#237 Andrew Davies: 2:08 Marathon Debut and Canadian Champion

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Andrew Davies is the new Canadian marathon champion. In his very first marathon, at the Toronto Waterfront Marathon, he ran 2:08:48, making him the fourth fastest Canadian of all time. His goal was 2:11. He went to work on Monday morning like nothing had happened.

Andrew lives in Vancouver, just finished law school and is now working toward becoming a lawyer. In this conversation, he and Kristian talk about how he balanced a full-time job with the build, why he trains mostly by feel instead of chasing heart rate numbers, and what it was like to wake up the next day as a different kind of runner.

They also dig into his training in detail: weeks of up to 200K, double threshold days, a 41K easy run in the middle of the week, marathon pace workouts in minutes instead of kilometers, and how he fueled with close to 100 grams of carbs an hour. Andrew also clears up the aid station bottle mix-up that went around social media.

Before the interview, Kristian shares his own first double threshold day, including a tough morning session and a much better afternoon in the Puma Fast-R3.

In this episode:

- Andrew's 2:08:48 debut and the Canadian title

- Balancing law work and marathon training

- Racing in the Puma Fast-R and training in carbon plated shoes

- The aid station bottle mix-up, explained

- How the race unfolded, from the start to the last 10K

- What the result changes for his Olympic ambitions

- Signing with an agent after the race

- Training by feel, without heart rate

- Weekly mileage, double threshold days and marathon workouts

- Fueling with 90 to 100 grams of carbs per hour

- What he does next in the spring

Timestamps

00:00 Welcome and who Andrew Davies is

02:00 Kristian's first double threshold day

03:53 Afternoon session in the Puma Fast-R3

08:49 Valencia and Boston shakeouts, and merch

10:03 Saysky Copenhagen

11:01 Interview with Andrew Davies begins

12:21 Expectations going into the race

14:04 Andrew's background: running and law school

15:37 Balancing a full-time job with a marathon build

16:29 Ambitions as a young runner

19:04 Career recap: cross country and the track

21:08 Why the marathon now

22:21 Cross country vs the roads

24:19 Race shoes and carbon plates

25:33 Signing with an agent

27:19 The aid station bottle mix-up

31:06 How the race unfolded

35:59 Crossing the finish line

37:07 Olympic ambitions

38:36 Competing with other Canadian marathoners

41:42 Prioritizing the marathon

42:44 Coaching and mileage

46:43 Easy runs by feel

48:03 Heart rate and lactate: how he controls intensity

50:33 Fueling for the marathon

56:20 Marathon workouts

59:37 The weekly structure and a 41K easy run

1:05:41 What he learned from a marathon block

1:08:04 Snacks and reactions at the office

1:10:23 What is next this spring

1:11:33 Wrap-up

Follow Andrew on Instagram: @andrewdavies.13

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Full episodes + the Boston 2025 documentary: https://www.youtube.com/@Warwickruns

Follow my training journey on Instagram: @warwick.runs

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