Debunking Marathon Training Myths: Separating Fact from Fiction for Recreational Runners

In our last blog post, we discussed the various considerations one must take into account when deciding to train for a marathon (or any race for that matter). This week, we take a moment to highlight some of the common misconceptions circulating about marathon training. This is certainly not an exhaustive list, but rather food for thought to spark reflection when deciding to train for your next race.

More Mileage is Always Better

Many people are under the assumption that to complete a marathon, you need to log 70-80 miles per week. This is certainly not uncommon for the competitive marathoner as elites are routinely logging 90-110 miles per week in preparation for major marathons. However, this brings us back to our discussion in the last blog post about the difference between racing a marathon and completing a marathon. For these professional runners, the goal is to race this 26.2-mile distance as quickly as possible at a level of performance in the top 1% of the world. Training for this sort of feat is a full-time job, hence why they can treat this activity as their profession.

Recreational runners looking to complete their first marathon, are likely not being paid to take months off of work to devote solely to marathon training. As a result, the amount of time that can be devoted to training will be less but can certainly still accomplish the task at hand. Depending on the amount of mileage you have handled in the past, many people can complete a marathon on 4 days of running per week logging anywhere from 40-50 miles per week with a peak long run of 16-20 miles. For those who have some experience with handling this type of weekly mileage or marathon distance in the past, you might fare better at 50-60 miles per week and a peak long run of 20 miles. Ideally, we’d like to see the long run account for 25-33% of a runner’s weekly mileage. But, when attempting to complete a marathon as opposed to racing a marathon, we can push that percentage a bit higher.

You Only Need Long Slow Distance (LSD)

It makes reasonable sense that to complete an endurance event such as a marathon where most recreational runners will be moving for 3-5 hours continuously, logging longer mileage runs at a slower pace would be essential to build aerobic capacity. I wholeheartedly agree! However, as Matt Fitzgerald outlines in his book, 80/20 Running, the 80/20 principle explains that 80 percent of our weekly mileage should be performed at a relatively low intensity (Zone 1-2 effort) while the remaining 20 percent should consist of some higher intensity interval style training (Zone 4-5 effort). This higher intensity work can take the form of strides, VO2 max repeats, tempo runs, hill sprints, fartleks, or even higher intensity cross training such as CrossFit style metcons, swimming repeats, or rowing intervals. Essentially, these higher-intensity sessions allot the body a different metabolic stimulus than it is used to with long slow distance running by tapping into the anaerobic glycolytic and phosphagenic energy pathways. Additionally, sprinkling in these interval sessions allows us to work on running economy as we should be running more efficiently at these higher speeds. In turn, this can help break up the monotony of long slow distance and keep the body feeling fresh each week in preparation for race day. Many popular marathon training plans will begin dedicated weekly interval sessions roughly 7-8 weeks out from race day. However, you can certainly include several strides and/or form drills at the end of one run each week earlier than this timeframe.

The Typical 12-16 Week Training Program

As mentioned in the last blog post, muscles are the first body tissue to adapt when introducing some sort of routine training load. Oftentimes, this mimics the traditional 12-16 week training program available through many online coaching services. While this is not necessarily an improper training timeline, the more important factor is where tissue tolerance to weekly mileage lies before the initiation of this dedicated training block. For instance, if you have only been running sporadically for the last few months before deciding to train consistently for a race 12-16 weeks from now, your tendons, ligaments, and bones are likely not ready for the load they will experience over 40-50 mile training weeks and/or on race day. Even if training has been consistent but maybe 15-20 miles per week, these body tissues are not necessarily prepared to immediately handle the load of 40-50 miles per week. In these cases, we would need to plan several training cycles building up to this final 12-16 week training block to maximize your potential to show up to the start line healthy and complete the race while minimizing the risk for injury to these previously mentioned tissues. Just like running a marathon, slow and steady wins the race when it comes to achieving physiological adaptations from marathon training.

As mentioned above, this is not an exhaustive list. Remember, we are all unique individuals with one-of-a-kind past experiences, training tolerances, time commitments, life stressors, and the like. With this in mind, training for any endurance event should reflect and highlight your individual needs within your bandwidth of available resources.