Amsterdam Marathon Build: 12 Weeks Out
*For anyone reading, this has been posted by me, Pete; not Holly, who in contrast is a quite excellent runner.*
Everything I’ve just logged, I’ve deleted. It didn’t read like something that I would find interesting and I don’t want to put the same old monotonous crap out there into the ether. In hindsight, Marathon training isn’t particularly exciting but I would take monotony over injury any day of the week, so perhaps I should have kept it in.
As a summary, all is going well. The volume is increasing. The past three weeks have all seen 60+ miles. The threshold sessions have been tough. Much tougher than 5k training, and in this heat, it doesn’t get any easier.
I thought instead of reeling off the usual training anecdotes, I’d write up a list of things that I’ve learned since making the decision to run a sub 3 hour marathon as a 3:36 marathoner just 14 months back, to now, training for 2:4X:XX.
These aren’t the usual, ‘run your easy runs easy’, ‘do strides’ tips that anyone who is half interested in training to go under 3 will be aware of with very little digging. These are the things that I wasn’t aware of that had a big impact on my progression to chasing a sub 2:50 marathon.
1. Improve your cadence. Probably the most significant change I made to my running form. I’d go as far as to say it shocked me how much everything improved once I’d nailed my turnover. Less ground contact time means absorbing less impact forces, which has a beneficial impact on running economy and risk for injury. If your average cadence is under 170spm, set your watches metronome 5 points higher than your current cadence and aim to stay with it without increasing your HR. This takes practice but is worth the time investment.
2. Don’t push the volume. If you’re shooting for a sub 3, you don’t need to train over 50 miles per week. You really don’t. And if you do, it could potentially impact your ability to recover or perform your sessions to the best of your ability.
3. Be realistic about what you can actually achieve. You won’t, because you want to go under 3 even though you’re a 3:20-3:30 runner. That’s fine. You’ll simply learn to respect the distance the hard way, like I did. Holding 6:50 a mile for 26.2 miles is no joke. So let’s talk about training according to where your fitness actually is.
A lot of people will base their training paces off the marathon time they wish to hit, using a tool such as the Jack Daniels Vdot calculator, but understand this; if you’re a 3:30 marathoner training off paces prescribed for a 2:59:59, you could be setting yourself up for injury. This is exactly what happened to me. Psychologically, I had it, but my body wasn’t ready. I performed a treadmill session which I don’t recall exactly, but I was required to run at Half Marathon pace and Marathon Pace for longer durations over 3 sets. The final set was 20 mins at HMP which was just too fast for where my fitness was at that time. I could do it, and I did do it, but my hamstring pinged two minutes from the end. If your body perceives you to be performing at an effort which it isn’t accustomed to, or, knows it cannot sustain, it will tell you. And if you choose to ignore it, it’ll take more extreme methods to stop you. My suggestion to anyone who wants to run a faster marathon is to run to heart rate. This will let you know the kind of shape you’re in and dictate what you should realistically aim for. A lab test is the most accurate way to establish your training zones, but it costs. The alternative would be to do a flat park run as hard as you can, take that number and plug it into Jack Daniels Vdot calculator and it will give you your paces for easy, threshold, VO2 and predicted times for all distances. If it tells you you’re in 3:20 shape, bite the bullet and train for 3:15, hell, go for 3:10. Accept that it might take a marathon or two before you reach the elusive sub 3.
4. Learn how to race (1)
You might have read the last 3 points and thought, ‘yeah, I know all of this”, but a lot of athletes going for sub 3 will come apart on the day if they haven’t learned the intricacies of racing.
Are you going with the sub 3 pacer? I tried to in Porto last November, until he dropped me. How did that happen? Well, the pace required for a sub 3 is 4:15-4:16 per k. The pacer for my first attempt took the group out at <4:10 per k. That’s a 2:55 marathon and, if you’re not in 2:55 shape, you can wave bye bye’s somewhere between 6 and 19 miles. Don’t be the fool who thinks they can hang because you ‘feel good’ in the first few miles.
So be prepared to pace yourself. In fact, just assume you’re running alone, and if the pacer does nail it, you got lucky. Don’t be afraid to back off if the pace is too fast.
Enter a couple of shorter races prior to your marathon. Something like a half marathon followed by a 20 miler 2-3 weeks out. This will be a great opportunity to practice race strategy, fuelling and drinking…
5. Learn how to race (2)
Nail your hydration. Fuelling is easy. Drinking could cause you to waterboard yourself if you’re not used to drinking whilst running at marathon pace. If the race is handing out bottles, empty around a third onto the street (to prevent aforementioned waterboarding) then take sporadic sips until you’re satisfied- don’t gulp and don’t feel rushed to chuck your bottle. Cups are a pain, and if they’re passing out cups, you’re going to lose half of the fluid just from the pick up, so get whatever is left down and try not to hyperventilate.
So there you go. Some of what I’ve had to learn the hard way. I’ve got plenty more to learn as I head into this next race but whatever I do discover, good or bad, I’ll post up here.