Question to Training Experts

I would do less marathon specific race pace and replace with acceptable volume of speed development. Run fast than marathon pace to improve your marathon pace. do some LT work, fartleks, strides, hills. More important to run faster than Marathon pace to if you actually want to increase fitness.

on your marathon pace days, are you hitting MP from start to finish or warming up and cooling down and actually moving at a faster pace in the middle miles?

Juice, thank you for the pacing advice. On my marathon pace days, first mile or two slightly slower. Last mile or two slightly faster. In between go for close to exact.

Would you recommend any adjustment in the easier/slower days?

No I think your easy pace is fine

Ummm you’re old like me. In an eight day cycle there’s no need for more than two “harder” days. I don’t get the eight day cycle point either.

Just do a workout mid week and run long on the weekend. Every other week add intensity to the long run. That’s three “harder” runs in 14 days. It worked for guys like Bill Rodgers.

I’d save the MP work for the race specific phase. During base I’d focus 20 to 40 second strides a couple times a week. This will help your more specific paces later. Also, while building mileage I wouldn’t put a number to the pace. Just run easy by feel. Do some hilly runs too if you can.

There’s different ways to go about it though.

Oh, and why the heck are you running 20’s every week during base phase? Change some of those 10’s to 13-15’s.. or do a couple doubles.

I would do the following.

Seven day a week plan. Alternate cycles are great, but if you're only one day off the regular week, just do seven.

Run six days a week. Take one day off.

Two days do something faster. One of these should be focused on tempo pace. 20 to 40 minutes uptempo. A progression run. Mile repeats with short rest. Rotate through a bunch of options. The other day should be shorter stuff. Could be a bunch of strides. Go to the track and run 200 on then 200 off for a lot of laps. Just do a fartlek. Do a Mona fartlek. Again, mix it up and just focus on running fast and relaxed.

Do a long run. No need to do 20 miles every week in base phase. Just run about 2 hours or a little longer. Maybe do 20 sometimes. Don't make this a workout. Just run. Mostly easy. Some weeks, if you're feeling good, run a faster, steady pace. Or make it a progression long run. Save the MP stuff for the specific 12 to 16 week build up before the race.

The other three days a week are the easy 7 to 10 milers. If you're tired after a faster day, just do 4 or 5 miles. But adjust things for next time. These should be minor league workouts. Not killers. You're training to train in base phase. It's all about creating habits and looking to the future.