26.2 miles...A Journey You Will Never Forget

The marathon is a very fickle race. Distance running in general is a fickle activity, but the marthon is the ultimate in being unpredictable...

First of all, the falf-way point is not at 13.1 miles. The "half-way" point in a marathon really is the 20 mile mark. You must be willing to pay dearly in that last 10k as it carries just as much weight as the first 20 miles...perhaps even more weight.

The following outline workouts are designed with a 2:20 marathon goal in mind...if your goal marathon time is faster or slower than a 2:20 the principles and types of workouts are pretty much the same- only the pace, and in some cases the distance of the workouts could be slightly altered.

To run around 2:20 you are going to need to have developed some speed. 5:20/mile pace is not a happy jog through the park for those of you who run the 10k in 30-32min... it is getting close to your 10k race pace! But than again, the main thing you are going to need is endurance to sustain that speed. In hand with endurance is the ability to store and slowly burn fuel (read carbs and fat) in the most economical way. How do you do that? Well here are some example workouts/training that I did leading up to my marathons.

Guidelines for Marathon Training: With a 2:20 in Mind.... MY Key Workouts

The Long Run

• 20-22 miles, start off at about 6:30 pace...run the last 10 miles in sub 58 min (or as fast as possible).
• 23 miles steady...like 6:30-6:00 pace all the way.
• 18 miles, first 10 miles at about 6:30 pace...last 8 miles at 5:20 pace or faster. (practice drinking your race fluid on some of these

The Threshold

• 10 by 1000m at 3:05 with a 1 min rest jog between reps.
• 2 by 8k at 25:45 each with a 5 min rest between reps.
• 6-8 mile Tempo Run at 5:20 to 5:05 per mile pace.
• 3-4 by 3200m at 10:30-10:00 with a 2-3 min rest between reps.

Aerobic Capacity / Vo2max

• 5-6 by 1 mile at 4:55 to 4:45 with a 2-3 min rest between reps.
• 10 by 800m at 2:20 to 2:16 with a 2 min rest between reps.

Economy and Raw "Speed"

• 16 to 20 by 400m at 70 to 67 each with a 1:30 rest between reps.
• 16 by 6 to 8 second all-out (can be up steep hills) with a full-recovery rest between reps.

Yeah, that pretty much covers all the types of workouts that I think you need. The rest is easy steady running on days in between and high weekly mileage...for years. Your threshold and long run endurance are way more important than anything else. Also, your weekly mileage needs to be as high as possible. 100 miles per week average... at least, if you can, while doing those types of workouts.

Good luck