Don't run thons, should I do one weekly run at marathon pace anyway?

eastafricanwannabe wrote:

Is there any physiological/fitness benefit to doing this.

I was thinking 3 easy days, 1 MP run, 1 tempo, 1 track workout.

Or am I just better off with 4 easy days?

And sorry for using the word thon, I couldn't resist lol

The MP run in a schedule would look like thursday

Mon- 6 miles @ 8:20-8:40 pace

Tue- 3 miles @ 7:00 (tempo)

Wed:4 miles @ 8:20- 8:40 pace

Thu: 3-4 miles @ 7:30 pace

Fri: rest

Sat: Track workout (2-3 miles worth)

Sun: 4 miles @ 8:20-8:40 pace

This hobby jogger appreciates any help he gets

What are you training for? You should add another quality fast/speed/threshold workout. The Tuesday tempo can be replaced with a longer marathon pace run if you want.

5/10k specifically

but would definitely not mind improving in the mile :)

eastafricanwannabe wrote:

5/10k specifically

but would definitely not mind improving in the mile :)

Definitely what I wrote then.

Jack Daniels includes some M pace in his long runs, even in his 5K-10K training plan.

Yeah, but Jack seems to be making more of a concession to the popularity of running at that pace than to be making an argument based on physiology.

His position (at least as I have read it) is that you can do marathon paced runs on occasion as a substitute for a tempo session; but to do so, you would have to draw the duration of the run out some to allow for lactic acid build up at a slow pace.

OP, were you to use MP runs as a substitute for tempo runs, you would want it to be for more like an hour run than just 3 or 4 miles. Like the other poster suggested, for training at the distances you are focused on, I wouldn't make that my third quality day on top of an existing tempo day.

I alternate with my long runs. I'll do a longer run one week and then a slightly shorter version the long run the next week, with most of it at M pace. It's become one of my favorite runs and I feel like it's been one of the best runs I do to develop strength and endurance. It also keeps you looking forward to the true long runs a bit more. The pace is usually very enjoyable to run at.

Thanks guys for the advice, cleared it up nicely for me. So would a 10k at marathon pace be appropriate then? It would take a good 45+ minutes and I think It'd be equivalent to the 20-25 min tempo at conventional threshold pace.

Thanks again!

Where is the long run?

eastafricanwannabe wrote:

Thanks guys for the advice, cleared it up nicely for me. So would a 10k at marathon pace be appropriate then? It would take a good 45+ minutes and I think It'd be equivalent to the 20-25 min tempo at conventional threshold pace.

Thanks again!

You're overthinking it, just run 3-6 miles at a fast but comfortable pace. Maybe that's threshold pace, maybe "marathon" pace, maybe something else.