The decision to train for a marathon is not one to be taken lightly. The event is so demanding and deserves such respect that any commitment should be 100% and rigorous planning is essential to ensure that the necessary training fits into one’s family, work and relaxation commitments.
Everyone has a uniquely personal life schedule, and so it is perhaps not ideal to suggest sessions on a specific daily basis. Accordingly the sessions recommended here can be selected to suit. Not only will visitors to this web site be at differing stages of preparation, they will also be new to running, moderately experienced or very experienced. Thus the stated sessions should be geared to one’s background in the sport. Here is the menu:-
The long run
You really need eventually to be on your feet on your longest run for a period of time approaching your target time for the marathon. If you are as fast as 2 hours 30 minutes you may wish your longest run to be around this time. You can run for up to 3 hours if your target is that time but if you are aiming for 3 hours 30 minutes to 5 hours, it is suggested that you “stay out” for that length of time, but treat it as a “trek”. In other words find enjoyable terrain such as a large forest, countryside or rolling low level hills for your session.
Clearly you must build up the length/time of the run gradually, and it is suggested that you do a long run each week for 3 weeks, have a break the following week then do a long one for the next 2 or 3 weeks before repeating the cycle. Do try to mix the terrain you run on to prevent joint and muscle damage from too much training on hard surfaces.
Tempo runs
The definition of “tempo” is “a characteristic rate or rhythm of activity; a pace”, which of course can be fast, medium or slow. However in running training terminology “tempo” invariably means pretty hard.
The purpose of introducing tempo runs into a schedule is to inure the body to the pace one will experience in competition. In the case of a 10k race a reasonable time for a tempo training run is about 20-25 minutes for a 35 minute runner and 30-35 minutes for a 50-55 minute runner.
However for a marathon runner we are looking at considerably longer times. As we should be operating at around 85 % effort, it is clearly very demanding to keep this up for say 3 hours if you are a 4 hour runner. A 2 hours hard effort will have great benefits and not require as much recovery as the latter scenario. Similarly for a 2 ½ hour or 3 hour runner, 1 ¾ hours and 2 hours respectively will be good sessions now and again as a replacement for the easy/steady weekly long run.. Also tempo runs of shorter duration are useful. e.g. 45 minutes to 1 hour.
An appropriate warm up is essential before the shorter hard efforts whereas the longer ones can be eased into.
Fartlek / Interval training / Sausage sessions
The above types of training have one thing in common; they involve intermittent efforts, faster efforts followed by recovery in the form of jogging, walking or rest. Their purpose in the case of marathon training is to induce a high heart rate and to ensure the distance runner does not become a “plodder”.
Fartlek was espoused and introduced initially by Gosta Holmer, Sweden’s national athletics coach in the 1930’s, with great success. The word means speed-play. Ideally the session is carried out in varied and pleasant surroundings such as a forest, playing fields or across country. Following a suitable warm up the runner decides the length and time of efforts and recovery. This may be in tandem with the terrain encountered at any particular point on the route, e.g. 2 minutes brisk, 2 minutes jog, 45 seconds hard up a hill, jog down and repeat, 200m fast, recover etc etc. One of the advantages of the session is that it is refreshing and uninhibited.
Interval training on the other hand is disciplined. The first coach to use interval training for runners was Woldemar Gerschler, who, in the 1930’s, with the aid of a physician, Professor Herbert Reindell, tried to develop a method to train the heart as one would train other muscles. They found that repeated runs of 100-200 metres were best. However over the ensuing years interval training has developed enormously with a huge range of sessions available geared to the requirements of the athlete. The great Czech Olympian Emil Zatopek was known to carry out sessions such as 60 x 400 metres with a short recovery. The great advantage of a session such as this for a marathon runner is that in Zatopek’s case the workout would have taken over 2 hours with around 70 minutes of quality running at less than 5 minute mile pace. You may wish to experiment with this one albeit with lesser volume!
Other good marathon training interval sessions are similar to the sausage sessions below, but it should be remembered that as the marathon is a 95% aerobic event recoveries should be sufficient to enable the session to be completed without the presence of lactic acid in the muscles.
The term “sausage session” reputedly originated on the running track, the roads and over ploughed fields in Cambridge, England in the 1960’s, when Mike Turner the England cross country captain and a host of like minded ultra hard training internationals completed severe sessions such as 10 x 1 mile with 2 minutes jog recovery or 4 x 15 minutes with 5 minutes jog recovery. Because these resembled a long succession of bulges (the hard effort) separated by a short string (the recovery), they became known as sausage sessions.
Clearly one has to gear these workouts to one’s aims and abilities. 2 x 15 minutes is patently a valuable session as is 3 x 1 mile. Like fartlek the sausage session is more undisciplined than interval training for a typical session could be 2 ½ mts/5 mts/ 2 ½ mts/5 mts/2 ½ mts i.e. 17 ½ mts quality running.
The Taper and the Race
The benefits of a taper are immeasurable. After weeks of hard training, during the last week visualize all the previous work “growing” inside you as you ease off. Don’t rest too much however otherwise you will find that sleeping or mental relaxation will be difficult. The body likes a routine. Easy running should be the norm but it has been found that 3 or 4 days before a marathon a short sharp session of say 3 or 4 x 400m repetitions negates “plod mode”.
You will find your energy levels and freshness growing in the last week, especially if you slightly increase the quantity of carbohydrate ingested and keep your fluid levels topped up.
For other racing tips see “Mel Edwards on Racing Faster” on the Run 4 it web site.
Summary
Each week I recommend that you build up to do a long run (usually easy/steady but occasionally a tempo effort) , a tempo run from 3 – 8 miles, a fartlek session, an interval or sausage session, an easy 6 miles and a steady 8 – 10 miles with a rest day. This is a staple schedule, but of course beginners will have to gradually build up the number of sessions per week as well as the volume. More experienced runners will perhaps be considering two sessions per day on occasion. For recovery purposes a good weekday programme would be Days 1, 3 and 5 an easy morning run followed by an evening session and Days 2 and 4 a noon session.
In summary the marathon is a hard event to train for and requires resilience, patience determination and a totally positive mind-set.
Mel Edwards. August 2009.
If you are interested in or are planning on running a marathon check out Mel's marathon talks in Aberdeen and Inverness. For further information click here.
If you're not ready for a full marathon click here to find out about Mel's tips on running a half marathon.