Pfitzinger Pete - Advanced Marathoning

One key to Hall’s success is that he has found the event that best suits his physical and mental make-up. He enjoys and thrives on long runs with solid stretches at marathon race pace. Psychologically, he’s more suited to focusing on one race for a long time and then producing a supreme effort than to alternating between training and racing several times a season, as a track racer would do. If you find that, like Hall, you simply like marathon training more than preparing for other events, then that’s probably a good sign that the marathon and you are a good match.

Another factor that contributes to Hall’s success is the confidence he gains from his training. He runs few, sometimes no tune-up races before a marathon, and instead gauges his fitness from the patterns in his training. As his coach, Terrence Mahon says, “We know more about his marathon preparation from our training runs than from any single race that he could do. Watching how he progresses as a whole in the marathon training buildup allows us to throw out the ebbs and flows, and to see where the average is. If he raced on a day that when he was on a high or a low, then we could get some false data as to how he is really doing, and that could prove confusing.” While we advocate a few tune-up races before a marathon, we wholeheartedly agree that the overall quality of your training – especially your marathon-pace runs and tempo runs – is the best way to determine your progress toward your marathon goal.

Related to this focus on the overall pattern is Hall’s composure. He says, “One day I will be doing a 13-mile tempo run feeling strong and filled with energy. The very next day I will be doing close to two hours of running (split between two runs) and feel like I couldn’t take on a recreational jogger.” Rather than despair that the fatigue he felt on the second day meant that he was overtrained or out of shape, Hall recognizes that there will be ebbs and flows during a marathon buildup, both from day to day and week to week. What matters most is accurately assessing the big picture.

Over the past few years, the benefits of marathon-pace runs have become more fully recognized, and we have included more of these sessions in this edition of Advanced Marathoning .

Start these runs comfortably, as you would other medium-long or long runs, and then run the last portion at marathon race pace. For example, if the schedule calls for 16 miles (26 km) with 12 miles (19 km) at marathon race pace, gradually pick up the pace during the first 4 miles (6 km), and then run the last 12 miles (19 km) at marathon goal pace. The objective of these runs is to prepare your body as specifically as possible for your upcoming marathon, so design your course to simulate your marathon as closely as possible. For most marathoners, marathon pace coincides with about 79 to 88 percent of maximal heart rate or 73 to 84 percent of heart rate reserve.

General aerobic runs include your standard, moderate-effort runs of up to 10 miles (16 km). They are slower than lactate-threshold runs, shorter than medium-long runs, and faster than recovery runs. The intention of general aerobic runs is to enhance your overall aerobic conditioning through boosting your training volume; these runs improve your marathon readiness because many of the beneficial adaptations that improve endurance are related to the total volume of your training.

For most runners, the optimal intensity range for these runs is about 15 to 25 percent slower than marathon race pace. Usually, this pace range coincides with about 70 to 81 percent of maximal heart rate or 62 to 75 percent of heart rate reserve. Because the primary purpose of these runs is to increase your training volume, if you’re too tired to do a hard training session the next day, then you’re doing your general aerobic runs too hard.

Lactate-threshold runs are tempo runs in which you run for at least 20 minutes at your lactate-threshold pace. This coincides closely with your current 15K to half marathon race pace. For most marathoners, this pace range corresponds with about 82 to 91 percent of maximal heart rate or 77 to 88 percent of heart rate reserve. Tempo runs provide a strong stimulus to improve your lactate-threshold pace, which leads to similar improvements in your marathon race pace. The lactate-threshold sessions are done after a 2- to 3-mile (3 to 5 km) warm-up and should be followed by a 10- to 15-minute cool-down. The tempo runs in the schedules range from 4 to 7 miles (6 to 11 km) long. As an example, if the schedule calls for 10 miles (16 km) for the day and a 5-mile (8 km) threshold run, warm up for 3 miles (5 km), do the tempo run, then cool down for 2 miles (3 km). Slower runners should run closer to their 15K race pace on tempo runs, whereas faster runners should run closer to their half marathon race pace during these workouts.

Recovery runs are relatively short runs done at a relaxed pace to enhance recovery for your next hard workout. These runs aren’t necessarily jogs, but they should be noticeably slower than your other workouts of the week. The optimal intensity for recovery runs for most marathoners is to stay below 76 percent of maximal heart rate or 70 percent of heart rate reserve. On a subjective basis, on recovery runs you should feel as if you’re storing up energy rather than slowly leaking it. You should finish the run refreshed. Going too hard on recovery days – when your body is most tired – means you’ll be more tired than you should when it counts later in the week.

Try to find flat courses for your recovery runs, but if your recovery runs include some hills you will need to extend the range by a few beats per minute on the uphills or run exceedingly slowly. Whenever possible, do your recovery runs on soft surfaces to help speed recovery that much more.

The O 2max intervals in the schedules range from 600 meters to 1,600 meters in duration and are run at current 5K race pace. Though O 2max work is an important part of your marathon preparation, it’s not as crucial in the marathon as it is in races such as the 5K and 10K. The O 2max sessions in these schedules, then, feature repeats that strike a balance between being long enough to provide a powerful training stimulus and short enough to leave you fresh for your other important workouts of the week.

The same reasoning applies for the prescribed pace in these O 2max workouts: Whereas runners focusing on shorter races need to do some of their intervals closer to 3K race pace, marathoners gain maximum benefit from sticking to 5K race pace. By sticking to the lower to middle end of the effective intensity range (i.e., about 93 to 95 percent of maximal heart rate or 91 to 94 percent of heart rate reserve), you’ll provide a strong stimulus to improve your O 2max while recovering quickly for your other important workouts. For that reason, the training intensities for O 2max workouts in table 7.1 (see page 144) call for only the more conservative 5K-pace ranges.