Slice Minutes Off Your Marathon Time
Reprinted from:
Peak Running Performance
In 490 B.C. a messenger named Pheidippides reportedly ran from the
Plain of Marathon to Athens to announce the news of the Greek victory over
the invading Persians. This legend apparently inspired Olympic officials
to include a race of approximately 25 miles from Marathon to Athens when
the Olympic Games were revived in 1896.
The current marathon distance was arrived at when King Edward VII
wanted to watch the start of the 1908 Olympic race from his home at
Windsor Castle a distance of 26 miles and 385 yards to the finish at the
Olympic Stadium in London. Thus was born the 26.2 mile event, which
traditionally culminates the track and field portion of the Olympic Games.
Although the marathon was once an event for only elite male
athletes, it now attracts runners of all ages and abilities, including
women who only began to officially participate in marathons in 1973.
Since that time, marathon participation has grown steadily.
Currently there are more than 300 marathon races each year in the
United States alone, and an estimated 60,000 runners participate in these
marathons.
Runners are attracted to the marathon mainly because of the challenge
of the distance. The marathon offers them a chance to test their true
limitations. In fact, most runners derive great satisfaction from the
discipline and dedication it requires to prepare for and complete a
marathon.
Although most people run the marathon simply to finish, the more
experienced and competitive runners are always striving to improve their
overall time for the marathon. This article will focus on the latter how
to train and prepare yourself to run a faster marathon time.
If you have not been training optimally, you can probably improve your
marathon time about 5%-10% in as little as 12-16 weeks. This can be
accomplished when you follow some basic marathon training guidelines that
have been successfully used by many runners and coaches, as well as
confirmed by numerous scientific studies.
Although a 5%-10% time improvement may seem small, it will enable a
3:30 marathoner to lower his or her time into the 3:10 to 3:20 range and a
2:40 runner to cover the distance in the 2:26 to 2:33 time range.
The Science of the Marathon
In order to establish an appropriate training program for the marathon,
we should review some of the physiological adaptations that are necessary
in order to cover the marathon distance at the fastest possible pace given
your ability and training level.
Physiologically speaking, any one or all of three different "training
effects" must occur in order for runners to improve their running
performance. These three physiological changes include: 1) increasing your
aerobic capacity or VO 2 max, 2) developing
your ability to run anaerobically tolerating lactate in your muscles,
and 3) improving your running economy decreasing the relative effort it
takes you to run at any given pace.
However, it is important to remember that these three "training
effects" should be emphasized in varying degrees depending on the distance
of the race for which youre training.
Although the same training effects are sought for the marathon as for
other distances such as the mile, the actual preparation required to race
the mile is very different from what is needed to race the marathon
distance. The reason for this is each of these races demands a different
overall training effect. As a result, a well-trained miler is probably not
as well-equipped to race the marathon and vice versa.
Unique Marathon Demands
Racing your best mile requires the ability to run anaerobically at near
top speed for a relatively short distance. As a result, you will incur a
large "oxygen debt," wherein your body cannot fully derive all of the
energy it needs from the oxygen you breathe. Therefore, you will gradually
slow down and eventually be forced to stop if you tried to run any longer.
Since you will run a lot longer in a marathon, it would not be wise to
try to run anaerobically (if you would like to finish the race). When
raced effectively, the marathon requires the ability to run near your
maximum aerobic/anaerobic threshold for more than 26 miles. This will
allow you to cover the entire distance as fast as possible without going
into "oxygen debt."
If that is not enough, consider that you must also attempt to manage
the ever-increasing dehydration and fuel exhaustion that are unique
demands of the marathon. In fact, the fuel exhaustion associated with
"hitting the wall" is the single most limiting factor of successful
marathon racing. Because of these unique limiting factors and physical
demands, your goal in preparing for the marathon should be to construct a
training schedule which will primarily enable you to 1) teach your body to
more efficiently utilize the available fuel reserves in your muscles, and
2) increase your ability to perform at or near your aerobic/anaerobic
threshold for long periods of time.
Weekly Marathon Mileage
One of the first questions that most marathoners ask is: How much
weekly mileage is appropriate for marathon training? The answer to this
depends purely on the individual.
In order to best answer this question, you should ask yourself the
following: How many miles am I currently running each week? For how long
have I been at my present mileage level? Do I get tired if I try to
increase my weekly mileage? Do I get injured more easily if I run more
miles? Based on my past experience, do I perform better on higher or lower
mileage?
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