Training Philosophy
My training plans vary considerably based off of your experience, goals, and what distance race you are training for. On this page, you will find the basic training components and the reason they will benefit you. If you are a new runner, we will start with building up weekly mileage and then add in these other components, if appropriate!
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Sample two-weeks from a 50-60mpw marathon plan. This is an advanced plan that contains all the training components.
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Easy Runs.
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Easy runs are active recovery in between more intense workouts. I get more questions about how to pace easy runs than any other type of workout. While I give my athletes a pace range as a guide, I suggest that they focus on effort rather than mile splits. Easy runs should be at a relaxed and conversational pace. During the run, your pace should naturally get faster as you loosen up. If your pace slows dramatically, or if you finish an easy run feeling exhausted, then you are running too fast. Depending on the intensity of your week, the pace of your easy runs may vary. This is why it is so important to focus on effort. If your easy runs are slower one week, it is likely because the intensity of your speed/strength runs are increasing, not because you are losing fitness. See "Rest Days" below to understand why recovery is so important.
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Photo: Brooks Running
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Speed/Strength Intervals.
Photo: Justin Britton
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Speed/strength workouts are aimed at improving your fast-twitch muscles and increasing leg turnover. Fast twitch muscle fibers support short, quick bursts of motion and use energy sources already in your body (like glucose) through a process called anaerobic respiration. These types of workouts are completed in intervals, or short periods of running hard with recovery in between. You can run the speed workouts using the markings on a track or on the roads using a GPS watch. It is best if the recovery in between the intervals is a slow jog and not complete rest. Keeping your legs moving will prevent them from tightening up and ultimately help you feel better in the next interval. You should pace yourself so the intervals stay around the same speed or get a bit faster as they go on. Speed workouts (≤1 mile intervals) are completed at 5K-10K pace. Strength workouts (1-3 mile intervals) are completed just below goal half marathon or marathon race pace depending what you are training for. I’ll typically have my athletes start with a weekly speed workout and progress to a weekly strength workout as they get closer to race day.
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Tempo Runs.
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A tempo run is a sustained effort where one aims for a planned and specific pace. The intensity and duration of a tempo run varies depending on what race you are training for, but always falls between easy pace and goal race pace. For marathon training, I prefer athletes run at least the first half of their tempo at goal race pace so that they practice learning the perceived effort of that pace. This helps the marathon runner execute their goal pace on race day and not go out too hard. If they are feeling good, they can cut down the pace during the second half of the tempo, but to no faster than goal half marathon pace. The pace of the tempo run should be controlled because one wants to ensure that lactate, the by-product of anaerobic respiration, does not accumulate significantly in the blood. Therefore, the goal is to run using aerobic respiration, which helps to increase one’s endurance. If one runs too fast, their body will switch from aerobic respiration to anaerobic respiration, lactic acid will build up, and the goal of the tempo run will be defeated. Over time, the aim is to increase the pace at which one's body switches from aerobic to anaerobic respiration, thus enabling them to run at a hard pace for a longer period of time.
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Long Runs.
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Long runs should start at around the same pace/effort as easy runs. If you are feeling good, you can pick up the pace the second half. If you are feeling tired, maintaining that easy pace is great. Like easy runs, you should finish at the same pace or faster than you started. You want to avoid teaching your body to slow down as the distance goes on. In more advanced marathon training, some long runs, which I call “spicy long runs” (a term coined by my college coach), have components at goal MP or faster. When training for a marathon, long runs are not more important than any other training component. If you are peaking <60mpw, your long run should not exceed 18 miles during marathon training. A 20-mile long run is appropriate for those peaking around 70-80mpw and a 22 mile run for 80+. If your long run compromises too great a percentage of your weekly mileage, you will be overly-fatigued and lose the benefit of the other workouts during the week. While long runs are essential, remember, it is consistent mileage over the course of the week that counts towards marathon fitness, not specifically the length of your long run.
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Rhythm 200s.
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Rhythm 200s are a more unique aspect to my training philosophy. I love how they get one’s legs moving while also promoting recovery. The purpose of rhythm 200s is to shake some of the lactic acid out of the legs by stimulating blood flow to the muscles. They also loosen up the legs for the next workout. On one easy run each week, I suggest my athletes complete their rhythms during the last two miles of their run. Rhythm 200s are an alteration of fast and slow 200m segments. This is the equivalent of 8 fast segments and 8 slower segments. The fast segments are meant to be between 10k and half-marathon pace and the slow segments at easy pace. Rhythms are not meant to feel like a hard workout, just a way of loosening up the legs and getting in some turnover. If they feel hard, then you are going too fast. You can run the rhythms on a track, as 0.12-0.13 segments using GPS, or as 40-60 second pick-ups.
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Rest Days.
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While it is fun to workout, rest is just as important as the training itself. When you run hard, you make small, microscopic tears in your muscle tissue. This damage signals satellite cells from other tissues to come to the disrupted tissue and replicate into muscle protein strands. Through this healing process, the muscle becomes bigger and stronger. Without proper rest, the muscle damage caused by the hard workout won't heal and you could end up injured instead of stronger. Beginner runners should fully rest in between workouts while more advanced runners can complete easy runs and still achieve the necessary benefits. A longer period of rest (7-14 days), called "downtime" is also necessary in between long training segments after the goal race is finished. This ensures that the body is both physically and mentally recovered before going into the next training block.
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