How does running slow lots of miles result in a fast marathon

Builds up the muscular strength you need to run a marathon.

He has the speed and just needs the endurance.

Try it and find out

What are your friend's PR's at shorter distances?

Greg Hill wrote:

What are your friend's PR's at shorter distances?

He doesn’t have much speed. 18:40ish 5k.

You stated your friend raced a 18:xx 5K. Is your friend racing 5Ks and 10Ks regularly? The 5ks and 10ks may be your friend's workouts.

How long did it take for him to build up to that weekly mileage? What was his 5K time before he started the long slow distance plan?

He has been running 80 mp year round for several years now. He will jump in a 5k or half marathon here or there but for the most part does no speed work and is able to roll out of bed and click off 6:40s for 26.2. It is amazing to me.

Supposedly, long runs will fatigue slow-twitch fibers first, then intermediate fibers, then fast-twitch fibers. So at the end of his long runs, he's training fast-twitch fibers, much as if he were running an interval workout. That's one way he can run a marathon at 6:40 pace while training at 8:30 pace. Is this how the physiology really works? I don't know, but it sounds plausible.

Mitochondria. Engine. Strength.

I've done similar - all easy pace, nothing fast in training, though more miles, slower pace (10:00+) and faster marathon (2:54 masters age). Basically a lot of dog jogging on trails.

Hdhshshsjjssjsjsjj wrote:

I have a friend who ran 80 to 90 mpw all easy pace (8:30) and then ran a 2:55 marathon. He did literally zero workouts other than long runs (all easy pace) How is this possible?

I think you exaggerate a bit.

He says he barely knows you and can't stand you.

So really more of an acquaintance than a friend.

This works for me too, with a faster marathon time. Running slow builds up mitochondria, capillaries, etc, which makes you run faster. Someone mentioned your friend race 5k 10k and those are his workout. I do the same thing but I don't think it's necessary.

Before I proceed further let me clarify that a 25x marathon is considered very slow in this board.

With that said, that someone can run only slow runs and do a 25x marathon doesn't mean anyone run the same slow runs will have the same results.

Kipchoge can do whatever workouts you do, and run a marathon under 210.

Three things wrote:

Mitochondria. Engine. Strength.

^up there is the answer.

Works for me also. Used to get made fun of for running around with the soccer moms. But I do 1 session and 1 hilly course each week.

2:55 is decent but ultimately mediocre for someone running 80+ mpw. You still get decent adaptations running easy miles but he could be faster if he added more volume at race pace and faster.

At 49 I averaged 60 mpw for the year and ran a 3:14 marathon. Struggled to break 20 for a 5k.

The following year I concentrated on speed, running races as short as the mile which I had not raced in over 30 years. Averaged 35 mpw. 5:18, 18:35, 38:47, 1:26. Jumped in a marathon and ran 1:31/1:37 for a 3:08.

Hardloper wrote:

2:55 is decent but ultimately mediocre for someone running 80+ mpw. You still get decent adaptations running easy miles but he could be faster if he added more volume at race pace and faster.

That's true, but this thread isn't about training for someone's best marathon, it's about how fast you can go with just lots of easy runs and mileage, but no specific marathon training. The OP's friend could obviously go much faster if he had actually trained specifically for a marathon. I probably could have realistically targeted sub-2:30 at 43 if I did specific training.

zzzz wrote:

Hardloper wrote:

2:55 is decent but ultimately mediocre for someone running 80+ mpw. You still get decent adaptations running easy miles but he could be faster if he added more volume at race pace and faster.

That's true, but this thread isn't about training for someone's best marathon, it's about how fast you can go with just lots of easy runs and mileage, but no specific marathon training. The OP's friend could obviously go much faster if he had actually trained specifically for a marathon. I probably could have realistically targeted sub-2:30 at 43 if I did specific training.

This is a really interesting question. How close to your potential can you get on high(ish) miles and easy running? 85%? 90+%?

zzzzz, you're thinking with specific workouts you could have dropped your marathon pace from around 6:15 to 5:40? That strikes me as a pretty big ask for workouts. But really, I just don't know.