So it's been about four years in the making, but I'm now going to the Olympic Marathon Trials. I ran the B-Standard qualifying time, I've registered for the Trials race (most reasonably priced marathon ever, by the way), and I've bough the plane tickets to LA. I'm all in.
Well now what? What do you do after you finally run that cathartic qualifying time?
You recover, race a 10k on Thanksgiving, and then hop into marathon training.
I've spent the past two weeks taking training pretty light. The first week was very unstructured, just lots of easy mileage to get my legs back to feeling good. This past week was a little bit of a step up, with more mileage and some more tune-up workouts. This coming week I'm racing Cincinnati's classic Thanksgiving Day Race (if you'll be there come say hi!), looking to get after it a few weeks removed from Indy Monumental. I don't want to go into the race with too many expectations, but suffice it to say I'm excited to see how my half marathon fitness translates to 10k fitness.
And then...marathon training begins. By the time the Trials rolls around (February 13th) it will have been nearly three years since my last marathon: a 2:28 just-fine effort at Boston. But I'm a completely different runner now than I was then, so I'm going into training thinking of this as my re-debut in the marathon.
When you think about it, this is really the perfect time to go into a marathon block. The marathon, in the words of famed coach Renato Canova, is an event of extreme extension. I've spent the last weeks and months honing my speed and stamina; right now I'm in great 10k-half marathon shape (arguably the best shape of my life). Now that I have recovered, I have 10-12 weeks to work on extending that fitness closer and closer to the marathon distance. Any more time and I might be overcooked and stale going into the race. Any less time and I might not be training enough. But this time is the perfect amount to top off my current fitness without going too far.
The way I see it, there are two schools of thought when it comes to high-quality marathon training. School one is an effort-based approach: basically, do the training that makes you feel good. This includes lots of long, steady state (or aerobic threshold, whatever your preferred term is) mileage, some lactate threshold/tempo pace cruise intervals, and the occasional track interval workouts. This approach prioritizes feel over pace -- some days 5:30 pace might feel like a steady effort on a long run, some days it might be 6:00 pace. This is the basic approach that American greats of the '70s and early '80s used to dominate the world. In doing this you'll learn to listen to your body and race by feel, which is an essential skill for race-day success. If done right, I'll enter race just slightly undertrained, but fresh and in a great rhythm. Better that than just slightly overtrained, which is a death wish over the marathon distance.
The other school is a specificity approach; basically, every workout you do in the last couple months before race day should be specific to your goal pace. Workouts include long runs at 85, 90, 95% of marathon pace, 10-12 miles alternating half miles (or kilometers) at half marathon pace with half miles at marathon pace + 15-30 seconds, and block workouts consisting of two marathon-pace workouts in one day, among others. It's all very scientific, the logic being that if you're going to ask certain demands of your body on race day, then you better train specifically for those demands. This is the approach that has been pioneered in recent years by Canova and many of the world-beating Kenyan and Ethiopian marathons. On the plus side, with this training you'll know exactly what you're capable of on race day; on the minus side, it could lead to a little overtraining in non-world class athletes (read: me).
So which approach will I take? Honestly, probably a little of both. Since I haven't done a marathon block in a while, my training will probably skew a bit towards the former. It's a little bit safer, a little more cautious, and it allows me to listen to my body. I know I race best when I'm in a good training rhythm, so that's what I want to foster as the race approaches. That said, I think elements of the latter are a missing piece in many marathon puzzles. I'm particularly enthusiastic about alternation-style workouts, but that's something I might get into more in a Workout of the Week segment.
So anyway, stay tuned for more Trials training updates. I'm so excited to jump into a marathon segment...I've been focused on the half marathon so long (two years) that I can't wait to try something new in the marathon! I really do think it might be my best event, so it should be interesting.
Well now what? What do you do after you finally run that cathartic qualifying time?
You recover, race a 10k on Thanksgiving, and then hop into marathon training.
I've spent the past two weeks taking training pretty light. The first week was very unstructured, just lots of easy mileage to get my legs back to feeling good. This past week was a little bit of a step up, with more mileage and some more tune-up workouts. This coming week I'm racing Cincinnati's classic Thanksgiving Day Race (if you'll be there come say hi!), looking to get after it a few weeks removed from Indy Monumental. I don't want to go into the race with too many expectations, but suffice it to say I'm excited to see how my half marathon fitness translates to 10k fitness.
And then...marathon training begins. By the time the Trials rolls around (February 13th) it will have been nearly three years since my last marathon: a 2:28 just-fine effort at Boston. But I'm a completely different runner now than I was then, so I'm going into training thinking of this as my re-debut in the marathon.
When you think about it, this is really the perfect time to go into a marathon block. The marathon, in the words of famed coach Renato Canova, is an event of extreme extension. I've spent the last weeks and months honing my speed and stamina; right now I'm in great 10k-half marathon shape (arguably the best shape of my life). Now that I have recovered, I have 10-12 weeks to work on extending that fitness closer and closer to the marathon distance. Any more time and I might be overcooked and stale going into the race. Any less time and I might not be training enough. But this time is the perfect amount to top off my current fitness without going too far.
The way I see it, there are two schools of thought when it comes to high-quality marathon training. School one is an effort-based approach: basically, do the training that makes you feel good. This includes lots of long, steady state (or aerobic threshold, whatever your preferred term is) mileage, some lactate threshold/tempo pace cruise intervals, and the occasional track interval workouts. This approach prioritizes feel over pace -- some days 5:30 pace might feel like a steady effort on a long run, some days it might be 6:00 pace. This is the basic approach that American greats of the '70s and early '80s used to dominate the world. In doing this you'll learn to listen to your body and race by feel, which is an essential skill for race-day success. If done right, I'll enter race just slightly undertrained, but fresh and in a great rhythm. Better that than just slightly overtrained, which is a death wish over the marathon distance.
The other school is a specificity approach; basically, every workout you do in the last couple months before race day should be specific to your goal pace. Workouts include long runs at 85, 90, 95% of marathon pace, 10-12 miles alternating half miles (or kilometers) at half marathon pace with half miles at marathon pace + 15-30 seconds, and block workouts consisting of two marathon-pace workouts in one day, among others. It's all very scientific, the logic being that if you're going to ask certain demands of your body on race day, then you better train specifically for those demands. This is the approach that has been pioneered in recent years by Canova and many of the world-beating Kenyan and Ethiopian marathons. On the plus side, with this training you'll know exactly what you're capable of on race day; on the minus side, it could lead to a little overtraining in non-world class athletes (read: me).
So which approach will I take? Honestly, probably a little of both. Since I haven't done a marathon block in a while, my training will probably skew a bit towards the former. It's a little bit safer, a little more cautious, and it allows me to listen to my body. I know I race best when I'm in a good training rhythm, so that's what I want to foster as the race approaches. That said, I think elements of the latter are a missing piece in many marathon puzzles. I'm particularly enthusiastic about alternation-style workouts, but that's something I might get into more in a Workout of the Week segment.
So anyway, stay tuned for more Trials training updates. I'm so excited to jump into a marathon segment...I've been focused on the half marathon so long (two years) that I can't wait to try something new in the marathon! I really do think it might be my best event, so it should be interesting.
Been lurking on your site for a while now. I've picked up a lot of stuff along the way, especially workout ideas. Just wanted to say best of luck!
ReplyDelete