DAY 1 TIP:

View the marathon as the Mount Everest of running. It’s a peak that every runner dreams of scaling at least once. You too can stand at the top, but not without a long and well-planned climb.

DAY 15 THOUGHT: In Defense of Distance

The two writers are well-meaning supporters of the sport. So I won’t mention them by name to spare them any embarrassment. I’ll just say that they both ride the wave of conservatism now sweeping the sport. It tugs runners down toward safe minimums in length and frequency of runs.

The first writer referred to the foremost authority on stress: “Hans Selye tells us that one has only so much reserve, and when one goes to the well too often, the reserve is gone—permanently.” This writer then disparaged the efforts of hard-training marathoners.

The second writer referred to the foremost authority on running physiology by saying, “David Costill has research to prove that beyond 50 miles a week you lose anaerobic strength. In effect, you decrease your maximum speed.” This writer boasted of his own 30-mile-a-week training.

They tell us to run less distance, run less often, and don’t run many—if any—marathons. They may be right in what they say, but wrong in what this implies: runners should never push their limits, never take chances, never risk making mistakes.

At certain times, I’ve gone to all the extremes—including the distance of long runs and total weekly mileage. I’ve paid for these excesses but never regretted them. They were all part of the adventure. The highs made the running worth doing and the lows tolerable.

I haven’t forgotten where I came from. That’s why I’m slow to criticize any runner who tries to go great distances.

DAY 4 TIP:

Schedule the three elements common to all effective programs: long runs, fast runs, and easy days. Only the amount of each ingredient and the pace of each run differ from runner to runner, and program to program.

DAY 16 THOUGHT: Trash Burners

A disparaging term sometimes applied to long runs is “garbage miles.” Sure they are—in the best possible sense. They burn off unwanted weight and fat.

One of my earliest articles dealt with Peter Snell, Olympic triple gold medalist in the 1960s who ran then-unheard-of mileage for a miler. He trained more than most marathoners of his era. “One reason this worked so well for him might have been that he was heavy,” I wrote. “He gained weight easily if he wasn’t training a lot. His 100-mile weeks gave him his raw-boned look.”

Mike Tymn, a National Masters News columnist and top runner himself, called one of his workouts a “calorie burner.” It was extra long and extra slow. Tymn wrote, “For those of us who like our ice cream and chocolate chip cookies, and find it increasingly difficult to shed excess weight, the CB serves as a purpose beyond training for a race.”

Long runs are fat burners in ways you can see in a mirror and on the scales. They also teach you to burn fat in ways you can feel.

Fat isn’t all bad. The stored fat in the body is a fuel. (But lest you think more is better, realize that a pound or so would fuel a marathon.)

In shorter runs and early in the long ones, you burn mostly carbohydrate-based fuels. But the body gradually switches to burning fat as the distance increases. One of the greatest benefits of long runs is training your fat-burning mechanism to kick in efficiently. This only happens with hours of running.

DAY 8 TIP:

Never forget that racing—especially at marathon length—is uncomfortable. You can’t improve without sometimes venturing into discomfort. But these occasional ventures must be separated by returns to your comfort zone.

DAY 20 THOUGHT: Long May They Run

Reviews are mixed for long runs. Some runners love them, some hate them, but they all take them.

Derek Clayton, who set two world marathon records in the 1960s, says bluntly, “I hated the Saturday 24-miler because it was so tough, especially on top of a hard week. But it was invaluable preparation for a fast marathon, and in my opinion still is.”

Kathrine Switzer, an early New York City Marathon winner, names the long Sunday run as her favorite. “It always was, and still is,” she says. “The race is first about being able to cover the distance, no matter what. The long run always gave me physical and mental strength. Later in life, this translated to always being able to last it out in other circumstances.”

We can loosely define the “long run” as one at least twice the length of any other. It’s a weekend ritual for most runners and the centerpiece of marathon training.

I asked about this practice when questioning dozens of athletes for the book Road Racers & Their Training. Since this run is the longest and most critical for marathoners, I focus now on how far the 10 of them ran.

The women ran between 2:29:27 and 2:38:19 (which was a world record when Jacqueline Hansen ran it in 1975). The men ran 2:12:26 down to 2:08:34 (Derek Clayton’s long-standing world record). The one common element in their otherwise widely varying training—a regular long run averaging at least as much time as their marathon would require.

DAY 17 TIP:

Aim to run at least two-thirds of the marathon distance (at least 17 miles) before raceday. Three-fourths (20 miles) or more is an even better goal, since each extra mile beyond the minimum adds assurance of finishing.

DAY 21 THOUGHT: Long-Run Solutions

Ten top runners told me exactly how far their longest run took them in peak training, three to six weeks before their best race. They averaged 23 miles, and all ran at least 20 miles.

Kenny Moore reached 30 miles shortly before his fourth-place finish at the Munich Olympics, and Ron Hill went 28 miles before becoming the second runner ever to break 2:10. But from this group, only these two men exceeded marathon distance in training.

Only a handful of these runners noted their pace, and they all trained well below race tempo. Derek Clayton, a renowned pace pusher, trained long at about 5:50 per mile but raced a minute faster. Moore’s 30-miler passed at 6:05 pace, while he ran 5:00-flat miles in marathons. This spread is common among the marathoners I surveyed.

Most of them either ran their miles without recording the time, or ran for a time period without listing the distance. Time runners Nancy Ditz and Jacqueline Gareau went 2½ hours on their longest runs, which was exactly how long their best marathons lasted.

Getting used to lasting the full time of the race might be the most important factor in going long. Pete Pfitzinger trained for marathon-like time periods on 22-mile runs. “The long run over hills, starting moderately [6:10 pace in his case] and finishing hard [5:30 miles] builds mental and physical toughness for the marathon,” says Pfitzinger. “These runs enabled me to run the second half of the marathon within one minute of the first half and to finish strong.” Pfitzinger twice finished strongly enough to lead the American marathoners at the Olympics.

DAY 41 TIP:

In your speedwork, try to average at least one minute per mile faster than your long-run and easy-day pace. If the slower running averages eight minutes per mile, for instance, speed up to seven minutes or faster.

DAY 18 THOUGHT: Long Enough

When my maximum long runs of a half-marathon revealed themselves as inadequate marathon training, the next question became: What’s long enough?

I certainly wouldn’t go to Jeff Galloway lengths. I think the world of Jeff and applaud him for attracting legions of followers to his marathon program. But I’m not prepared to go to the great lengths that they are.

“You will hit the wall at exactly the length of your longest run,” he says. “So you need to work up to 26 miles in training.” Jeff adds important qualifiers that often go unheard or unheeded: Hold down the pace, and take regular walking breaks. Using these tricks in training eases the effort and speeds the recovery.

The easiest solution would be to follow Jeff Galloway and train up to full marathon distance. But I balk at that for reasons both personal and philosophical. The first reason is pure laziness. Only the hoopla of the race can move me to run anywhere near 26 miles. The second reason rationalizes the first. Training all of it would rob the marathon of its mystery. I like to leave the late miles as questions to answer only on the big day.

So how much training is enough? If half-marathon runs are too short, and full marathons seem too long, simply split the difference. Run at least three-fourths of a marathon in practice. Then trust the raceday magic to take care of the last quarter.

DAY 29 TIP:

Simulate the marathon distance in long runs, but at a slower pace. Mimic racing pace in your fast runs, but only at a shorter distance. Combine full distance at full pace only when it counts: in the race itself.

DAY 25 THOUGHT: Running Out of Time

Make no mistake about how I view Tom Derderian. Before questioning a few paragraphs he wrote, let me praise all he has done.

His Boston Marathon history book is one of the biggest (at 664 pages) and best ever written on running. His columns in New England Runner magazine combine bite with humor. It’s hard to debate someone who has done so much, so well. But I can’t let a column of his pass without a rebuttal.

“Call me an elitist if you like,” Tom wrote, “but I settle in with the old school of marathon officials. Four hours after the race started, the old officials clicked off their watches and went home.”

Tom would be more lenient, but only slightly: “I’d let the chronometers and computers go until twice the winning time has passed, then stop. Now we are up to 4:14 to 4:20 in elite marathons, and five hours in local marathons.”

He claimed, “If a competitor can’t finish in less than that time, officials rule the attempt as a nonfinish of the race. He or she is not a competitor and did not race the marathon. What you might call it is a 26.2-mile hike.”

True, officials used to quit timing after four hours or so. This was because few runners finished slower. True, a runner who takes more than twice as long as the leader to finish isn’t racing. “Surviving” is a better word.

But Tom’s proposal is too radical. It would penalize the same people who are making the marathon grow into what it is today.

DAY 31 TIP:

Between long runs, take some that are about half the distance of the latest long session. If you’ve just run 20 miles, for instance, do 10 this time—but at your projected marathon pace or slightly faster.

DAY 27 THOUGHT: Today’s Marathoners

Their purple T-shirts with spotted owl artwork identified who they were and what they’d just done. Ten of them had run the Avenue of the Giants Marathon that day, and were now refueling and celebrating at a restaurant in Myers Flat, California.

They didn’t know a diner at another table, but his purple shirt told them they spoke the same language. A woman of about 60 went over and introduced herself as Millie. “We’re all from Portland,” said Millie. “We like to travel to scenic marathons together—Crater Lake, Victoria, and now Avenue.” She asked about future possibilities.

Here they’d just finished one marathon and were already planning the next. The time-honored Frank Shorter rule—which states that “you can’t think of running another until you forget how bad the last one felt”—didn’t cover them. They felt fine because they hadn’t hurried. Their marathon wasn’t a race but a long, slow run-hike. They’d be ready to take another like it in a few weeks.

If you haven’t run this distance for a while, or haven’t drifted back through the ranks, you may not have noticed how much marathoning has changed. It isn’t the sport it used to be.

It’s really two sports now. One side races for fast times and high places, while the other runs—and walks—to finish. The first sport is shrinking. The second has never been bigger or healthier.

DAY 39 TIP:

Benefit from a few fast runs. Faster training makes you a faster runner at all distances, including the marathon. A 10-second improvement per mile translates to almost 4½ minutes for a marathoner.

DAY 32 THOUGHT: Fairly Fast Marathons

Many of my faithful readers have read my spiels about setting inflated PRs on courses with slope and wind assistance. The next logical question is, “What are the fastest unaided marathon courses?”

Most of the memorable American times have been run downhill, with help from the wind, or both. Courses that USATF record keepers call aided account for the eight fastest men’s marathon and five of the top eight women’s times. Most of those were run at Boston.

Others receiving too much help from gravity: California International at Sacramento, Grandma’s, St. George, and Las Vegas. Still others are flat enough but can catch favorable breezes because of their point-to-point design. New York City falls into this gray zone of maybe aided, maybe not.

Fifty U.S. men have run 2:12 or better, and an equal number of women have gone 2:35 or faster. Of these 100 runners, 38 ran their times on just three aided courses—Boston, Cal International, and Grandma’s.

So what are the best times by Americans on fully legal U.S. courses? The women’s answer is easy. The fastest and most legit are the same—Joan Samuelson’s 2:21:21 at Chicago in 1985. For men, Jerry Lawson’s 2:09:35 at Chicago 1997 ranks ninth on the all-time, all-conditions list.

The list of elite 100 American marathoners also favors Twin Cities. The Minnesota race contributes 11 marks to lead all events that get no excessive aid from slope or wind.

DAY 43 TIP:

Plan to enter some 5K, 8K, or 10K races on weekends between long runs. The best place to build speed is in these short races. But don’t take them so seriously that they detract from the marathon training.

DAY 34 THOUGHT: The American Way

A reader of my magazine column asked what I thought of Colman McCarthy’s piece in the Washington Post, titled “American Marathoners Running on Empty.”

Not much. Oh, McCarthy is a fine writer. His prose flows so smoothly that his arguments sound convincing—if you don’t look too closely at the facts. McCarthy points out, rightly, that no American would come within miles of the 1995 New York City Marathon winner. None did. The first U.S. man trailed by 11 minutes, the top native woman by more than 20.

The Post writer then asks, “How have U.S. runners become so run-of-the-mill?” Then he answers his own question. “Start with the obvious. The American diet of sugary, salty, and gunk-and-junk foods might as well be a weighted saddle bag. Fast foods don’t fuel fast times. . . . World-class Kenyan marathoners train on world-class foods.”

McCarthy’s “second reason U.S. marathoners can’t keep pace with Latin Americans and Africans is the American belief that we are all but constitutionally guaranteed pain-free living. Marathons hurt. No pill yet has been marketed to get people through, around, over, or under The Wall.” He concludes that the “era of Bill Rodgers, who won four New Yorks and three Bostons from 1976 to 1980, is gone.”

Maybe no one from the United States will ever win as much as Rodgers did in the 1970s. But recall that Alberto Salazar and Joan Samuelson were almost as dominant in the 1980s, and that as recently as 1994 Bob Kempainen ran faster than any American—ever.

DAY 59 TIP:

View bad-weather training days as opportunities rather than penalties. They give you the chance to test your clothing, shoes, pacing, and toughness under the most trying conditions.

DAY 35 THOUGHT: Americans at Their Best

McCarthy placed much of the blame for our lack of world-class marathoners on slovenly eating and training habits. American marathoners of all abilities should take offense with this blanket indictment of us as work-avoiding junk swillers. I’ve sat down to eat with hundreds of U.S. runners. As a group, they watch their diets closely—certainly eating much better than Bill Rodgers and most other marathoners did 20 years ago.

McCarthy says Americans seek ease. Then explain why, by a more important standard than international victories and record times, this country is unchallenged as the world leader. The United States has far more marathoners per capita than any other country. More than three times as many runners from here go the distance now than ran it 20 years ago.

So what happened to the top Americans at New York City in 1995, which the Post columnist used as his example of the decline in national talent? The best runners weren’t there because they were training for the Olympic Trials three months later, as they should have been. Even NYC Marathon director Allan Steinfeld said, “That [opportunity to compete in the Trials] is not something you turn down. Running for your country is the best that you can do.”

A smart runner knows not to run too many marathons and knows how to wait for the ones that count the most. By that standard, American long-distance runners are smarter—if not faster—than they used to be.

DAY 49 TIP:

Whenever you run a short race or speed workout, warm up for it with at least an easy mile and preferably some “strides”—short runs at the pace at which you intend to train or compete. Cool down with another easy mile or so.

DAY 37 THOUGHT: Miles of Trials

Oldtimers’ tricks that I would like to have passed along to newer runners during one marathon—Napa Valley:

• Dress down. Napa’s cloudy, calm, cool day was perfect for a marathon. It was shorts-and-singlets weather. Yet I saw tights and long-sleeved shirts, even jackets and gloves. These runners hadn’t yet learned that clothing feeling comfortable at the starting line will quickly become too warm.
• Test shoes. At Napa, many runners wore shoes that appeared to be fresh out of the box, and some acquired bloodstains as the miles piled up. No one had told their wearers to use no shoe in the marathon that hadn’t passed the tests of training.
• Start cold. I watched new runners jog the mile from their parked cars to the start, while the vets walked slowly—and would have hitched rides if possible. Know that warm-up runs waste valuable steps and lead to starting too fast.
• Drink early. I heard runners say while bypassing the first aid station, two miles along, “I’m not thirsty yet.” Of course not, but that’s what runners must learn: Drink to delay dehydration later on, not to satisfy thirst now.

This is the second in an exclusive series of articles by Johnny J. (The Younger) Kelley, who will share his marathon memories with M&B readers. Look for the next “chapter” in a future issue.—Editor

“HOLLOWAY IS good!” Mal says. He punches “good” as he always does words calculated to inspire awe or fear in his charges. Mal is Mr. Malcolm Graham Greenaway, my Bulkeley (High School for Boys) track and cross-country coach in New London, Connecticut. He is a learned little man of dazzling histrionic skills. Under his riveting gaze, I believe Mal resents his present role as much as I do mine.

A short year ago Mal drove my pal George Terry from one winning schoolboy race to another, culminating in the New England championships. George is a coach’s dream. Not that he isn’t as complex inside as any one of us, but he simply and purely lives to run. George runs as if there were no tomorrow. Sometimes I think he has found in running a clean resolution to ordinary life’s less solvable problems.

“Ah, that Georgie,” Mal will say wistfully.

George’s graduation last June has left Mal with me. Now, George has asked me to go with him into the 1949 Boston Marathon. And Mal sees it as his duty to keep me from such folly. The Marathon, as it happens, falls one day before Bulkeley’s opening track meet against our across-the-river rival, Robert E. Fitch High of Groton. Holloway is Fitch’s star miler.

“Holloway says he’ll go undefeated,” Mal says.

“Uh-huh. I know,” I say.

“You’d have to be at your best to beat him, Johnny, you know that.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Look straight at me, Johnny! Get those eyes off the ground!” Mal pauses dramatically. “But you can beat him, Johnny, do you understand?”