Marathon training schedule

Anja Schwerin has forward me an article from an international running magazine which gives practical advice on Long Slow Distance training and Long interval training for a marathon . I have put together a schedule based on the article and we will be commencing long interval training sessions geared to marathon preparation on Sunday evenings at 6:00 pm at Al Barsha Park. Below is a guide to Long Slow Distance training and Long interval training.

Setting your target marathon time

This has to be down to you. You have to be realistic. If you have run a marathon within the last 2 years then it would be perfectly reasonable to aim for a faster time than your last marathon, but no more than 15 minutes faster. If it’s your first marathon then you need to calculate your time based on your 10k or half marathon performance. Here is a rough guide:

Half marathon time = 2 .2 x 10k time

Marathon time = 2.15 x half marathon time.

For example:

The targets above only work if you follow the marathon training schedule.

Long Slow Distance run

This is scheduled for once a week. The pace of the run should be 10% slower than your target marathon pace.

So if you targeting a 3:45:00 marathon then your marathon pace is 3:45:00 / 42.2 = 5:20 min / km.

Your training pace therefore is 5:20 x 1.1 = 5:54 min / km.  Treat the 5:54 as a minimum, that is do not go faster than 5:54 / km.

Some of the LSD sessions are marked as "Progressive" sessions. In these sessions you increase speed progressively to marathon pace over the last 30 minutes of the training session. So you start the session at slow pace and at the end speed up. Possibly the opposite to what you are currently doing.

The schedule shows the distance increasing towards the marathon day, but not always going up. In fact some weeks the LSD is replaced by a 10 k race or half marathon (I have arranged for this to be the DCS half marathon).

It is perfectly possible to stick to the schedule and run with DCS Friday run. Join the group whose training bracket includes your target training pace but run at the correct pace, not up front. If the distance is too short then add a few km at the end. If it is too long then stop short and take a taxi. Or just do the distance set by the DCS. Pace discipline is more important than distance.

Long interval training. Sunday evenings 6:00 pm at Al Barsha Park.

On Tuesday we are doing short intervals at 5k or 10k race pace. This is to condition you for a 10 k race.

To train for a marathon you need to long intervals at half marathon or marathon pace. The schedule starts easy, 3 x 2.5 km and builds up in distance as the marathon approaches, peaking at 5 x 3 km 4 weeks prior to the marathon. It then eases down. It is important to complete a schedule at even pace. Starting fast and slowing down on the last interval is counter productive. The pace for the faster intervals has been calculated as target marathon pace x 0.93.

Rest of your training

Set a target for maximum distance you will do in a week. For a beginner that may be as low as 55Km for experienced runners it may be >100 km. You total distance in a week is given by you target multiplied by the percentage given at the top of the schedule. Deduct from this your LSD and interval distances and you have the target for distance for the rest of your week.