training help

[TODD KELLY]

Hello all just was wondering if you guys can tell me what my weeks should look like for the next 6 weeks before St George.  I had a 60 mile week last week and wanted to know if i should increase that every week or stay about where I am at on miles.  Also should I be doing any explosive sprints or Yasso 800's or something more.  Please let me know what you experts do i really want to go in St George feeling like I can make the 3:15 Boston Qualification.   Thanks Very much for all your help.  Todd

[Michelle Lowry]

Hey Todd,

I just skimmed your blog, and it appears you did 59 last week, 45 the week before, and otherwise significantly lower mileage from early june until now, with a 59 mile week in early June.  Based off that, I wouldn't keep increasing miles, but keep it at 60 if you body is handling the mileage well.  I am not sure what you are doing for speed, I didn't see any but I didn't have time to read alot of your entries.  I would focus on tempo runs instead of Yasso's or explosive sprints.  Strides (150 meters or so at mile pace) can be added to easy days, but I'd do one shorter tempo (start at 3 miles if you haven't done much in the way of tempos yet) and one shorter (start at 6 miles if you haven't done any, then add on) per week.  Even one tempo a week is better than all base miles.  You will benefit by running some road races in place of some tempos, anything from 5k to half marathon will help you.  There are lots of threads with great advice from the other runners on this discussion forum that discuss the principles of marathon training.  Best of luck in qualifying for Boston.

[Sasha Pachev]

At this point mileage base should be priority number one above everything else. Your target race pace is 7:26, and note that it is St. George. You just ran 20 at a little over 7:30 per mile. I assume you did not have the elevation drop of St. George over the course of 20 miles. Also, I assume you did it somewhere near where you live, which would mean at least 4200 feet of elevation at any point. St. George drops you to as low as 2500 at the end, so you have a whole lot more oxygen. So we know you have enough speed to make it to 20. The question is if you'll have enough fuel to go past that, and, alternatively, if your fuel economy is where it needs to be so that a) when you get to 20 you will have some fuel left, and b) when there is not a whole lot of fuel left you can make what you have last. Fuel issues are fixed by maintaining high mileage first of all, and then adding some measure of marathon race pace running.

So I would make sure you do not run less than 10 a day unless you feel something is wrong. When you do, see if you can get around it by running slower before you cut the distance. In your long runs I would focus on running the last 5 miles hard. So maybe start at 8:00 and work your way up to 7:00 in the last couple of miles. Mid-week if you feel like running 7:00-7:30 pace mid run, do it, if not do not worry about it.

Yasso 800s tell you if you have enough 5 K speed to run your target time. They do not get you ready for the marathon. In some exceptional cases of high aerobic development they could possibly help push the 5 K speed limit upwards which would open up a gateway for improving marathon race pace. But for a runner targeting the marathon who has not run at least 70 miles a week for at least 3 years Yasso 800s and any other type of 5 K specific training is a waste of time. I would argue that the above is perhaps not limited to just the marathon runner. A 5 K specialist would get a whole lot more out of his 800 meter repeats after 3 years of solid aerobic base.

[Jon Allen]

Todd- got your message.  I agree with Michelle and Sasha- just do as many base miles as you can, and throw in some tempos of 3-8 miles if you want some speedwork.  I wouldn't really do many Yasso's 800's or anything like that- base miles and long speedwork will help you the most.

[TODD KELLY]

Thanks for the input guys it really helps out.  Todd