2025 Philadelphia Marathon Training Tips

As the Mütter Milers, the official fundraising team for The College of Physicians of Philadelphia, and other runners gear up for the 2025 Philadelphia Marathon Weekend, it’s critical that they have a training plan in place and are prepared for potential challenges.

Longtime College Fellow, John M. Vasudevan, MD, is an Associate Professor of Medicine and Rehabilitation at the University of Pennsylvania and Director of the Running and Endurance Sports Medicine Program at Penn Medicine. He also serves as Medical Director of the Broad Street Run and Philadelphia Distance Run. We spoke with Dr. Vasudevan to get some key recommendations for runners embarking on this exciting opportunity. This interview has been lightly edited for clarity and length.

The College of Physicians of Philadelphia launched a charity fundraising team, the , as part of the . We have runners signed up for the AACR Marathon and the Dietz & Watson Philadelphia Half Marathon. This is a case of worlds colliding for you. What are your thoughts about this new initiative here at the College? 

I think it's great because we're not just a place of history. We’re a living commitment to what medicine should be. I think it demonstrates commitment not just to the concepts of fitness, but teamwork. We are advancing science through supporting a run that also supports cancer research. Even if some of us are individually running for our own fitness journey, we are collectively reengaging with the community and recognizing the importance of fitness and science.

You often support runners in your line of work and have extensive experience working with long-distance runners. What are your top three recommendations for runners to prepare for a long-distance race, like a half marathon or a full marathon?  

There are so many ways things can go wrong, but every runner should keep three things in mind. First, have a plan. We often just run further and further the way we like to run, without a sense of how to get there. But there is information and support out there in the form of books, running coaches, and running clubs. It’s important to know that you shouldn’t run the same speed every single time, know when to increase your pace, and know how to cross-train. This requires a plan on how to get there.  If you're not sure how to do it yourself, that's what the whole running community is there for. 

Secondly, you must cross-train. It's amazing how many runners I meet who run but nothing else, and then they continually get injuries and wonder how this happens. But it's almost always the easy picking – the low-hanging fruit – that can be corrected: performing enough strengthening, or challenging yourself with agility exercises such as Pilates and yoga. Strength makes you fatigue-resistant and improves your endurance, keeping your form in control throughout the run. Agility maximizes performance for situations when you have to hop over that curve or cut around another runner without tweaking your hamstring. 

And finally: it's the journey, not the destination. Too often, people get disappointed if they build themselves up to a marathon, and either they can't do it, or they complete but miss their personal record. Setbacks are just challenges that tell you how to set up your future success. The nice thing about running is you can do this your whole life if you learn how to do it well. It takes making mistakes or hitting setbacks to learn how to make the adjustments needed to keep it a consistent and happy activity for you. I often tell people, ‘Race Day is a celebration of your effort to that point. It’s the result of all the time spent in preparation, so enjoy that you even made it that far.’ It may not feel like that in the moment, honestly, but I encourage keeping that concept in the back of your mind. To recap: have a plan, cross-train, and enjoy the journey.

How important is it to schedule rest days in your training plan? 

I think rest is recovery, and recovery is the first step to injury prevention. The biggest mistake we make is not respecting the fact that for every challenge we put on our body, our body needs time to take care of itself, and includes getting good sleep. It also includes taking intermittent breaks from your preferred activity, even if it means cross-training. It’s an opportunity to try something a little bit different, a little bit lighter, because you need to allow your body to heal, so you avoid getting into those ruts where you run into trouble.

And I know we already talked about some things runners can do to avoid injury. Is there any other advice that you think is really important for people to take into account, just to keep their bodies healthy? 

Of course, there's nutrition and hydration. Nutrition is your fuel. If you put the wrong octane fuel — or not enough fuel — in your car, don’t be surprised if you can’t reach your destination.  Also, the longer you drive your car, the harder you drive your car, and the type of car you have, you're going to have to change the amount and type of your fuel. The same concept applies to your body’s nutrition. Eating healthful foods isn't everything; it’s about getting the right amount and mix of nutrients to get what you want out of your body. 

Hydration is lubrication. It helps carry oxygen and nutrients through your blood to your muscles and tissues. It helps remove waste products away as well. If you run your engine without any oil, the engine will certainly fail a lot faster. To know what’s right for you, take notes on your progress, whether simple notes on your phone or an old-fashioned notebook and pen. You could write something as simple as: ‘I ran X amount of miles today in Y type of weather, and I felt good.’  Or, ‘I ran X amount of miles in Y type of weather with Z amount of hydration, and my knee hurt a bit.’  
Keeping a log is important, because you can't connect the dots unless you first draw the dots. You can also log items such as the weather, precipitation, terrain, clothing, and how the sum of these factors made you feel during the run. Race Day can be very different than the majority of your training days, so keeping this log can help you understand what's going to make you feel comfortable, given any conditions. 

As far as after the race, just make sure your body recovers. Before you head out to celebrate or drink alcohol, it’s best to make sure you are peeing clear and have consumed some protein to start rebuilding your muscle. Give yourself time off training, especially after a marathon. Take several days off to let your body recover from the stress, even if you're feeling good, as your body needs it. 

That's really interesting regarding the clothing tips, too, because I know some people will travel far and wide to run a race. And then, even in a place like Philadelphia, the weather can be so unpredictable. You might have a random 80-degree day in the middle of November. 

I've had a lot of difficulty in the medical tent on days that are maybe 60 degrees, when the humidity is too high, or it's drizzling.  Runners can't evaporate their sweat, and they overheat, even in temperatures you might not think are dangerous. It’s important to understand how you perform in humidity and with precipitation. If you have never tried running in the rain and it's raining on race day, are you ready? Being able to kind of toy around with those and take notes gives you a better sense of confidence.

I know we've touched on more long-distance races with the half and full marathons. Is there anything 8K runners should keep in mind? 

Well, the biggest mistake everyone – including myself – makes is that you train at a certain pace and then you get to Race Day, you're all excited and pumped up, there are hundreds of people running with you, and then you run differently than how you've trained. Usually, you run too fast and burn yourself out too soon, because you're just excited in the moment. Because almost everyone has a smart watch these days, keep track of your desired pace. Race Day is an extension of your training and not something separate from it, and staying disciplined according to what you have prepared for. Don't worry if someone's running faster. Don't feel like you have to beat everyone who’s slower than you. You're doing this for you. In an 8K distance, people figure ‘Hey, it's shorter. I can run fast – just crank this out. It's only going to take about this many minutes.’ But there's no reason to deviate from your plan. Just stick with the plan and see it through. And if you want to run that faster next time, prepare for that next time.

I know that we talked about behaviors to keep your body healthy before and after the race. Is there anything else that runners should keep in mind during the race? Like hydration? 

I'll sound like a broken record, but hydrate at the rate that you're used to hydrating your body during training. If you never grab a cup of water every mile, don't grab a cup of water every mile.

Anyone who's going a marathon distance should be traveling with their own hydration during training. Roughly drink eight ounces every 15 minutes, about one of those Dixie Cups every mile and a half or so. Usually, any run under an hour doesn't necessarily need Gatorade or anything like that; keep it simple with water alone. 

Once you start going beyond an hour of training, then something like having eight ounces worth of Gatorade or a gel pack or something similar will replenish some of your glucose and electrolytes. And then, listening to your body is important. A lot of times, people on Race Day find a new knee pain or aggravate an old injury that was bothersome – and it's okay if you walk for one minute out of your race to be able to finish the race. It's okay to catch your breath if you feel like your heart is pounding too fast. You don't have to stop, but you don't have to run as fast, and you can take a moment to slow down – because really, that's the whole point of endurance sports: to endure, to make it to the end. If your body has a little bit of pain that's non-progressive, that's fine. But if it just gets worse and worse, and you feel an asymmetry to your gait, it's telling you something, and you have to respect that. It's hard to quit, for sure, and it also might mean you have to spend more of the time walking than running, if it comes to it. But the whole idea is: if you've prepared for that day, you've worked out all those kinks in preparation for it.

Are there any other major warning signs, perhaps, after the race, that you might have done some damage, and you should see a professional rather than just waiting it out? 

Yes. Obviously, if you're peeing really dark – if it's like brown – that’s a sign. A lot of times, it has to do with your pee. If you're feeling numbness, tingling, weakness in the legs, or if you're feeling any instability of a joint, like catching, locking, or slipping, that’s another worrying sign. And I think sometimes you will feel beat up the next day because of just delayed muscle soreness, but usually within 24 to 48 hours, you should feel pretty much back to normal. If not – if you're feeling just acutely ill otherwise, almost like you have the flu, it can be a symptom of rhabdomyolysis, where you just cause too much damage to your muscles. So certainly, if you're feeling overly fatigued or tired or ill, like you had the flu because of it, and it's not resolving by the next day, then you should check that out.

What made you interested in becoming a doctor and working with athletes? 

I was exposed to medicine because my dad was also a physician in physical medicine rehabilitation. It’s not very original of a story, other than just getting that early exposure. But I got to see how he could help people through his work dealing with chronic, painful conditions. I learned in my specialty, PM&R, that if you understand how to adapt to disability, it means you also understand how to maximize what you're able to do.  

In Sports Medicine, that's sort of really taking that knowledge of how one body part is connected to the other body part – how a function is carried out through an orchestration of motion – and a lot of muscles help someone achieve a functional or fitness goal. So that's what got me interested in both PM&R, and then really sports medicine as an extension of that. Sports Medicine really is about, to me, solving problems for people who have a functional or fitness goal. A lot of times, people come in and, by all means, they're able to do most daily functions. They're not disabled, but running is very important to them, or it's helping them lose weight. When they are finally sidetracked by an injury, and it carries both a physical and mental toll. It's getting in the way. Runners have a goal in mind of where they want to be. As long as the goal is reasonable and achievable, that's where Sports Medicine allows you to bridge that gap, get through injury, prevent future injuries, and create a long-term strategy to help you maintain a fitness lifestyle.

In terms of the athletes who come in with an injury, do you find that most of them are runners, or do you see a variety?  

I see everyone from high school, college, and professional athletes, including runners.  I treat those who play football, soccer, and track and field.  But I also see those who start dragon boating past age 70, ballet dancers with multiple sclerosis who want to still dance en pointe in their 30s, and surfers who want to get in a few more waves before their impending hip replacement.  To me, all of those people belong in Sports Medicine, because they all have a goal in mind. 

I think it really doesn't matter by age or how much arthritis you have; it’s about going to where one’s joy is. And I think the more patients who come to me and are like, ‘I'm in a lot of pain and I need to get out of pain,’ I think it's the wrong question and answer setup. I think I understand why, because it does hurt, but people don't come because they're in pain; it's because they're in pain, but also because it is interfering with their ability to do something they want to do. We can all stub our toe, but we don't run to the doctor immediately. We come in when we admit ‘Now I can't get my work done. Now I can't care for my kids or play with them. I can't drive them over to ballet.’ In practice, that's why they come to see the doctor. Once I can meet people in that mindset, it becomes so much more interesting, fun, and understandable. 

So, at the end of the day, it’s about helping people live their best lives. 

Yeah, exactly. I think quality of life means so much. Most of medicine focuses on keeping you from dying, which is obviously a great starting point! Plus, general longevity from good choices in life, that's good. But also, in the years that you have, we all want as much quality to our day-to-day experiences. And that's what drew me to my field.

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