Training to improve your time.

f you follow my stringent guidelines in the September/October 2011 issue of

Marathon & Beyond for running your first marathon, you should complete

your race without any ill effects. By running up to 515 minutes weekly, your marathon should be as pleasant an experience as can be expected from running 26.2 miles. And you will probably be surprised at how fast your time is. After recovering from their postmarathon soreness and fatigue, many first-timers are hooked by the challenge of the marathon, and their next goal is to improve their time. They’ve just made the transition to an intermediate-level marathoner.

The intermediate-level marathon runner

An intermediate-level marathon runner needs to have been running consistently for two to three years, have completed at least one marathon, and be hungry for faster times. The intermediate marathoner will also have successfully completed the bulk of the marathon-conditioning program for beginning marathoners as outlined in my article in the last issue of M&B. You will notice that my running schedules are in minutes, rather than miles, because the key to successful marathon training in your first year or two is how much running time you log, rather than getting carried away with the pace per mile you run in your training efforts.

If you have followed my conditioning schedules for beginners or something resembling those schedules, your aerobic conditioning should be close to its maximum. In other words, your basic fitness is in the bank. But if you want to shave more time off your marathon, you will need to utilize some more-advanced, higher-intensity training techniques. Research shows that after 12 months of long, steady endurance training, most distance runners reach a plateau. This is most likely because they have maximized their maximal oxygen uptake, or the oxygen-processing capability of their muscles, so to improve any further, the runner must do some faster running. Once you have developed your VO, max, the

most efficient way to be a faster runner is by being able to perform at a higher percentage of your VO, max for longer periods of time.

But always remember the importance of maintaining a foundation of long, steady running in your training schedules, as this is the cornerstone to successful marathoning. Research has found that most runners can handle training at race pace for only 5 to 10 percent of their total training time or distance, so the remainder of your marathon training will continue to be steady-paced endurance running.

There is another advantage to maximizing your endurance through long, steady running—the fitter you are, the better you will be able to handle the higher-intensity training needed to improve your marathon time. Regardless of our differing abilities to handle high volumes of running, it’s clear that we need to run some high mileage to prepare us for the rigors of the faster running that is going to follow. Jack Daniels, PhD, in his book Daniels’ Running Formula, says we “need to spend some time subjecting the body to low-intensity stress, mainly to prepare the body for more quality training and also to develop those components of fitness that respond well to low-stress training” (p. 91).

If you handled my beginner’s marathon-conditioning schedules with ease or at least relative comfort, especially those two-plus-hour training efforts, you will not gain any greater improvements from adding more mileage. In my experience as a coach and with my own running, increasing distance running past a certain point is actually counterproductive. If you are able to handle my conditioning schedules but not much more, then just maintain my schedules and substitute the higher-intensity efforts in place of the long midweek run.

If you are finding it difficult to adhere to my conditioning schedules because of fatigue, muscle soreness, or other problems, you have a number of options. They are (1) using periodization in your schedules, (2) reducing the length of some of your training efforts, and (3) cross-training.

Using periodization principles to ensure recovery and adaptation

In my “Marathon Training for Beginners” article, I outlined the principle of periodization and how it can be used to ensure recovery from your training efforts. You should continue to use periodized schedules for this purpose. Here is how it’s done: After increasing your mileage for two weeks, cut back each run by 20 to 30 minutes every third week.

You will bounce back from the “easy” week with renewed energy and will be mentally refreshed from the reduced mileage. And using programmed recovery weeks as outlined here, you will ensure that you are able to adapt properly to the higher-intensity training you’re going to do. Your body is about to enter uncharted territory. High-speed interval training, tempo running, and fartlek put great stress on your muscles, tendons, and connective tissue, so your chances of injury and overtraining increase significantly with these workouts.

Hedging your bets

Another way you can make sure my schedules aren’t too exhausting is to reduce the length of some of the training sessions to your level. Here are some ideas on how to do this.

1. Keep the day 1| (short run) at 30 minutes. 2. Keep the day 4 (short run) at 30 minutes. 3. Reduce the day 7 workout by 20 minutes. 4. Do all of the above.

Cross-training

A third option to ease the burden on your legs of high-impact running is crosstraining. Feel free to substitute the shorter day | and day 4 workouts in my training schedules with cycling, swimming, or the elliptical trainer at your local fitness club. These should not be high-intensity workouts; just cruise at a comfortable pace so that you could talk if necessary, and keep your heart rate in your normal aerobic training zone.

The need for speed

Your new goal is to add some higher-intensity workouts to your training mix so you will cruise at a faster pace through your next marathon. Once you have developed your VO, max to its genetic potential, your next goal should be to be able to cruise at a higher percentage of your VO, max for longer periods of time. This is done by using any of the different varieties of speed work that are available, such as tempo running, anaerobic interval training, and fartlek running.

The science part—how effective is speed training?

Speed work is effective and essential for all marathoners who want to reduce their times. In fact, it is one of the two foundations that the world’s fastest marathoners use to race fast, the other being steady-paced endurance running.

Numerous research papers show that speed training in its various forms is highly effective for improving endurance performance. Lindsay et al. (1996) reported that four weeks of interval training improves 40K time-trial performance in competitive cyclists. These cyclists replaced 15 percent of moderate-intensity endurance training with six sessions of high-intensity interval training over a period of four weeks. Each interval session consisted of six to eight bouts of five minutes at 80 percent of peak VO,, with a one-minute recovery between each. At the end of the training period, the cyclists took off an average of two minutes from their 50-kilometer time trials, an average overall improvement of 3.6 percent.

Running studies also show significant gains from interval training. Acevedo and Goldfarb (1989) had a group of male distance runners increase their training intensity to 90-95 percent of their maximum heart rate for shorter (three-minute) interval distances for eight weeks. These runners brought their 10K times down by an impressive average of 63 seconds.

Acevedo and Goldfarb also found that the speed training resulted in a significant decrease in plasma lactate at 85 to 90 percent of VO, max in their subjects. This is a most desirable outcome, because marathoners who can tolerate high levels of this performance inhibitor through improved buffering capacity and resynthesis can cruise at a higher speed.

In another running study, Smith (1999), from Tasmania, found improvements over 3,000-meter times by 2.8 percent, or 17 seconds, when runners did high-intensity interval training (8 X 2-3 minutes at VO, max running speed, 2:1 work-to-rest ratio) twice weekly for four weeks.

An interesting study by Iaia et al. (2009) showed that decreasing training volume by 66 percent and substituting sprint-type interval training enabled runners to maintain their 10K run performance times. Iaia and colleagues had runners doing 45 kilometers a week reduce their volume to 15 kilometers a week and do sprint training (8-12 X 30-second sprints, 3-5 times/week) for four weeks. At the end of this time, the runners showed no decrease in their 10K times, maintained their VO, max, and had the added benefit of improving their sprint-performance times by 19 to 27 percent.

These studies and many others conclude that adding six to eight high-intensity training sessions over three to four weeks can cause large improvements in performance. Legendary American distance runner Tom Osler, whose running career has spanned five decades, claims that speed training enables him to run 10 to 20 seconds faster per mile in a marathon, which would give him an 11-minute improvement over the marathon.

One of the more interesting adaptations that take place with speed training is the recruitment of a particular type of fast-twitch muscle fiber called the type Ila fiber. These muscle fibers do not appear to be used during slow endurance running and are activated only during fast training. Essen-Gustavsson and Henriksson (1984) of the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden, found that type Ila or “intermediate” muscle fibers could become effective at producing aerobic energy in elite endurance athletes. Like slow-twitch fibers, these fibers (and their type IIb counterparts) actually benefit from an increase in capillary density. It has been estimated that endurance training that recruits fast- and slow-twitch muscle fiber (speed work) can boost intramuscular blood flow by 50 to 200 percent. The 1984 study points out the importance of the endurance athlete training all fiber types in order to maximize sustained muscular energy.

How speed work improves your marathon running

Research shows myriad benefits from doing speed work. It

* improves your cardiovascular system by stressing your heart, lungs, and circulatory system (improves cardiac output, stroke volume, and capillary density),

¢ simulates the stress of race pace and conditions the runner for competition,

* gets your nervous system used to activating your leg muscles at a faster pace so you are comfortable at that pace and can maintain it,

¢ trains you to run faster and accumulate less lactic acid at a given pace,

* recruits more fast-twitch muscle fibers when you are fatigued, thus enabling you to prolong your effort,

* increases the ability of type Ia fast-twitch muscle fibers to use glycolytic enzymes,

¢ enables you to use less oxygen at a given submaximal pace, enabling you to run longer at a faster pace,

¢ makes your running more efficient,

¢ enables you to run the marathon more comfortably,

* increases your muscular strength, and

¢ develops mental toughness.

Tempo running

Tempo running plays an important role in preparing marathoners to sustain their desired marathon pace. It’s really nothing more than practicing your anticipated marathon pace, but over a shorter distance. There are two basic types of tempo running. The first consists of running at a sustained effort between 20 and 30 seconds per mile slower than your current best-average 10K pace, which is close to your marathon pace. If, for example, your current best 10K time is 43:00, or seven minutes per mile, you will do your tempo running at 7:20- to 7:30-per-mile pace. These tempo runs will last from 10 to 20 minutes.

The second type of shorter, faster tempo running is done at close to anaerobic threshold, which is between 75 percent and 88 percent of VO, max, or around 80 to 90 percent of maximal heart rate. This equates roughly to running 10 to 20 seconds slower than your current best 5K pace. These tempo runs, also know as aerobic intervals, range from six minutes to 10 minutes.

Interval training

Interval training is the final sharpening phase that will have your leg speed and neuromuscular coordination nicely honed for marathon day and has been shown to be highly effective for improving marathon performance. Interval training is running at a speed that can be maintained for 10 to 15 minutes, such as in a 5,000-meter race (although there are many interval workouts at a faster pace than this, even as short as 30 seconds). Intervals should be run at 90 to 100 percent of your VO, max and should not last longer than six minutes per repetition—any longer than this and you are in tempo-running territory.

Interval training is best done on the track. It helps to do interval training with acoach or assistant present. This person will time your intervals, offer encouragement, and help you stumble off the track afterward. Go to the track, warm up, do some fast stride-outs over 50 to 100 meters, stretch, and then do a set of intervals over a given distance, with a set recovery between each fast burst. For example, run 5 X 800 meters at 5K race pace with a 400-meter recovery jog between each. Do a cool-down jog of 10 to 15 minutes afterward. Your times for each repeat should be within two to three seconds of each other.

Marathoners should concentrate on longer intervals of 800 meters, 1,200 meters, and one mile, but the occasional foray into shorter sprints is fine to work on improving your neuromuscular coordination and leg speed.

Note: Some runners eat up interval training and handle it easily, while others find it exhausting. Some runners are long on endurance and short on speed, while others are short on endurance and long on speed. This means that not everyone will respond to interval workouts the same way. Likewise, some will easily handle the speed running, while others will struggle and not even be able to achieve these suggested speeds during their interval workouts. You will need to adjust your speed up or down according to how you feel during and after the workout. If it feels too easy, speed up a little; if it feels like you are severely anaerobic, slow down so that you can comfortably handle the number of repetitions.

Fartlek

A less-restricted version of interval training is called fartlek—a Swedish word that translates as “speed play.” Fartlek is an excellent off-track workout that adds a fun element to your training while achieving the same benefits as a trackinterval workout. With fartlek, you run at various speeds over forest trails and

Some suggested interval-training workouts

Suggested Recovery

Interval number of walk or jog

distance repeats between repeats Pace

Mile 2-4 3-lap jog, then 5% faster than 5K race pace.

repeats reduce to 2-lap jog If your best 5K time is 20:00, your average pace is 6:27 minutes per mile, or 97 seconds per lap. Thus, your mile repeats should be 5% faster than this, at about 6:08 minutes per mile or around 92 seconds per lap.

1,200- 2-4 2-lap jog, then 7.5% faster than 5K race pace.

meter reduce to 1-lap jog Using the above example,

repeats your average pace should be 6:00 minutes per mile or around 90 seconds per lap.

800-meter 2-5 2-lap jog, then 10% faster than 5K race pace.

repeats 1-lap jog Using the above example, your average pace should be 5:48 minutes per mile or about 87 seconds per lap.

400-meter 5-10 1-lap jog, then 12.5% faster than 5K race

repeats 200-meter jog pace. Using the above example, your average pace should be 5:38 minutes per mile or around 85 seconds per lap.

200-meter 6-12 1-lap jog, then 15% faster than 5K race pace.

repeats 20-meter jog Using the above example,

parks, making this easy on your legs. Fartlek running can be done anywhere—on cross-country, a road, a trail, or even a treadmill.

Here is how it works: You run hard for a set period of time followed by a recovery jog and then another burst of fast running, followed by recovery jogging, and so forth. Your fartlek workouts are limited only by your imagination. You can tun fast by the time on your stopwatch or simply run fast from one landmark to the next and then jog slowly to the next landmark. Always do a 10- to 15-minute warm-up jog before a fartlek workout and a cool-down jog afterward. Because of their rigorous nature, fartlek sessions should only last about one hour. Remember, they are the equivalent of a track interval session.

your average pace should be 5:30 minutes per mile or around 83 seconds per lap.

Proceed with caution

Speed work will cause great improvements in a short period of time, but unless you’re careful, you can pay the price. It should be approached with extreme caution, as it is very easy to overdo and does not take much to put you over the edge into the overtraining abyss. The two main things to avoid are doing too many speed-work sessions each week and going too fast during these sessions. For these

General guidelines for speed work

Warm up before all speed-work sessions with 15- to 20-minute jog followed by some fast stride-outs over 50 to 100 meters (four to six) and stretching.

Allow several days of rest or short recovery jogs between speed sessions. They take a lot out of you and will probably cause delayedonset muscle soreness, so you will need to allow your muscle tissue to heal and become stronger before you do your next speed session. Never do two high-intensity speed workouts on consecutive days!

Avoid setting a hard and fast, day-by-day training schedule. Allow full recovery before your next speed workout—in healthy runners, this will take from 48 to 72 hours. Your legs should no longer feel tight or sore.

It’s easy to overdo interval training. Do not leave your best performances on the track. You should always finish an interval workout with something in reserve.

Doing speed work with other runners is a great way to push yourself to new limits, but be careful not to compete with the other runners.

Maintain your form while doing your speed work. Concentrate on keeping your arms moving straight through and lifting your legs higher than in your long runs.

Maintain an even rhythm throughout your speed-work session. Walk or jog between your repeats. I am not a believer in complete rest between repeats, although a lot of coaches use this with good success. I recommend that you keep moving, no matter how slowly. Vary your speed-work sessions each week. This is necessary to develop the different effects that interval training offers. Varying your intervals keeps it interesting.

reasons, I program only one speed-work session into the weekly training sessions for intermediate-level marathoners. The sidebar on page 85 offers ground rules to prevent you from getting overtrained, sick, or injured from excessive speed work.

Some golden rules for speed work

You’ll need to be flexible with your speed training. Our bodies do not adapt in a linear fashion in tandem with training schedules, so sticking doggedly to your training schedules can cause problems. If you feel exhausted, sore, or under the weather and are not ready to tackle any of these high-intensity workouts (time trials, interval training), try slow, easy recovery jogs of 30 minutes until you feel better. If this does not work, take two or three days off running. If applied judiciously, this should be all that you will need to bounce back.

The schedules

ITS = interval training (short distance); ITL = interval training (long distance); TRS = tempo running (short 6-10 minutes); TRL = tempo running (long 10-20 minutes); FTLK = fartlek session

Week Dayl Day2 Day3 Day4 Day5 Day6 Day7 Total

1 35 Rest ITL 35 Rest 100 70 240 2 40 Rest TRS 35 Rest 110 75 260 3 30 Rest FTLK 30 Rest 70 50 180 4 45 Rest ITS 40 Rest 120 80 285 5 45 Rest TRL 45 Rest 130 85 305 6 30 Rest FTLK 35 Rest 80 60 205 7 50 Rest ITL 45 Rest 140 90 325 8 50 Rest TRS 45 Rest 150 90 335 9 30 Rest FTLK 40 Rest 90 70 230 10 45 Rest ITS 45 Rest 160 90 340 11 45 Rest TRL 45 Rest 190 90 370 12 30 Rest FTILK 40 Rest 90 75 235 13 30 Rest ITL 40 Rest 90 75 235 14 40 Rest TRS 30 Rest 50 30 150 15 30 Rest FTLK 30 Rest 40 30 130 16 20 Rest 30 Rest Rest Marathon

Note: Time for the midweek interval/tempo/fartlek workouts has not been added into the weekly running totals. These workouts will be approximately 60 minutes, including warm-up and cool-down.

Estimating/predicting your marathon time from current best 10K times

Now that you have completed your conditioning and speed-work training and are ready to test yourself again in a marathon, you will need a solid idea of what pace you can maintain to squeeze the best time out of yourself in your marathon. It’s a great advantage to have some idea of how fast you expect to run your marathon, so you can plan your pacing based on this estimate. This is where predicting your finishing time as accurately as possible will prove invaluable. A number of formulas exist that can be used to predict marathon times based on your current best 5K, 10K, and half-marathon times. We’re going to use a simple formula based on our 10K times.

The key to accurately predicting your marathon time is to use accurate current best 10K race times. The 10K distance has proven to be a reliable racing distance to use for estimating marathon performance—there is a solid relationship between the two distances. Here is how you do the calculation: In the period of two months to one month before your marathon, run two or three 10Ks. This may not be the hardship it sounds like because hard 10K races are excellent simulations for the marathon without the accompanying damage. Pick flat courses and cool days, if possible. Your goal is to find good, consistent 10K times close to each other. Your times should be the best you could run on those days and should be within 20 seconds of each other. Now average your 10K race times and then multiply your average by 4.7.

Problems with prediction formulas for the marathon Using prediction formulas is more of an art than a science. As you can imagine, actual marathon results