– Pete Pfitzinger
Pete learned this lesson during the 1983 San Francisco Marathon. After working quite hard from 13 to 16 miles, he had a stretch of about 3 miles when his breathing felt out of sync, and he struggled to stay with the other two leaders. Pete kept telling himself to relax and that the other guys might be hurting, too. Fortunately, he settled back into a comfortable rhythm by 19 miles, felt strong enough to drop the other two runners by the 20-mile mark, and cruised home to victory. If Pete had let himself think negatively during the bad patch and let the other two runners get away, he wouldn’t have won that race.
Taking in carbohydrate as often as possible during the second half of the race can help you maintain your mental focus. The only fuel for your brain is glucose (carbohydrate), and when you become carbohydrate depleted, the amount of glucose reaching the brain starts to decrease. If you’ve carbohydrate loaded, this shouldn’t start to affect you until well past the 20-mile (32 km) mark. Taking in carbohydrate during the race and particularly between miles 13 and 20 (km 21 and 32), however, will help ensure that you stay alert and think clearly throughout the race.
The Final 6 Miles and 385 Yards (10 km)
Having made it to 20 miles (32 km), you’re at the most rewarding stage of the marathon. This is the part that you have prepared for during your long months of training. This is when your long runs, during which you worked hard over the last stages, will really pay off. Until now, everything required the patience to hold back. Now, you’re free to see what you’ve got. During these final 6 miles and 385 yards (10 km), you get to dig deep and use up any energy that you have left. This is what the marathon is all about. This is the stretch that poorly prepared marathoners fear and well-prepared marathoners relish.
The key from 20 miles (32 km) to the finish is to push as hard as you can without having disaster strike in the form of a cramp or very tight muscles. You will have prepared yourself for this during your long runs, your marathon-pace runs, and, to a lesser extent, your tempo runs. You need to use your body’s feedback to determine just how hard you can push. Chances are that, by now, your calf muscles, hamstrings, quads, or some combination of these are on edge and will limit how fast you can go. You need to test the waters a bit and push to what you perceive to be the limit that your muscles will tolerate. This is a progressive meting-out process, in which you can take progressively greater risks as the finish line nears.
Although doing the how-many-miles-to-go math can be daunting early on in the marathon, in this final stage it can help keep you focused. As the finish approaches, telling yourself, “Less than 3 miles to go,” or “Just 15 minutes more,” can be motivating. If you’re struggling a bit toward the end, picture yourself finishing a run on your favorite training loop so that the remaining distance seems more manageable.
If you’ve been taking in fluid and carbohydrate throughout the race, your muscles should be in pretty good condition. Keep drinking until 25 miles (40 km). Keeping up your blood sugar level will keep you alert so that you can concentrate well to the end. When you see the finish line approaching, give a little more effort so that you run strongly over the line. Show yourself that you have mastered the marathon and are able to kick it in a bit to the finish. Then enjoy the fruits of your labor.
In these first several chapters, we’ve looked at preparing for and running the marathon from all the necessary angles. Now it is time to put theory into practice. The rest of this book contains training schedules that implement the physiological principles of marathoning. The knowledge gained from this first section of the book, combined with the marathon-specific fitness that following the schedules will bring you, should leave you well prepared for marathon success.
PART II
Training Programs
Chapter 7
Following the Schedules
As we note in the preface, many readers want to get right to the training schedule of their choice and start working. That’s fine, but before getting too far into your training, you’ll want to read this chapter. In it, you’ll learn the best way to do each of the types of runs called for in the schedules. You’ll also see what to do with your schedule when the almost inevitable roadblocks pop up during your training.
The training schedules in chapters 8 through 12 include the specific workout for each day as well as the category of training for that day. The workouts are divided into the following eight categories: long runs, medium-long runs, marathon-pace runs, general aerobic runs, lactate-threshold runs, recovery runs,
O2max intervals, and speed training. Each run is explained here, including how to get the most benefit from a given workout. For an in-depth explanation of the physiological benefit and role of each type of training, see chapter 1.
Long Runs
In the training schedules, a long run is any run of 16 miles (26 km) or longer. The intention of long runs is (obviously) to improve your endurance in preparation for the marathon’s 26.2 miles (42.2 km).
To gain the most from your long runs, do them in the correct intensity range. Long runs shouldn’t be slow jogs during which you just accumulate time on your feet. As discussed in chapter 1, the appropriate pace for a specific long run depends on the purpose of that run within your training program. The most beneficial intensity range for most of your long runs is 10 to 20 percent slower than your goal marathon race pace. For most marathoners, this pace range coincides with about 74 to 84 percent of maximal heart rate or 65 to 78 percent of heart rate reserve. In this intensity range you find the optimal balance between running hard enough to simulate the muscle patterns and posture you will use at marathon race pace and running moderately enough that you can recover relatively quickly for your other important training sessions.
Start out at the slow end of the range. Gradually pick up the pace so you run the last 5 to 10 miles (8 to 16 km) at about 10 percent slower than your goal marathon race pace. Gradually picking up the pace during your long runs and finishing strongly will also provide positive psychological reinforcement that you’re in control of the marathon. To gain the greatest benefit, design your long-run courses to simulate the hill profile of your marathon. (See the section on hill running later in this chapter.) If your long-run course is much hillier than your marathon, then your pace will be somewhat slower.
The schedules also include marathon-specific long runs at goal marathon race pace (discussed later in the chapter) and slower long runs the day after a tune-up race. After a race or hard workout on Saturday, your Sunday long run should be at a relaxed pace because you are likely to be somewhat tired and have stiff muscles, which will increase your likelihood of injury. Start these long runs like a recovery run. If your muscles loosen up as the run progresses, increase the training stimulus by increasing your pace to about 15 to 20 percent slower than marathon race pace.
Medium-Long Runs
A medium-long run is any run of 11 to 15 miles (18 to 24 km). Medium-long runs reinforce the physiological benefits of your long runs. To gain the greatest physiological benefits, the pace for these runs should be similar to the pace for long runs. If you do a hard training session the day before a medium-long run, do the medium-long run toward the slower end of the intensity range.