Would you like to know if you can run a 3hr.30 min. marathon? One general way to find out about what your marathon speed would be is to run a bunch of 800 meter runs (twice around a standard outdoor track) in an average of 3min.30sec. each, if you think you can run a 3hr. 30 minute marathon.
Between the 800s, jog for the same number of minutes it took you to run your repeats. If it took 3 minutes and 30 seconds then jog an easy recovery pace for 3 minutes and 30 seconds not worrying about how far that takes you. This will give you some of the necessary speed training and a general idea of the amount of speed you have to run a specific time in a marathon, in this case a 3:30 marathon. If it takes you an average of four minutes for the 800 meter runs with four minutes recovery jogs in between then you have the capacity for a four hour marathon.
Of course there are other factors involved in completing the marathon in this time or any other time. You must do regular marathon training, endurance runs, etc. along with these regular workouts or similar types of speedwork. You can find inspiration, motivation and more specific advice in my marathon training guide called, ‘Seven Steps to a Successful Marathon.’
My runner friend begins running his Yasso 800s a couple of months before his goal marathon. The first week he does four. On each subsequent week, he adds one more until he reaches 10. The last workout of Yasso 800s should be completed at least 10 days before your marathon, but 14 to 17 days would probably be better. He also suggests that the rest of the time just do your normal marathon training, paying special attention to weekend long runs. Give yourself plenty of easy runs and maybe a day or two off during the week.
[The following article was written by Adrian Faccioni, the Managing Director of GPSports Systems, a sport performance evaluation company who have developed GPS/heart rate capture technology (www.gpsports.com)]
We can define speed as: The ability to quickly move a limb, or quickly move the body from one point to another. Both of these definitions relate to distance running because one thing the distance runner needs to be able to do is to develop what is know as a speed reserve.
The great thing about speed training for the distance athlete is that it is REALLY EASY to improve an athlete’s raw speed because typically the distance athlete does so little speed work that these underused fibres and nervous pathways lay dormant just waiting for the opportunity to fire up and have you feel like you should get back on the track and running some 100m races!
The key to regaining some of that lost spark is to stimulate the nervous system in a different manner to what it is used to. This can be done in several ways:
1. Pure speed training
I like to take the distance athlete away from their typical environment (running tracks) and put them in a place where speed is conducive (the 100m start at the local track). I then put the athlete through their paces, which might include:
Teaching basic running drills
These drills teach the athlete to pick up their feet faster, work on quicker leg turnover and have then focus on better core stability which is vital for faster running speed.
Drills include high knees, heel to bum flicks, running over small hurdles (only 4-6inches in height).
Acceleration drills
These drills allows the athlete to focus on getting from point A to point B as fast as possible.
Drills include jog in to start line then sprint for 40m-50m.
Walk to start line and sprint for 40-50m
Standing start sprint for 40-50m
Different body positions to sprint (pushup position, laying on ground, etc).
Maximum speed drills (main neural training).
These drills are specifically aimed at improving the neural output to the legs.
Drills include having the athlete run up to a line/cone (about 95%) then between two marks on the track they have to turn their legs over as quickly as they can.
Importantly in these drills the athlete needs to be able to hear and feel a difference and as a coach you should be able to see the difference also.
IMPORTANT
Short speed intervals are not fitness training (maybe for sprinters!!). The athlete should take plenty of time (slow walk recovery) between runs to make sure that each effort is at 100%. It is the regular stimulation of the nervous system (@ 100%) that leads to increased speed capacity.
2. Speed training in endurance sessions.
This can be achieved by having the athlete perform varied speed components during any typical endurance session. One example can be having the athlete perform a dozen 5 second sprints in any one session. These can be at set time intervals or for more flexibility the sprints are performed when the athlete feels ready (as long as they get all sprints in during the session).
A typical mistake I see in this type of training is where the athlete tries to run too far each sprint, leading to a less than a 100% effort which results in increased lactic tolerance (not a bad thing) but doesn’t do much for the speed improvement that they are after.
Once you have stimulated your speed capacity, you then have at your calling “speed gears” allowing you to change pace quickly if required (great in competition to break from a pack, to keep up with the pack, surges, etc)
Increased speed capacity creates two opportunities:
1. To run at current race pace using less energy (more energy left at the end of the race – for surges, fast finishes)
2. To run at a new race pace – therefore improving overall time (time trial type performance).