It is the close of my fourth week of training for the 2025 Boston Marathon and I can’t imagine how I used to run without a proper warm-up first. Thinking back to the first time I trained for the Boston Marathon, I didn’t do much to warm up for a run besides a few dynamic stretches. Thanks to the resources available to Mass General Hospital Marathon Team members, I have built out my warm-up to better prepare for a run. Before every run, I do a series of dynamic stretches and drills combined with 10 minutes of light jogging (ideally).
Dynamic stretches (in order):
Knee hugs
Standing figure-4s
Quad stretch
Walking lunges
Walking lunges with a twist
Standing lateral leg swings
When doing my dynamic stretches, I always do 10 of each. I usually do these in my apartment and/or down the long hallway from my door to the elevator. However, for some of my interval-based runs, I like to walk to Paul Revere Park near my apartment and do my stretches and drills before kicking off that day’s run.
Dynamic drills (in order):
To better understand what a & b-skips are, click the link (above) to watch a video demonstrating them. In short, they are different ways to skip that will help you prepare for a run. Strides are when you run for a short distance and build your speed as you go. When I do strides, I like to do them in Paul Revere Park because there are pathways that travel straight for a good distance. It allows me to run and build up my pace over ~30 seconds before tapering off.
To be 100% transparent, I want to clarify that I don’t always do everything listed above to warm up for a run. Ideally, I would have the time (and patience) to run through my whole list and lightly jog for 10 minutes, however, it isn’t always realistic. At a bare minimum, I always do the six dynamic stretches, skipping with arm swings, and a couple minutes of light jogging.
I have noticed a difference in my runs since consistently executing proper warm-ups beforehand. It is particularly helpful in getting myself into the right headspace to run. When warming up, I can start to work through some of the “ugh, I don’t want to be doing this” trains of thought and make my way into a place where I am having fun. All of which is easier once I’m moving around a bit.
Week 4 Workouts:
Monday, 12/30 - rest day
I started my week off with a rest day after running 24 miles last week! Read my Training - Week 3 post here.
Tuesday, 12/31 - interval run + hip exercises
I ran 5 miles at an average pace of 9’12” to complete this exercise. The first and last mile of this run were the fastest, with speed intervals making up the distance. For the first mile, I ran 0.15 miles at my mile pace, 0.25 miles at my 5k pace, and 0.50 miles at my 10k pace (these are all faster paces than my marathon goal pace, with the mile pace being the fastest and the 10k pace still fast, but slower). For the fifth mile, I did the same but in reverse, finishing with 0.15 miles at my mile pace. At the end of each speed interval series, I finished the last 0.10 of the mile with an easy jog. Overall, I averaged 8’31” per mile for that portion of my run. For the three miles sandwiched in the middle, I ran at an easier pace, averaging 9’38” per mile. I finished the run with a light hip drill by doing 3x (modified side plank abduction, 10 reps then 10-second hold) without a resistance band.
Wednesday, 1/1 - 4 mile run, 9’16” avg. pace
To kick off the New Year, I wore my 2021 Boston Marathon jacket to complete this four-mile run. It was a fun way to commemorate the beginning of the year that I will run the Boston Marathon again. I did feel tired while on this run (probably from staying up celebrating the New Year the night before), but I was happy to get through it and enjoyed a delicious lunch with my friend, Jenny, afterward.
Thursday, 1/2 - short run + hip exercises
My Thursday exercise was not supposed to be as short of a run as it ended up being. According to my training plan, I was supposed to do 2x (3 miles from a slow to a fast pace). However, things did not go to plan. I set my alarm for 5:45 am to run before going in person to the office, though when I woke up and saw that not only was it still dark out, but the sun wasn’t going to rise for another hour and a half, I decided there was no way I would be going outside. Then, I didn’t get home from work until after it was dark again, so I went upstairs to the gym in my building to work out. I did 10 minutes of light jogging, then made my way through my dynamic stretches before getting back on the treadmill to complete the exercise. The thing is, I really do not enjoy running on the treadmill and one mile in, I was incredibly sweaty and self-conscious about my breathing. I stopped after my first mile because I decided I didn’t want to do something I wasn’t enjoying. Instead, I went back down to my apartment and completed a workout with resistance bands that targeted my hips.
Hip exercises:
First - 3x (standing fire hydrant for 12 reps and then lateral step up for 10 reps)
Second - 3x (modified side plank abduction, 10 reps then 10-second hold)
Friday, 1/3 - 3 mile run, 9’31” avg. pace + ab exercises
Following my Friday run, I did two rounds of the 100 reps ab exercise. Basically, for this exercise, you need to do 100 reps of an ab workout (like the name suggests) and you can fill the 100 reps as you please. I started doing this when a friend showed me in 2020 and I have done it the same way since. I start with 10 reps of leg raises, 10 reps of toe touches with my legs in the air, 20 reps of crunches, 20 reps of penguin crunches, 20 reps of Russian twists, and finish with 20 bicycle crunches. I used to be able to do three rounds of this workout, but I currently feel like I’m dying after two. My goal is to work back up to three.
Saturday, 1/4 - 10 mile run, 9’57” avg. pace
I am so proud of this run. I feel like I did everything right leading up to and during the run. To prepare, I made myself a complete dinner on Friday night. On the menu was creamy spinach-stuffed chicken with sweet potato and broccoli. I also drank a hydration drink Friday night - water with fresh lemon and pink Himalayan salt. When I woke up Saturday morning, I ate oatmeal with bananas and a small amount of peanut butter, then gave myself plenty of time to digest before getting ready to run. I was feeling good from the start and had a plan to maintain energy throughout. Once I finished my fifth mile, which was halfway through the run but before I felt fatigued, I pulled out my Honey Stinger energy chews and walked while I ate them. This did cause my sixth mile to be my slowest, but it also set me up to finish the run really strong with my 10th mile as my fastest mile at a 9’34” pace.
Sunday, 1/5 - 3 mile run, 9’18” avg. pace
I love a couple of things about this run. I love that I absolutely did not want to go out and run, but I did (and I felt good about it once I did). I love that each mile I ran today was faster than the fastest mile on my 10-mile run yesterday. I love that each mile I ran on this run was faster than the last.
1st mile - 9’31”
2nd mile - 9’15”
3rd mile - 9’03”
In addition to warming up before my runs, I am emphasizing cooling down after my runs. To do this, I aim for 10 minutes of easy jogging (again, ideally), followed by static stretching.
I’m also finding myself stretching a lot throughout the week at times outside of my workouts. I find it particularly convenient to do so when working from home because I can take a couple of minutes to do some yoga on the floor whenever there is a need for it.
Total Mileage: 26 miles, 9’34” avg. pace
Last week, I ran 24 miles across 5 runs at an average pace of 9 minutes and 44 seconds per mile. This week, I ran 26 miles (almost a marathon!) across 6 runs at an average pace of 9’34” per mile. My body continues to support me as I increase my weekly mileage and I feel confident as we move on to week 5 of training.

Song of the week: Rush by Troye Sivan
I started working on the music playlist I will use for the marathon! I am now adding each song of the week that I include in my weekly training recap posts. You can access my 2025 Boston Marathon playlist on Spotify right here ⬇️