Looking at your 10k time for a faster marathon

When people think about running faster for a distance, they think about running at the target speed, then increasing the distance you can run at that pace. For shorter distances, this is fine and something I’d also advocate in the right circumstance, but for the marathon it’s just not realistic. You simply can’t do weekly long runs are your target pace without serious injury or illness, the strain the distance puts on the body is too great.

When I started training for my 2nd marathon, I wanted to improve my time from 2:51 to sub 2:45. Based on my 10k PB of 36:54 at the time, this predicted I could run a 2:50 marathon. In order to run 2:45 for 26.4 miles (the distance most people actually cover), I’d have to run 10k in 35:35, so just running more miles at my target pace of 6:15/mile was likely going to leave me very short of my target time.

(At the time of writing I’m in the middle of training for my next marathon using this method. When I complete it, I’ll update this post to prove it works).

When we train for any distance, we ideally include interval or effort work, where we run faster than the needed speed. The physiological adaptations from this faster work are what allow us to then maintain a slower speed for longer periods of time. So why is the marathon any different? Why is nearly all the advice about slow long runs only? Probably because it’s easier and allows people to talk about nearer goals.

When it comes to 10k speed for a faster marathon, we need to be looking a long time ahead. As I’ve mentioned in previous posts on 10k and marathon running, periodisation, training for one element of fitness before moving on to another stage, is key.

This 10k training focus may last 8-12 weeks, before progressing to focus on a faster half marathon for another 8-12 weeks, then the longer, slower miles of the marathon for the final 12-16 weeks (time here depends on how well you adapt to long runs and your experience level).

The most convincing evidence in favour of intervals for marathons is surely the types of running the NN running team, with Eliud Kipchoge and Kenenisa Bekele, do at their camps in Kaptagat, Kenya. Whilst we aren’t looking to get close to 2 hours for the marathon, or training for 120 miles per week in preparation for our races, we can still learn a lot from this part of their training.

If you haven’t got enough time before your next marathon to implement this periodisation and 10k focus, don’t worry. Use more intervals than you usually have been with a slight mileage reduction on all but your long runs, and you can still see some benefits. Next time round, you can give this a go and see the results for yourself.