Nov 18, 2024
Training Tips by Runzy Director of Coaching Joe McConkey
Get Fast Last
For amateur marathoners top-end speed and even 5K speed is often deemed non-critical. For elites, however, this system is always right around the corner. With two or three speed-focused workouts during marathon training, an elite marathoner can sense their top-end speed and 5K speed are not too far away. They may choose not to fully develop this speed, as the marathon-specific work takes priority, but by having these speeds 'close by' their marathon-paced efforts are that much more efficient.
For marathoners looking to have all systems available during marathon training, taking 3-6 months away from marathon training to develop speed might be the best first step. For this focused speed-development training cycle, however, it is important to make sure you first re-develop your baseline endurance, lactate threshold, and athleticism. This means gradually increasing your volume with minimal intensity (as you normally do), then working in long intervals and tempo efforts (your ‘bread and butter’), and all the while building your explosiveness through plyometric, drills, hills, and strides (if these are ‘foreign’ to you, maybe consider a dedicated training cycle just for these). Actual speed development, with focused short interval work and speed endurance time-trials, will reap the most rewards only when these complimentary systems have been fully developed.
This is a concept proved time and again over the last 80 years, from the Lydiard approach to the most recent studies in training theory (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9299127). Until we are beyond human (how long until we reach Singularity?), ensure you are not going through unnecessary trial-and-error only to find the solution is the same as it always has been - 1) run slow and long 2) run faster but with oxygen 3) develop strength and agility 4) develop speed.
