible, ate my grahams and had my coffee and water starting about 2 hours before. I knew I would need more fuel leading up to the race, so I took a Maurten gel with caffeine ~20 minutes before the start. Typical ranges of carbs to shoot for is 1-2g/kg body weight in the 1-2 hours prior to start time. I was just a little shy of 2g/kg. The race started next to the Equity Bank Arena with plenty of bathrooms. It made it really easy to take care of business and feel ready to start by 7:10 (IYKYK!).
Race Fuel + Hydration Plan
Just FYI - I am not sponsored by any of these brands. I paid my own cash monies for this!
For the race I had packed with me 6 BPN's and 1 caffeinated BPN. I had a Amphipod handheld water bottle that I filled ~16 oz of 1 serving Skratch high carb mix. I planned to take a gel every 30 minutes and drink at least 8 oz per hour of my Skratch mix. I knew it was going to start heating up the last half of the race. My plan was to get;
75g carbs per hour
~210mg sodium per hour
~8-10 oz fluid per hour
What Actually Happened
I took my first 3 gels no problem. I took a caffeinated BPN gel at the 1 hr 30 min mark. I finished my bottle by 1 hr 45 min. I planned for my dad (s/o Dean!) to hand me a new Skratch mix bottle by mile 14/15 - and he did it!
I took another BPN and continued sipping on my Skratch mix at the 2 hr mark. My stomach started feeling a little not happy at this point, and this is also in the race where I picked up the pace. I was able to muscle down my 5th BPN at 2 hr 30 min mark and probably finished about half of my Skratch mix in my handheld.
I felt SO good up until the last 10K. I was so energized by the first part of the course - the Prairie Fire team did such a great job with setting up things along the course to amp us up. There were bands playing, a long line of people holding the American flag as we ran through College Hill, and lots of spectators along the course cheering us on. I found a group to run with for most of the first leg and settled in around a 7:50/mi pace. I started to pick up my pace a bit around miles 13-20, where I was around 7:36-7:45/mi pace.
Once mile 21/22 came around, I entered the pain cave. I couldn't tolerate anymore gels or the Skratch mix. What I think happened? 1. Genuinely fatigue. I don't believe I had the endurance to keep up that speed based on my training. 2. I got dehydrated. I should have consumed more plain water and not just my Skratch mix.
I ended up handing my bottle off to a dear friend who came to support me around that mile mark. At this point in the race it had gotten up to 70+ degrees, was very sunny, with no shade all the way to the finish. My pace dropped at least 1 min and I had to keep telling myself "just get to the next water stop". I was hot, and my stomach was not happy with me. I can't remember exactly when, probably around miles 23/24, the 3:30 pacer past me. Not going to lie, that initially left me a bit defeated. I rallied and told myself to just try and keep them in my sights. At each of the last aid stations I walked, grabbed water to drink, poured some over my head, and got back to running. I took one last short walk break with 2 miles to go, had my little pity party, then put my big girl pants back on and said "everything that you have, Maddi" and got myself to that finish line.
Unwell, Pt 1.
Unwell, Pt. 2
Crossing the Finish
Balancing work, time with my family/friends, weekly responsibilities and my training was difficult - and would not have been possible without support. I am so grateful firstly for my husband, Corbin, who's attitude can be essentially summed up in one sentence "whatever you need to do, babe". He selflessly took care of the kids weekend mornings while mom finished her long run and let me join some group runs close to bed time (IYKYK - this is one of the hardest times of the day with kids!). All while he also trained for the half marathon! I also wanted to s/o my friends and family who cheered me on and who helped the day before/morning of the race. Corbin's parents took the kids for the evening before and the morning of the race (HUGE!). My parents helped in the morning (more on that later!) and took the kids the night after so we could get some rest. I lastly want to s/o my friends who have supported me through encouraging words, texts on race day/during the race, and those that came out to support me. Seeing so many of the people in my life show up for me that day meant so much for me. It is truly a team effort to complete a marathon, and I have the best team - no contest.
This race leaves me hungry for more. I know that I have it in me to qualify AND make into the Boston marathon one day. It isn't this year, and may not be next year, but I can tell you this. I am not stopping until I accomplish this dream!
To be continued...
Written by:
Sports Dietitian and Informed RED-S Provider
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