The training programs in this book include up to four runs in which you’ll run 8 to 14 miles (13 to 22 km) of a longer run at goal marathon race pace. These runs are the most specific marathon preparation you’ll do. The intention is to stress your body in a similar way to the marathon, but to limit the duration so that your required recovery time is held to a few days. On these runs, use the first few miles to warm up, then finish the run with the prescribed number of miles at marathon race pace. In addition to the physiological and psychological benefits these runs impart, they’re an excellent opportunity to practice drinking and taking energy gels at race pace.
Where should you do your marathon-pace runs? Races of the appropriate distance are ideal – you’ll have a measured course, plenty of aid stations, and other runners to work with. As with doing tempo runs in races, though, be sure to limit yourself to the day’s goal and run them no faster than is called for.
If you can’t find a race of suitable length in which to do your marathon-pace runs, try to run at least part of them over a measured course so that you can get feedback about your pace. A reasonable way to check pace is to do 1 or 2 miles in the middle of a road-race course that has markers painted on the road. Similarly, many bike paths have miles marked, or you can use a GPS to check your pace. Your entire run needn’t be over a precisely calibrated course, but try to include at least a few stretches where you can accurately assess your pace, and then once you have a good sense of what your pace feels like, rely on perceived exertion or heart rate during the other parts of the run.
Given the opportunity for regular splits and frequent fluids, a track would seem to be an ideal locale for marathon-pace workouts, but bear in mind the reason for these runs. The purpose is to simulate marathon conditions as closely as possible. This means running on a road, not doing endless repeats of a 400-meter oval. Learn your goal marathon’s topography, and attempt to mimic it on your marathon-pace runs. Many runners do this when preparing for courses with obvious quirks, such as Boston, but the principle applies for all marathons. Pancake-flat courses such as Chicago also take their toll because your leg muscles are used exactly the same way from start to finish.
Wear your marathon shoes when doing at least one of these workouts, even if you’ll be racing the marathon in flats. You want to have at least one run of 15 miles (24 km) or so in your race-day shoes to learn whether they provide enough support when you start to tire and whether they give you blisters.
Structuring Your Training Program: Periodization
Now that we’ve discussed the types of training that help improve marathon performance, the next step is to develop your overall training plan. You need to prepare so that you’re at your best on marathon day. Systematically structuring your training to bring you to your desired end point is called periodization. The challenge in developing a periodized training plan is to decide how many hard sessions to do, which types of sessions to do, and when to do them.
A useful framework is provided by organizing your training into macrocycles, mesocycles, and microcycles. These concepts are used for preparing training programs in a wide variety of sports and have been used extensively in track and field.
For a marathoner, a macrocycle is the entire training period leading up to the marathon. You’ll likely have two macrocycles per year, each consisting of 4 to 6 months. Both of your macrocycles may culminate with a marathon, or you may have one goal marathon for the year and a second macrocycle leading up to a goal race at a shorter distance. Runners doing more than two marathons in a year will probably still have only two macrocycles per year. Multiple marathoners can do only a partial buildup for some of their marathons.
A macrocycle is divided into several mesocycles, each of which has a specific training objective. For a marathoner, a mesocycle may last from 4 to 10 weeks. For example, the first mesocycle in marathon preparation will almost always be a high-volume base training block of at least 4 weeks. As the race approaches, the priorities in your training shift. Each shift in priorities is reflected in a new mesocycle.
Each mesocycle is divided into several microcycles. A microcycle is a series of days that make up a shorter block of training. Microcycles can be anywhere from 4 days to 2 weeks long. Often, the most effective training pattern is a microcycle of 8 to 10 days. Because we realize that the rest of your life revolves around a 7-day week, we’ve made a practical compromise on the ideal. We’ll use the terms microcycle and week interchangeably in this book. (Just for kicks, see what happens next Friday at the office when you say to a coworker, “Boy, I thought this microcycle would never end.”)
Let’s consider a runner whose annual training plan centers around two marathons per year. She would train for the marathon for 12 to 18 weeks culminating in the race, followed by 5 to 8 weeks to recover before starting focused training for the next target race. This indicates a minimum of 17 weeks for a marathoner ’s macrocycle.
Now, let’s consider the training objectives in preparation for the marathon. The macrocycle will generally be divided into five mesocycles (table 1.3). The first mesocycle will focus on increasing mileage and improving pure endurance. This will likely be the longest mesocycle in the program. The second mesocycle will focus on improving lactate threshold, with further improvement of pure endurance as a secondary objective. The third mesocycle will focus on race preparation and will include tune-up races. The fourth mesocycle will include a 3-week taper and the marathon. The fifth and final mesocycle in a marathoner’s macrocycle will consist of several weeks of recovery.
Each 7-day microcycle will typically consist of three hard training sessions. This is the maximum number of hard sessions that most distance runners can respond to positively. A few runners can handle four hard sessions per week, and some runners can handle only two. Considering that there are at least five categories of hard training sessions that you can do, it takes a good deal of intelligent planning to come up with the optimal training program for you. The training schedules in this book are structured around five mesocycles per macrocycle and generally include three hard training sessions per microcycle.
Tune-Up Races
Training provides a variety of stimuli that lead to adaptations that improve your marathon performance. Training also gives you the confidence that comes with setting and achieving challenging training goals. However, training doesn’t completely prepare you for the marathon. An additional component to successful marathoning can be gained only by racing.
Tune-up races are important benchmarks of your fitness and prepare you mentally for the rigors of racing. Because less is at stake, even the toughest workout isn’t as mentally demanding as a race. After all, in a race, when you’re competing against other runners, there’s a fine margin between relative success and relative failure. Similarly, in a race you’re committed to finish (or you should be) whether you’re having a good day or a lousy day; in a workout, if things aren’t going well, you can always stop early with your pride relatively intact. The all-out aspect of racing provides a mental hardening that’s necessary to run a good marathon. When runners do no premarathon tune-up races, they have greater anxiety leading up to the marathon.