1. Abbreviate the Lead – In Time
The overwhelming majority of marathon & half marathon prep programs are 14-20 weeks in duration. Anecdotally speaking we’ve found that the majority of marathoners, particularly those who tend to remain fit throughout the year, reach the peak of fitness within the 7th to 9th week window from a program’s inception. Most longer developmental marathon prep programs have athletes primed and ready well before race day and many athletes find themselves stale and overcooked with 4 months ready time or more.
2. Slow Down Recovery Days
If there is one error in training we see here at ZAP more than ANY other, it is the intensity of recovery days being too high. With marathon and half marathon prep requiring higher volume and longer sessions, proper recovery is of the utmost importance. Run your recovery runs EASILY! How easily? As much as 1:50-2:30 per mile slower the your targeted race pace.
3. Broaden Your “Week” to 10-11 Days
Within any given training week, marathoners & half marathoners like to check various boxes of A. Long Run B. Tempo effort C. Interval session D. Hills or fartlek work. Cramming all of these elements into a 7 day week can be quite the task, especially if you are working full time. As a solution try expanding your week into 10-11 days and allowing yourself a day or two of extra relaxed running between any of the tougher sessions. There are challenges with a 10-11 day week as you might have to implement a long run on a Tuesday or Wednesday. If it is feasibly within your schedule, however, we recommend the expanded week highly. You’ll be better recovered and more effective on the harder days leading into your marathon.
4. Take a 3-4 Day Rest/Dip Mid Way Through Marathon Prep
Recovery is not the absence of training but rather part of that training. Marathon and half marathon preparation is tough & fatiguing by nature and one of the best ways to manifest all your great hard work is with a well timed 3-4 day dip in which you take 2 days completely off and 2 days with shorter light easy runs (25-30 min) approximately 5 1/2-6 weeks out from race day.
5. Find a buildup race which you train through and practice “pace”
Being in a race environment at least once prior to your goal half marathon or marathon is a great way to feel the environment of your targeted main event. We recommend 3-4 weeks out from your goal race finding a slightly shorter race (ex. a 15k or 10 mile if prepping for a half marathon and a 20k/half marathon if getting ready for a marathon). Additionally, being that these “one month out” race efforts will more often than not be one in which you train through (not fully rest for) we recommended running your targeted goal pace for the first 2/3 of the race and not really “letting go” and running hard until the final 1/3. As an example if your goal is to run 3 hrs 03 minutes for a marathon (7:00 pace), we recommend running a half marathon4-5 weeks out in which you run 7:00 pace the opening 10 miles and then race the final 5k.
6. The “Final Week 55%-60% Rule” / Avoid the Overtaper
While we’ve found most marathoners tend to overcook their intensity in half marathon / marathon prep, we’ve also observed that most tend to overtaper their final week leading to staleness on race day. During the final week of marathon prep target approximately 55-60% of your highest week’s volume and be sure ti implement a light to moderate session approx 5 days out from your half marathon / marathon (we recommend 3 x 1 mile repeats at 5 sec per mile faster than goal rhythm w 2:30-3:00 between each). Lastly be 100% certain to run a short shake jog the day before the race. If you plan a day off them do so 2 days out, but by running a 20:00-35:00 easy run on the day before your target race you’ll feel refreshed and ready on the big day.