What are some good, ball-busting marathon workouts?

simple wrote:

I like workouts where you run 5 to 10 easy miles in the morning and then another easy 10 in the evening. And you run 11-3 times a week. And yes you do a couple of hard workouts but don't give a damn about "ball-busting" stuff because you are smart enough to realize that marathon speed comes from the strength you get from all that running not from any one "special" workout and workout heroes are race-day underperformers.

Please share those stories.

Don't be a douche.

I got another that I heard about.

Ladder 400,800,1200,1600,3200,4800,3200,1600,1200,800,400 at MP pace. Sounds interesting, not sure how good it is...

simple wrote:

I like workouts where you run 5 to 10 easy miles in the morning and then another easy 10 in the evening. And you run 11-3 times a week. And yes you do a couple of hard workouts but don't give a damn about "ball-busting" stuff because you are smart enough to realize that marathon speed comes from the strength you get from all that running not from any one "special" workout and workout heroes are race-day underperformers.

Please share those stories.

I guess most world class marathoners are stupid, then...

coach bigfoot wrote:

Don't be a douche.

I got another that I heard about.

Ladder 400,800,1200,1600,3200,4800,3200,1600,1200,800,400 at MP pace. Sounds interesting, not sure how good it is...

Don't be a fool.

You know how "good" it is? Not any better than most any other marathon workout. There are no "special" workouts. Get it? No one of these "ball busting" workouts is going to help you one bit over another other. Stop trying to be a workout hero.

The consistency is the real ball-busting part. But that doesnt sound as cool as having a secret special killer workout so everyone obsesses over that.

In one ear, out the other...

simple wrote:

coach bigfoot wrote:

Don't be a douche.

I got another that I heard about.

Ladder 400,800,1200,1600,3200,4800,3200,1600,1200,800,400 at MP pace. Sounds interesting, not sure how good it is...

Don't be a fool.

You know how "good" it is? Not any better than most any other marathon workout. There are no "special" workouts. Get it? No one of these "ball busting" workouts is going to help you one bit over another other. Stop trying to be a workout hero.

The consistency is the real ball-busting part. But that doesnt sound as cool as having a secret special killer workout so everyone obsesses over that.

In one ear, out the other...

You don´t seem to know jack about the process called "peaking". All distance runners, no matter if they are 5k runners or marathoners, do a few real "balls to the wall workouts" leading up to a peak race, to prepare their bodies and minds for race effort. Only doing mileage and your ordinary week-in, week-out workouts will make you fit but not prepare you for a peak, all-out race effort.

Carpe Monkey wrote:

25 milers "Japanese Style" - 5 x 5 mile loops - starting painfully slow on the first 5, gradually increasing the tempo with each loop, then running faster than goal marathon pace over the last 5 miles.

I like this workout too. I usually do 4 x 5 miles though over a fairly hilly trail loop I live near. That last 5 sub MP usually feels rough for a mile or so, but if you've prepared well, by mile 2 you feel like your just coasting!

24 miles with 14 at your goal pace during a 100+ mile week.

well. wrote:

You don´t seem to know jack about the process called "peaking". All distance runners, no matter if they are 5k runners or marathoners, do a few real "balls to the wall workouts" leading up to a peak race, to prepare their bodies and minds for race effort. Only doing mileage and your ordinary week-in, week-out workouts will make you fit but not prepare you for a peak, all-out race effort.

I know a hell of a lot more about it than you do, junior.

Plenty of people do "balls to the wall" workouts leading up to peak races. The mistake that some of them (like you)make is in thinking that it was those one or two "killer" workouts that led to the peak, rather than the consistent buildup and systematic cutback.

I didn't say "only do mileage". I said, don't think that doing one or a few "ball-busting" workouts is going to do jack shit for you. It won't. You do MANY workouts, most of them NOT ball-busting, just tough. It's all the consistent workouts you do on top of that consistent mileage that makes you peak.

The problem with dipshits like you is that you skimp on the mileage and then think your "ball-busting" workouts are going to save you.

Stop being a douche, you're annoying.

I suppose I should just jog every run to avoid risking burnout and injury...not to mention working hard...because working hard at something to be better doesn't make any sense...

16 miles start at 7:00, cut by 10 seconds a mile until you can't handle it any more then try to hold. The point is to force you to hit the wall and fight through it.

"If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball."

I feel like this thread is summoning the spirit of Patches O' Houlihan, but I like it.

My favorite marathon workouts are ~10 miles runs at 10-15 seconds/mile faster than marathon pace, and 3-4 x 3200 at threshold w/ 1 minute standing rest between. Not really too extreme or ball busting, but you can be consistent about them. I also like to run shorter races leading up, so I guess those are my "ball busting" efforts. Keep it simple.

This is probably one of the hardest workouts ever. An elite (I won't say his name, but he is a top 5 american marathoner) taught me it, and he said this really prepared him to run a personal best.

4x6 miles at half marathon pace. rest is 1 mile jog. After the last 6 miler, rest for 10 minutes, then run 2 miles at an all out pace.

hardman wrote:

This is probably one of the hardest workouts ever. An elite (I won't say his name, but he is a top 5 american marathoner) taught me it, and he said this really prepared him to run a personal best.

4x6 miles at half marathon pace. rest is 1 mile jog. After the last 6 miler, rest for 10 minutes, then run 2 miles at an all out pace.

Wow, that is intense. How many weeks out from the marathon was this done? I have a feeling that one would take awhile to recover from...

this was done 5 weeks before the marathon. I did this and ran 2:22, so i was pretty happy, my previous pr was 2:30. i took about a week of easy running after that workout. but man, it mentally prepared me to run fast.

hardman wrote:

this was done 5 weeks before the marathon....

sorry meant to put 3 weeks before the marathon

4x6 at HMP w/1m jog then 2M all out? I'm surprised an effort like that would not leave your race in training but you said you PRed off of it...

Where did he get the workout from?

To hell with workouts at MP pace

60-90 min easy, then 20-25 min at threshold; better stimulus and easier to recover from