Training to BQ The Recipe for Your Fastest Marathon By Jason Fitzgerald http://www.runyourbq.com
Before we get started, ask yourself does one of these describe your training? 1. Most of your running is at the same speed 2. You don t do any strength training 3. You re not progressing in volume, types of workouts, or overall effort in your running If so, you re probably frustrated that your race performances are flat-lining. But don t worry! There s still hope to radically turn things around. The strategy we use in Run Your BQ is designed to bring runners to their potential even if they think they can t improve any more. Good Marathon Training is Like Soup That s right, soup. I heard this analogy about a year ago and it really stuck with me -- I realized that it perfectly described good training. In a good soup, a lot of ingredients are put together in one big pot, and the result is a delicious meal. One particular ingredient won t make the soup, just like there s no one special workout, exercise, or recovery meal that s going to propel you to marathon greatness. Most runners are constantly injured and race the same marathon times over and over again. Sound familiar? Instead, marathon training is the art and science of blending everything together into a cohesive program. With the right mentality, you ll surprise yourself at what you can accomplish. Today we re going to dive deeper into the details of the training the workouts, tactics, and elements of a good marathon program that will produce dramatic gains in running fitness. I m passionate about the nuts and bolts of training: the elements of progression, injury prevention, performance improvement, and strength building that turn an average runner into a Boston Qualifying runner. Page 1
Training wins over talent Matt mentioned that I ve run 2:39 for the marathon over 25 minutes under the current BQ time for my age group of 3:05. But don t dismiss my accomplishments in the marathon as the result of genetic gifts or luck; I actually hated running in middle school and avoided it whenever possible. But for the past 15 years, I ve worked to become the strong runner I am today. Any success I ve had is because of stubborn persistence, hard work, and a little luck in having very good coaches. My point here is that training always wins over talent. Like the saying goes: Hard work beats talent when talent fails to work hard. Man, I love that quote! So if you re worried that you ll never qualify for Boston, take a hard look at what you ve done in the last 6 months to a year. Did you take weeks off due to injury or a loss of motivation? Are you running the same 10-20 miles a week that you ve always done, with the same few workouts? If so, there s a lot of room for improvement. I ve helped runners take 45+ minutes off their marathon times (one of our Run Your BQ members recently took a full hour off his previous best to qualify!). Often, dramatic improvement takes just a few simple tweaks and a few months of good training. Never underestimate what you re capable of if you have the right direction. That s what we do in Run Your BQ and now I m going to show you how. The Ingredients of Training Soup There are four main ingredients to good training, and we use them liberally in the Run Your BQ training plans. They are: 1. Volume 2. Aerobic Workouts 3. Strength & Mobility Exercises 4. Progression Mix them together in a pot, in the right proportions, and you ll have one fast marathoner! Page 2
Ingredient #1: Running Volume Your volume is simply the total amount of running that you do. It s usually measured weekly 30 miles per week, for example. It s also helpful to think of monthly volume so you focus on long-term progress. Let s get to the point on mileage: studies show that total running volume is the best predictor of performance. Almost universally, the more running you do the better you ll be (up to a certain point, of course). Every marathoner needs to find their mileage sweet spot the highest level that still allows you to run faster workouts, recover, and stay healthy and injury-free. There s no point in trying to triple your mileage if it means you re going to be hurt in a week s time. Many of the RYBQ plans are based on what level of mileage you can handle. Running well and preventing injuries is all about knowing your limits. We ll help you start at a level appropriate for you. Remember this: You can generally increase weekly mileage about 10-25% from one training cycle to the next. (Here, a training cycle is a full, 16-week training plan.) As long as you re careful and focus on injury prevention, increases in this range are going to produce a lot of fitness gains. Ingredient #2: Aerobic Workouts (Specificity) It s crucial that you train specifically for the race that you re going to run. For marathoners, that means doing: 20- to 22-mile long runs a relatively high weekly volume endurance-oriented workouts The marathon is 99% aerobic, meaning with oxygen, where you re running at a relatively low intensity and your muscles don t produce a lot of lactate (as opposed, say, to a speedwork session where you re going all-out for just a few minutes). The marathon is 99% aerobic so that s where your training effort needs be. Page 3
Naturally, the best way to train for a fast marathon is to do the vast majority of your runs aerobically. So there s almost no VO2 Max running those hard intervals that leave your lungs screaming and legs burning. It may sound counter-intuitive, but to increase your speed in a marathon, you have to run more aerobic-oriented workouts. The Run Your BQ plans focus on developing your specific marathon fitness with the right ratio of easy running, workouts, and long runs. Not all of your running should be very easy and conversational, but surprisingly a good portion of it will be. Our training plans include a variety of workouts: we use them because they re very effective at increasing your ability to run longer, faster: Tempo runs there s a reason these are a classic workout. They work! Consistent long runs (some plans include 22-milers for more advanced runners) Marathon pace running you can get more bang out of MP running when it s done in a pre-fatigued state, so we do that when appropriate Introductory workouts to get you ready for marathon-specific workouts After researching competitive marathon plans and working with marathoners to help them qualify for Boston, I ve found that it s best to run a long run every week. Alternating every other week may be right for a first-time marathoner, but this approach isn t sufficient to help you gain the endurance you need for a BQ marathon time. We focus on what works best. Ingredient #3: Strength & Mobility Routines Strength and flexibility exercises form a central pillar of my running philosophy. After studying elite runners, poring over training books, talking to professional coaches, and getting my USA Track & Field coaching certification, I m convinced that strength work it s your best insurance policy against injury. Body weight strength exercises and flexibility routines aren t going to directly make you faster. But they will allow you to train with a much smaller chance of injury. You ll be able to run more volume, increase your mileage and the amount of that running you do at faster speeds, and stay more consistent. The best part of this extra work is that a little bit goes a long way. In less time than it takes you to watch a sitcom, you can do both your pre-run dynamic warm-up and post-run strength routine, plus have time to use your foam roller. Page 4
Modern society has a big problem: most of us spend our days sitting behind a computer developing muscle weaknesses and postural imbalances. Carefully-chosen strength and mobility exercises counteract today s sedentary lifestyle to make you stronger and more athletic. The majority of the strength work that I recommend includes body weight strength exercises runner-specific exercises that focus on weaknesses we usually have mobility work to improve your running form optional gym workouts These exercises are grouped into routines and play a large part in the injury prevention strategy of Run Your BQ. Our goal is to keep you healthy so you can run the volume and workouts you need to qualify for Boston, and as such, you ll see strength and mobility routines in every single training program in our library of plans. Ingredient #4: Training Progression You might be familiar with the 10% Rule, which says you shouldn t increase your mileage by more than 10% in a given week. It s a fine rule, but it s overly simplistic for the majority of runners. Instead, we use a safer and more effective method of increasing mileage. First, it s important to know your mileage baseline which is what you re used to running and what your body is very comfortable with. You can increase your mileage dramatically until you hit that baseline. Your training is nothing without progression. Gradual progression = faster marathons! Here s a quick example: If your baseline is 20 miles per week -- meaning you ve run this amount in the recent past without too much stress on your body -- you don t need to increase by just 10% if you re starting out, say, at 10 miles per week. Instead, you can increase by 50% the first week and go from 10 to 15 miles. Then you can increase by 33% and get to your baseline of 20 weekly miles. When you ve reached your baseline, it s time to be more conservative with your increases. At this point you may limit mileage increases to 5-10% every two weeks -- instead of every week, as the 10% rule would have you do, risking injury as a result. Page 5
Progression is what allows your training to increase safely. But it s not just about mileage. The principle of progression should also be used for: increasing the intensity of fast workouts increasing the volume of strength work and weights running hillier terrain transitioning to more minimalist shoes Any time that you increase something in your training you have to follow a gradual progression. Injury prevention is based largely on this principle. As long as you re increasing intelligently, your injury risk is going to be a lot lower. And that means you ll be able to run a faster marathon. Putting it All Together to Make the Soup When you follow these training principles, you have all the main ingredients. There are a lot of ways to design a marathon plan. We have multiple options for every level of runner a library of training plans that are designed to get you in shape to run a fast 26.2 miles. And it doesn t matter what age you are Boston s qualifying times are age-graded so you won t be trying to run way over your head. Each marathoner has unique needs, which is why we have such a wide variety of training plans and consistent support to answer questions when you have them. When you throw the main ingredients into your pot to make the soup, what really brings out the flavor are the spices. The most important secondary ingredient in your training soup is support people to inspire, motivate, and push you to achieve more. So get around people who will do that for you. Support can turn a good training cycle into one that yields staggering results. Qualifying for Boston is a stretch goal and you can t go for it alone. RYBQ is here to give you the specific tools, support, and coaching you need to get faster and experience the world s greatest marathon. To your running success! - Jason Fitzgerald. Page 6