Justin ran his first marathon last year in 3:53 after a few years of consistent running. But he's recently taken the last 6 months off from running for a move and a new PhD program.

His goal is to run a much faster marathon this fall. Without much race history and a relatively low training age, we're left with many questions:

• How will he do it?
• What aspects of his training demand improvement?
• What elements of training from his last cycle should remain the same?
• Should he start training for a fall marathon now?
• How can he take "the next step" with his running but also stay healthy?

The marathon is a uniquely difficult event so our preparation must be methodical. It's the longest distance that's not considered an ultra marathon. And while many ultras are on trails, most marathons are on the roads, providing far more stress and impact than a trail race.

Moreover, the human body is only capable of storing enough carbohydrates for about 20 miles of hard exercise. Hitting the wall - or the infamous marathon bonk - is because runners don't have enough carbs to fuel their high-intensity running.

Clearly, we need to take the marathon seriously.

And Justin is ready to do just that. In this episode, we're going to learn:

• His background and how long he's been running
• What his training was like for his first marathon
• His history with injuries and other race distances
• The strategy from March - October for a faster marathon
• What he should right now (note: it's not start training for his fall marathon)
• The concrete training upgrades he ought to make for a faster race

Justin is a regular runner just like all of us. He's a 25-year old PhD student living in Philadelphia who started taking running more seriously after he fell in love with his progress.

And now, he's starting to think about qualifying for Boston and potentially running a sub-3 marathon.