Marathon Training: Speed Workouts for Improved Performance

Prioritizing speed workouts and interval training helped reduce marathon time from 3:44 to 3:00.

### Marathon Training: Speed Workout for Improved Performance
* 🏃 Prioritizing speed workouts has helped reduce marathon time from **3:44** to **3:00:10**.
* 🔥 The key workout includes **1K efforts at 3:45 pace** followed by **200m at 3:20 pace**, repeated **8 times**.
* 🎯 Target paces are set relative to **10K and 5K race paces**, aiming for **sub-3 hour marathon**.
* 🧠 Mental toughness is crucial, with the **first rep often the hardest** but each rep feeling like a **fresh start**.
* 🎯 "I try and focus on the **goal pace of my watch** and not really worry about anything else."
* 🔄 The workout is adaptable to individual paces and race goals, making it **accessible for various runners**.
* 💪 Visualization of race finish line during 200m reps helps **push through fatigue**.
* 🌟 The session is part of a varied training plan, balancing **speed, endurance, and recovery**.

hey guys, I'm going to tell you the secret of how I got my marathon time down from 3 hours 44 minutes to 3 hours and 10 seconds. The secret is, well, there is no secret. I simply started prioritizing my speed workouts, which is something I slightly used to neglect because they can feel pretty intimidating. Speed workouts have played a huge part in improving my power and endurance, which has helped bring my marathon time down as well as my 10K. But remember, speed is relative, so it doesn't have to mean sprinting. The workout I'll be going through today is an interval session that I've been able to adapt as my running goals progressed, which means that you can too. So what are we waiting for? Let's do this, right? So we're going to kick things off with a 3K easy jog, conversational pace, and then towards the end of the warm-up, to spice things up a bit, we're going to do four-time 10-second bursts, which will inject some pace into the legs.

before I start the main session, so the main session consists of 1K efforts at 3:45 pace, straight into 200m at 3:20 minute per km pace, and then I've got 90 seconds recovery. So I know I need to dig really deep in those 200m efforts. I'm going to repeat that eight times, and then I've got a 1.5K cool down. So the main focus of this workout is to really control your pace for those 1K efforts and make sure you've held something back at the end for those 200m efforts at the end of each rep. Okay, so as we're coming to the end of this 3K warmup, I'm going to start doing my four 10-second fast bursts. Including these short bursts to a speed workout warm-up will get your muscles ready for those harder efforts to come, as well as increasing your heart rate and blood flow to prepare your body for those higher intensity efforts. Feels good to put in a hard effort and it's only 10 seconds. You don't actually get

tired in that time just means that you're feeling that pace of what it's going to feel like during the intervals. Okay, well, I'm definitely warm. So, for context, my target pace for my next marathon is going to be a 4:45-minute per kilometer. So, for the 1K reps, I'm going to go for about 30 seconds faster than this, which is about my 10K pace. And then for those 200 M reps, it's going to be a minute faster than this, which is around, well, faster than my 5K pace, right? So, we're going into 1K reps followed by 200 M efforts. Let's go. Right, all I can hear in my head is Andy telling me not to go too fast at the start, which I'm already doing 'cause I'm going at 3:35. Whoops, but I've got eight reps to go, so it's going to be all about consistency, right? I'm at the first K, do at 3:45-minute per kilometer. Find it really hard settling into that pace for the first rep, so I

actually often find the first rep one of the hardest ones so each one of these 1ks is going to feel tough, but you want to make sure they stay controlled and also leave a bit less in the tank for that 200 m f at the end. The 200 M reps are short and sharp, and I'll use the first couple of reps to get a feel for my Pace. My Target Pace for these efforts is 32 minute km, which means I'm pushing myself but I'm not running at my Max, so I'm avoiding burning out. That was actually so tough, interval one done. I think I'm already starting to get in my own head and start doubting I can do another eight of these, well, seven actually, that sounds so much better. But I do really like interval sessions because you know you're going to do a hard effort and then you get to rest before you go again, but oh my goodness, in those reps it feels like you're dying. Okay, now I've got the first rep out the way, I've got a

feel for that pace so I just need to try and maintain that for the rest of them now. Right, let's go into rep two. I'm using this workout as part of my preparation for the Berlin Marathon where I'll be trying to run sub three hours. I've been trying to break that 3-hour barrier in Marathon for quite a long time now. So my previous PB was London Marathon last year where I got 3 hours and 10 seconds. Even though I'd got a PB and I was so close to my sub three hours, it just left me just a little bit frustrated but even more motivated to go and break it next time. So that's what's motivating me to work hard, to put in those effort in the speed sessions, and to make sure that I don't miss out on that sub three hours next time in Berlin. It's actually amazing. I try and focus on the goal pace of my watch and not really worry about anything else. So I don't know what my overall paces or anything.

like that. I just once I've tried to figure out that pace. I try and go off field stick at that, and then I'll find out what pace to went at the end. What's really good about this workout is that it is adaptable, so you don't have to be doing my times or Andy's times or Sarah's times or whoever other the presenters. Try and use this session to do your five and 10K times and just adapt them to what you would normally do in those 200m efforts. Just try and give it all, all that you've got. Oh my God, it's time to go already. Ah, bye, take deep. Oh no, oops. I think those 200m efforts are just try to look at your watch for those. It's literally just giving it all you've got. I think what I always do and struggle with is I like second watch too much. So what I mean by that is that I'll kind of look at my time and think, oh, I did that one in 38 seconds. Oh no, I did

that 140 it's literally 2 seconds difference like you've got that range so say you're aiming for your 345 minute kmers. If you're going at 340 or 350, don't worry. Try and stick as close that range as you can, but you're never going to get exactly on every time. During each of those 200 M reps, I was visualizing myself at Bellin Marathon running towards the Finish Line. This workout is a great way of training your body to run on tied legs and to really dig deep when the end is inside. [Music] I do always like to break down my workouts into two halves, so when I get over halfway, I feel like that's a massive win for me, but I also find the on straight after hard halfway really hard. So important to have these recovery breaks so that you allow your body to bring your heart rate down and really control your breathing before you go again. Like I always want to stand still in the spot, but just make sure that you keep moving a nice gentle Pace before.

you go into that hard wrap again. [Music] in M 200. [Music] then marathon training is a mixture of so many different kinds of workouts. So these speed workouts are really important to do alongside those easy R so that you're building up that speed endurance and that time on [Music] feet. Do you know what's sickening is at the 200 met rep in 40 seconds for me is like my Max Andy's doing workout tomorrow with 200 m in 50 seconds as his recovery sickening. The way I compare feeling in this workout is it going turns that 1K rep. I feel like I've been going all out so I haven't got much left but it's like when you come to the end of the race and you see that finish line and you think okay I got to Sprint this bit and you somehow like find that speed in your legs. I look like nowhere so that's why I'm imagining every time I do these 200 me okay go.

done. okay last rep now. I'm happy. Just got to pace myself. Still, it's so easy just be like woo let's go last [Music] rep final 200. Me push everything I've got is going to [Music] this. I've done it. I actually always doubt that'll get to the end of a workout. But each time went out and did each rep, it felt like I was starting a fresh. I'd let myself recover in those rest periods, and then I just gave everything I'd got and tried not to think about the one before and not to think about the one after. It was tough, but I got it done. And now I've just going to do a 1.5k cool down, and then I'm going for [Music] lunch. Don't forget to cool down. It's so important to help your body recover and also prevent injury. But that is a workout that helped me shave 44 minutes of my marathon time. Let me know if you're going to try and use this workout.

to help you in your next goal as well. And if you like this workout but want to focus more on your half marathon time, check out a workout that helped James knock an hour off his PB.

This Workout Got Me From 3 hours 44 To 3 hours 10 seconds For A Marathon

The Running Channel

Prioritizing Speed Workouts for Improved Marathon Time

Prioritizing speed workouts has significantly contributed to reducing marathon time and improving 10K performance.

The key is to focus on interval training and adapt the workout as running goals progress, with a combination of pace control for longer efforts and digging deep for shorter, high-intensity efforts.

Including short bursts in the warm-up helps prepare the body for higher intensity efforts and is essential for getting muscles ready for the harder work ahead.

Marathon Training: Pacing for 1K and 200M Intervals

The runner is aiming for a marathon pace of 4:45 minutes per kilometer and plans to run the 1K reps at a pace 30 seconds faster than the marathon pace.

The 200M reps will be at a pace one minute faster than the marathon pace, allowing for a short and sharp effort.

The runner finds the 1K reps challenging but focuses on staying controlled, while also using the 200M reps to push hard without burning out.

Aiming to run a sub-three hour marathon in the Berlin Marathon is the key goal of the workout.

The runner's previous personal best was 3 hours and 10 seconds, leaving them frustrated but motivated to break the three-hour barrier.

The workout is adaptable for different paces and is focused on giving it all during the 200m efforts.

Stick to a close range of your target time for each kilometer repetition to train your body effectively.

Visualizing the finish line during training can help you push through and improve performance.

Take recovery breaks to bring down your heart rate and control your breathing, then maintain a gentle pace before starting the hard reps again.

The Significance of Proper Cool Down After a Workout

Proper cool down after a workout is crucial for body recovery and injury prevention.

The described workout routine helped reduce marathon time by 44 minutes.

The same routine also offers potential benefits for improving half marathon performance.