Traditional marathon training programmes can make for scary reading. Five runs a week. Two hundred miles a month. The warm-ups. The warm-downs. The constant stretching. How do people find the time?
But imagine if there was a more realistic way to train for a 26.2-miler – one that you could fit into an already busy life.
Well, there is. You can train for a marathon on three quality runs a week. The key word here is ‘quality’. While the Five-Runs-A-Week Merchant can include easy running in his schedule, the Busy Man must make all his runs count.
HOW IT WORKS
The biggest difference will be the long slow run. No longer can this be a plod. The Furman Marathon training plan recommends it be your 10K pace + 60-75secs per mile. So if you run a 10K in 45 minutes (7:14min/mile pace), your long slow run should then be conducted at somewhere between 8:14-8:29min/mile pace. Hey, it might not be easy, but at least you’ll be running for less time.
The other two runs will involve an interval session that will be about 5K in total (something like 4 x 1600m, run at between 30 to 40 seconds faster per mile than your 10K pace) and a tempo run (somewhere between 5 to 10 miles, run at between 15 to 30 seconds per mile slower than your 10K pace). And there you have it: the building blocks of a marathon training programme that you can fit into a busy life.
STRETCHING MADE SIMPLE
Stretching and recovery don’t have to eat too heavily into your busy schedule, either. Familiarise yourself with a foam roller a couple of times a week, warm-up with dynamic stretches (legs swings, lunges, etc), warm down with static ones, and blast your legs with a cold shower after a run.
“I went sub-three on three runs a week”
By Louis Waterman-Evans
“Back in November 2013, I ran my first sub-three-hour marathon, at Copenhagen, creeping in with a whopping 25 seconds to spare. Some people will tell you that you need to be clocking 60-70 miles per week to get this sort of time; I achieved it on less than 35 miles per week, running only three times a week. I say this not to boast about how superhuman I am – I most definitely am not – but to show you what is possible on limited mileage. You have to structure it well and focus on quality. One of the best things I did, and something I’d recommend to anyone, is to join a club. Tuesday nights were a track session consisting of something like: 6x800m and 4x200m. Thursdays tended to be hill works – eight reps up and down a steep hill in south London. On the weekends I’d go long, by which I mean anything over 15 miles. Occasionally, I’d add in a parkrun or cross-country event on Saturday – but most weeks consisted of just three runs. The key things for me were a good balanced diet, a structured schedule, some stretching and a few warm-up races. If you get these things in place, you can achieve a lot on limited mileage.”
