AT WHAT POINT is it too close to marathon day for tempo and interval training to be a benefit for that race?

E.E. Lehman, Jr. via e-mail

THERE ARE two considerations for your question. The first is the time it takes from when you do the workout (the stimulus) until your body fully adapts to that workout (the response). The second consideration is the fatigue generated by the workout and how long it takes your body to recover. Much depends on your individual physiology and how hard you do the tempo run or interval workout. As a rule, to ensure there’s enough time for your body to reap the benefits of the workout and that you have noresidual fatigue, you should not do a hard interval workout within nine days of the marathon. For a tempo run, the minimum time before the marathon would be about seven days.

Pete Pfitzinger

is a two-time Olympic marathoner and physiologist currently living and working in New Zealand.

MOST ATHLETES consider the week of the marathon as a time to taper, with perhaps a “longish” runon Sunday if the race is the following weekend, and shorter runs onward as

On THE Mark

race day approaches. However, many competitive runners desire to preserve their “turnover” (i.e., leg speed) during that race week. About three days before the race they might include, for instance, a session of 6 X 200 meters at a quick but not all-out pace, with nearly complete recovery between each. This ensures quickness without creating an oxygen debt.

Elite runners also may commonly do an 8- to 10-milerunata fairly quick pace (e.g., six-minute pace if they race at a five-minute pace) around Tuesday or Wednesday for a Saturday/ Sunday race. Again, this maintains their leg turnover, and for them this distance and pace are easy enough not to cause exhaustion. Since the rest of the prerace week includes a much reduced quantity of training, these kinds of quickness sessions are mentally stimulating—they bring clearly to mind the anticipated excitement of racing. The feeling of freshness while running quickly isa great mental boost for the upcoming race.

Nonelite but still good-quality runners (those who do long runs, tempo runs, and track or fartlek sessions in their preparation) can include the same kinds of workouts as mentioned above, toning down the pace so they get progressively more fresh while still including some quality work. Marathon racingis little different from mile racing: if speed wins, then never

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January/February 2000

venture too far away from it—simply use it wisely.

Of course, for “back in the pack” runners who are hoping for a fivehour marathon (and whose running includes very few intervals or tempo sessions but mainly overdistance running), it is not a good idea to include the above-mentioned sessions the week of the race. For them, the usual tapering of mileage and attention to energy and fluid repletion remain highest priority.

David Martin

is amember of M&B’s Science Advisory Board and author of the upcoming book, 100 Years of Olympic Marathons.

MY FEELING is that you should stop your speed work three weeks out from the marathon. This gives you plenty of time for the taper needed to recover from your hard training. However, I have always felt that three days before the race about 8 to 10 short (50 yards) strides can help loosen the legs before marathon day. This is an individual thing, so do it only if your legs are feeling well rested. And good luck

on race day!

Gayle Barron

won the 1978 Boston Marathon, is a marathon coach based in Atlanta, and is author of The Beauty of Running.

PLL ASSUME the others can better answer the question from the physiological standpoint, so I’ll answer in terms of psychology. Except for, perhaps, Cosmos N’deti at his peak, all marathoners are beset by doubt as the

marathon approaches. This doubt becomes especially acute in the last two weeks, when you need to pare your training to give your body a chance to make use of the training. Meanwhile, your mind remains everneedy of a good workout to reinforce that your work of the last few months hasn’t dissipated over the last 30 hours. So, to a degree, how close is too close for a workout to be beneficial depends on your psyche. If you have the confidence to taper properly, then common sense will tell you that ahard track session during the last 10 days is going to do more harm than good come the 23-mile mark. (Part of this, it should be noted, is psychological, as you don’t want to start tiring in therace, then think “I knew Ishouldn’t have done those mile repeats!’”’)

But if your mind needs a prerace reminder, a shortrun at marathon goal pace 5 tol10 days before therace should help convince you that you’re ready, without detracting anything from the race-day glycogen tank. Five miles or so seems about right.

Scott Douglas is a former editor of Running Times and this magazine’s “On the Road” columnist.

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January/February 2000

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