Joey Graziadei touched down back in L.A. after just running in the NYC Marathon this weekend … and even though the dude is clearly sore AF, he says soreness was worth it — making his goal time by mere seconds!

Our cameras ran into the former “Bachelor” and “Dancing with the Stars” winner at LAX … and he says even though he was just in a big race, there is no rush to the altar with fiancée Kelsey Anderson … ’cause they’re still in “early stages” of wedding planning.

Check the clip … Joey tells us doing the marathon was just another bucket list item the reality star wanted to check off … after he completed his viral “30 Under 30” bucket list earlier this year.

We ask JG about Dave Portnoy‘s claim that anyone can run a marathon if they train hard enough, and Joey totally agrees … saying depending on how fast you wanna go and what you’re trying to accomplish, anyone can make it happen.

Kelsey chatted us up, too … sharing a bit about her father — Mark Anderson — and his love life after his experience on “The Golden Bachelorette” … leading to his flourishing relationship with actress Barbara Alyn Woods.