Okay, so today I talked a LOT of shit. Please do not take offense personally....remember it is for Entertainment Purposes Only.
Now let's talk about your trip to Alabama in February, or St. Louis if you are a woman.
Here is the core of my program:
(1) Self-Belief. If you are about 2:25-2:30 and you are trying to go 2;21, you know what the marathon is about already. It's damned painful. The long runs are painful, the intervals are painful, the race is even more painful. You will have bad days, and currently I am in a bad MONTH. Ah well, it will be fine in a couple of weeks, I know it. This is my self-belief. Every year I train it is the same damned thing. It seems like I am working hard and getting NOWHERE, and then BOOM, I am clicking off 5;20 miles in tempo runs and 2;50 kms on the track like nothing. What I am saying to you is that if you are in late August and you are aiming for Chicago, and you are feeling fat and slow, don't worry. Keep the hammer down.
(2) Altitude Training. I only got back into really great fitness when I got back to High altitude. If you really want to go the full distance with your running make the sacrifice and move to a high-altititude setting. This will take about 2-3 minutes off your time at least, maybe more.
(3) Run Long Twice Per Week. Back in college I made a very good improvement by doing no track work and just running lots of tempo runs. What I recommend is one or even two runs mid-week about 15-16 miles, and it does not need to be fast, even 7:00 pace is fine. Sure, if you feel great, go for it and run 5;40's. Then of course you want to go 20+ on Sunday. Eddy Hellebuyck disagrees with me but I think that 1 run of about 26 miles, easy pace, about a month before the race is the way to go. You will be very strong come race day. Running long and often does great things for your capillaries and fat-burning capacity.
(4) De-emphasize intervals. When I am training hard, I do intervals once a week, or less. The American system of training focuses on intervals, and again I've had huge gains in strength from no intervals whatsoever. Interval sessions should be at least 1000 meters or greater, if you do them at all.
(5) Take care of your body. Find what works for you. Hot baths and massage is what keeps me going from day to day. Also lots of rice and fruit. I think that all the processed shit food that Americans eat are part of the downfall of American marathoning and health in general.
(6) The Last 2 Weeks Is Very Important. Run a very hard 25km (16 miles) 2 weeks before the race, about marathon race pace and then taper. A week before the race do something like 2x2000 fast, then maybe 3000 meters at race pace on Wednesday and nothing more, just about 10 minutes jogging a day. You have to start the race feeling super because you know that the race is going to take EVERYTHING outta you.
Okay now it is about 4am, can't sleep, going for a jog. Feel free to add comments and questions and we will see you in Alabama. KEEP THE FAITH.
jason