How To Be the BEST Running Spouse/Partner + May Mailbag Questions

What happens when your partner runs as much as you do — or when they don't run at all? In this May Mailbag episode, Michael, Alex and Katelyn open up about life with their running (and non-running) significant others: who gets to do the long run, who gets stuck with the early alarm, and what happens when your "casual jogger" girlfriend slowly realizes you're actually a serious marathoner.

Chapters
00:00 Intro — the May Mailbag begins
01:00 Sending the spouses out of the house before recording
02:06 Katelyn's first non-running vacation (Hawaii!)
06:25 Doom-scrolling super shoes on the beach: the Puma Fast-R 3
09:55 Alex teases his new podcast with fiancée Alexis: "For Better or For Worse"
13:15 Life with a partner who's just getting into running
15:30 Victor's "morning person" catfish (and other relationship running crimes)
18:00 When your partner accidentally becomes a runner via osmosis
22:00 The "soft launch" of running in a new relationship
25:30 Two runners, one household: laundry, taper madness and weird smells
31:30 Whose running takes priority? Michael & Katelyn weigh in
35:00 Type A vs Type B runners (and why Victor is so annoyingly fast)
40:00 Wedding 5K talk, the sub-15 curse, and Hudson Grimshaw-Mott's 14:00
44:30 Sponsor break: Lagoon Pillows
46:50 Mailbag #1 — Tibo: Is it too late to keep getting faster at 36?
54:00 The "marathon window," aging cliffs and a 36-min 10K predictor
1:01:00 Mailbag #2 — Adam: How do I fuel for a 24-hour race?
1:08:00 Grilled cheese, quesadillas, broth and the legendary Gary Robbins hamburger
1:14:30 Listener feedback — Enni: Don't replace the London lottery with qualifying times
1:18:00 The two-day London Marathon idea, explained properly
1:24:30 Mailbag #3 — Gavin: We need a sub-2:50 marathon plan!
1:29:00 Jakob Ingebrigtsen interview teaser + summer voicemail mailbag call-to-action
1:33:00 Alex's beach song

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Alex also previews his new podcast "For Better or For Worse," a brand-new series he's recording with his fiancée Alexis as they chase very different running goals (his: a fast half marathon in Valencia; hers: her first-ever 10K) on the way to their wedding day.

Then it's into the mailbag: how much room for improvement does a late-starter marathoner really have? How do you fuel for a 24-hour race? Should the London Marathon scrap its lottery? And what does a sub-2:50 marathon training plan look like?

Got a question for the next mailbag? Send a written note — or even better, a voice memo — to podcast@marathonhandbook.com.