PRing at 42 at the Tokyo Marathon, with Jess Hadley

In this episode of the Fast and Free Podcast, I sit down with Jessica Hadley after her breakthrough performance at the Tokyo Marathon, where she ran a 3:20 at 42 years old and set a new personal best. We talk through what changed in her training, how she worked through the belief that she may never PR again, and why this build felt different from the ones that came before it. This is a conversation about performance, but it is also a conversation about identity, confidence, and learning how to stop letting fear dictate your ceiling. We also get into the practical side of what helped move things forward: higher mileage, better recovery, double-threshold sessions, improved fueling, and shifting away from obsessing over exact pace targets in workouts. Jess shares how she stopped spiralling after off days, how she learned to trust effort over the watch, and why that mindset shift helped unlock a completely different level of racing. We also talk about the reality of racing majors, the complications she had navigating chronic pancreatitis while in Tokyo, and the mental resilience it took to still step to the line and execute. If you’re a master's runner, a marathoner questioning whether your best is still ahead of you, or someone who tends to tie too much self-worth to training splits and race results, this episode should hit home. There’s a lot in here about performance, but even more about how runners grow when they stop placing limits on themselves. Happy Training! ⸻ Relevant Links 🚨 FREE TOOLS I CREATED FOR RUNNERS 🚨 https://www.runfastandfree.com/free-tools ⚠️ TAKE THE MARATHON READINESS QUIZ NOW ⚠️ https://marathon-readiness-quiz.scoreapp.com Get coached by Brant Stachel https://teamrunrun.com/coach/brant-stachel-kingston-ontario-running-coach/ Get coached by Jessica Hadley https://teamrunrun.com/coach/jessica-hadley-detroit-running-coach/ ⸻ Follow Brant Stachel Fast & Free Performance Coaching https://www.youtube.com/@UC4Nd1yg5n94puosXxjeL5FQ https://www.instagram.com/fastandfreecoaching https://www.instagram.com/brant_stachel https://www.tiktok.com/@BrantStachel https://www.strava.com/athletes/12318637 Visit My Website: http://runfastandfree.com Follow Jessica Hadley https://www.instagram.com/jessbug1122/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessica-hadley-15776b25 https://www.strava.com/athletes/22447135