Neither Magill, who turns 55 in June, nor Solinsky, who retired from professional running earlier this year, have ever raced a marathon. record holder who is now an assistant coach at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. “Marathon pace runs help build a strong foundation in which to introduce interval training to get through your racing season. The stronger the foundation, the better interval work you can do, which leads to knocking many seconds or minutes off of your times.” “These runs teach a person to read their body and learn to find a pace that is tough but that they can sustain,” says Chris Solinsky, a former U.S. “More than distance runs or faster repetitions, marathon-pace training increases aerobic energy production in slow-twitch cells, builds more capillaries to carry more oxygen to these cells, improves the cells’ ability to export lactate and to reduce acidity, and leads to better running economy-the equivalent of better gas mileage in a car.” “Marathon-pace training is simply one of the best workouts there is for improving the endurance capacity of your slow-twitch, endurance muscle cells,” says Pete Magill, a South Pasadena, California-based coach and author of Build Your Running Body. Play icon The triangle icon that indicates to play That’s a shame, because workouts at marathon race pace have big benefits for non-marathoners both before and during racing season. And even fewer runners with no marathon experience train at that pace. They are also the best opportunity to practice your race-day fueling strategies, test the gear and shoes you plan to wear in the marathon, and gain invaluable feedback on whether your marathon goal is realistic.īut when they take a break from marathons to focus on shorter distances, most runners leave marathon-pace runs behind. After all, good training programs for all other distances include regular work at goal race pace, so why should the marathon be exempt? In a marathon build-up, race-pace workouts not only prepare you physically and mentally to hold a good pace for 26.2 miles. These workouts make obvious sense for marathoners. In recent years, many runners have added to their marathon training an element long used by elites-frequent runs at marathon race pace, either as a stand-alone workout or in the second half of a long run.
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