Tokyo Marathon Strava Personal Record
My second marathon was better.
And it felt worse.
I ran Tokyo faster than Miami. I PR’d. The race was incredible. Everything about it should have felt like progress.
But when it was over, my body told a different story.
Miami left me tired.
Tokyo left me hurting.
That was the difference.
After my first marathon, I walked away feeling like I had more in the tank. The soreness came and went the way you’d expect, but nothing lingered. Nothing felt off.
Tokyo didn’t feel like that.
Going downstairs the next day was brutal. My knees felt it immediately. My hip flexor area was tight in a way that didn’t feel like normal fatigue. It was the kind of discomfort that forces you to slow down whether you want to or not.
At first, it didn’t make sense.
The race went well.
The time improved.
So why did it feel worse?
Because the race wasn’t the difference.
The preparation was.
I broke this down more in my Tokyo Dan’s Diary, but this is where it really became clear.
Going into Miami, I had momentum.
My training was consistent.
My recovery habits were locked in.
The routine was there.
After Miami, going into Tokyo.
But the build-up wasn’t the same.
Recovery slipped.
Volume dropped.
Warm-ups became rushed.
The small things stopped stacking in my favor.
It’s the same way we think about building at RNWY. The small things compound over time.
And that’s what I felt on race day.
Not just the miles.
The gaps.
That’s the part I underestimated.
You can get a better result and still move in the wrong direction.
That was the lesson.
Performance doesn’t always reflect preparation.
Sometimes it hides it.
And eventually, your body tells the truth.
That’s what Tokyo did.
It showed me that this isn’t about one race.
It’s about being able to do it again.
And again.
And again.
That changes how you look at everything.
Finishing faster feels good.
Finishing intact matters more.
Especially when the next race is already on the calendar.
Chicago is coming.
And this time, I’m approaching it differently.
Not just focused on performance.
Focused on durability.
Consistency.
Recovery.
The things that don’t show up on race day, but determine how you feel after it.
The second marathon didn’t just test my fitness.
It tested my habits.
And it showed me exactly where I need to be better.