RunBum wrote:
Deena,
What were your 'go-to' workouts during your marathon career? Also, did you run high mileage weeks constantly back-to-back during your build-up or did you incorporate easier recovery weeks as well?
In a marathon build up, I try and get the best out of EVERY workout, but not over-emphasize any single workout. Does that make sense? The success of a build up is in the months put together, a mix of speed (like mile repeats) for efficiency and injury prevention, tempo runs for nailing pace, and long runs for emphasizing aerobic endurance. Incorporate all three of these workouts into a 7-10 day cycle as you build mileage. We have always set a time frame to go "mileage crazy". It would be a time-window roughly two months before the peak marathon, where if I felt good, I could hit back to back 140 mile weeks. And, if in a build up I didn't feel great enough to get that high of mileage, I'd make sure not to dwell and look at other reasons I was having good preparation. I might think, "OK. I am not running 140 miles this week, but I rested because it seemed that is what my body needed to run sub 5 min mile repeats."
A week looked like this:
Monday AM: Easy 15M. 8 x strides PM Easy 5M
Tuesday AM: 3 mile warm up/cool down 8 x mile repeat or 4 x 2mile repeat. PM: easy 6miles
Wednesday AM: Hilly 20 miles. PM: easy 5 miles
Thursday AM: easy 12m. 8 x strides PM: easy 6m
Friday: AM 3 mile warm up/cool down with 8-12 mile tempo run PM: 6 miles easy
Saturday AM: easy 12m. PM easy 5-6miles
Sunday: 15-22 miles