Dylan Belles

Houston Marathon | 2:17:44 | 12th Place Overall I've got a lot to say and share about this race, but I'll try and keep it as concise as possible. I’ll go in full detail on my podcast. It's been 4 years since I've run a marathon that I've been remotely content with. Most of my challenges have been getting to the start line without an illness or infection. It's been so hard to feel like I've been in the best shape of my life, then have the opportunity to fully express that just disappear overnight. Then time passes, and you start to wonder where the limit is and how much more you can get out of a body that's been training hard for 16 years. I wondered if I could even mentally run the marathon successfully again. But, last Sunday, though I didn't qualify for the Olympic Trials (2:16:00), didn't PR (2:16:59), and I didn't set a Course PB (2:17:33), I walked away with an experience that erases the bad luck and negative loop I've been stuck in for all this time. I've shown myself that my goals are doable. I can run that big goal time/pace for 2 hours. Now, all I have to do is find out how I can clean up those last 15 to 20 minutes. That's it. That's workable.

Finished my largest and final key workout of this Houston Marathon block this weekend, with a “race” in the middle. The workout was 40 × 1 minute “fast,” 1 minute “float.” The idea was to alternate between slightly faster than marathon pace and slightly slower than marathon pace. It’s a big workout - one I’ve done four times before: most notably before my PR in Frankfurt (2:16), twice before a top-50 finish at the 2020 Olympic Trials (2:18), and again before my next-best time at Houston (2:17) in 2022. Across all five times I’ve done this session, I’ve averaged no faster than 5:10 and no slower than 5:12 per mile over 15.4–15.5 miles. Today was a 5:12 average, which makes me feel really good about where my fitness is right now. It’s in line with the best I’ve ever been, and not that I need confidence, but it is reassuring. I ran the first 10 miles as part of the Frostbite Series 10-Miler at Forest Park. I finished first (though most of the other faster guys weren’t racing) and found out afterward that it was also the Missouri RRCA 10-Mile State Championships, which was a nice bonus that I only found out after I got home and was looking through the race results. Thanks as always to @stltrackclub for always putting inviting events during the usually frigid and less race-friendly winters! I’m looking forward to putting all the pieces together in two weeks and finding out what I can do at one of my favorites races. Photo credit: RRCA Missouri Facebook

Had a good go at the Chesterfield Turkey Trot on Thursday - 15:08 for 2nd place. I’ll take it. Frozen body aside, I managed to warm into it and negative split my way through with miles of 5:00 → 4:56 → 4:44 (4:52 avg). Not my fastest road 5K ever, but it’s right in the neighborhood of my best, and that’s a good feeling heading into next week. I get one more crack at the 5K before I stop acting like I'm training for this distance, at @therunningevent , where our @runflagstaff crew is going after the team win. If things line up, I’d love to dip under 15 - and after this race, that feels extremely doable.

The Belles family takes the age group! Ignore the upside down bib 🤦‍♂️

Sometimes it IS sunshine and rainbows — I’ve always enjoyed the feeling of coming to the track after many weeks / months away from it. That’s even better when you’re rolling off more “aerobic” work and that first session comes more as a surprise to the system. It’s that “hey, maybe I’m not that slow” feeling 🤣 Either way, training has been going well but still a ways to go to be marathon ready by January. a lot of miles ahead.

All smiles in New York 🗽 What an incredible time I had out on the course for the @nycmarathon this last Sunday! So so so much energy out there on an absolutely perfect day in the city. You can’t ask for more than what was given to the 60k + runners. I’m thankful for a healthy body to be able to run a marathon (at a decent pace!) for training purposes, and to be able to spend a few days meeting with and cheering on many of the runners I coach throughout the city. Nobody does it like NY. I understand why I heard “best marathon in the world” countless times over the last 5 days. Sure, it’s not the fastest, but what you get from this race is unmatched (or at least not yet experienced by me!). This weekend wipes away the abysmal attempt of running the same race in 2021. I took a different approach. I chose to take it in versus try to take it all. 2:27:28 for 66th place (1:15:05 / 1:12:25 splits) #nycmarathon

I can’t speak for @megancbelles because yesterday she spent the afternoon at a day spa (for the first time) and from our conversations it was life changing and our love (and bank accounts)may be in jeopardy because of it…but a year ago today was the best day of my life. Happy first anniversary ❤️

Shout out to Coach @runlikedylan for a really fun session. On paper, this looked like it could have been a mental burner, but the pace variation was great to keep me engaged. Thanks to @thefeed for sending over some new @maurten_official Gel 160 to try. I slid it into this 13ish mile workout and was overall happy with it. It does exactly what they say—fuel the body for high performance. Main Points - Maximum carb delivery - 40g of carbohydrates per serving for sustained energy - Proven hydrogel technology - same patented formula as the coveted Gel 100 - No water required - pre-formed hydrogel can be taken independently - Natural ingredients only - just 6 ingredients, no artificial additives - Efficient fueling - fewer sachets needed for extended sessions Also, mad props to @vdot_o2 on continuing to improve their app, making this come together so easy. Shades courtesy of @tifosioptics #Maurten160atTheFeed 10% Off Everything: Link in Bio.

Took first* place at the Go! Saint Louis Halloween Half Marathon in Eureka yesterday morning with a time of 1:06:41, though I made a huge error around 2.25 miles into the race and completely missed a turn. My time would have been right around 1:10:00 if I hadn’t made the mistake. The second place 10k finisher and the rest of the Half Marathon podium finishers made the same mistake but theirs made their race longer. This one of the many messy points of this race, but no need to go any further than that The race was held right here where I live in Eureka, on roads and routes that I’ve run now thousands of times (and yet still missed a turn) so I was excited to try and get a win for Eureka. It’s kind of a silly thing, but I feel some sense of pride to have myself or any other Eureka resident finish atop any podium in Saint Louis races. There’s not that many of us out here! Fortunately, I was able to make that happen, and despite the swell of emotions I had in course, I had a good run overall for where I’m at in training right now, and can hopefully use this as boost/support to my fitness as I get it going for @chevronhoustonmarathon in 2026. *subject to disqualification

Honeymoon - Cortina D’Ampezzo Cortina was beautiful, but unfortunately we ran into heavy rains, fog, temps we weren’t prepared for, and the worst of it, the onset of the flu. In the short amount of time we were there, we caught brief glimpses of these incredible mountains, but it felt like a tease! We hope to one day travel back and get a full experience of the Dolomites when conditions don’t alter our plans

👋 from the highest accessible point of the Duomo di Milano

Monza!