By Paul Freary
I’ve run for more than 40 years and although completed 12 marathons, it’s only in the last couple of years that I have begun to consider myself a marathoner!
Whilst my times at shorter distances indicate a sub-three hour marathon should be within my grasp, to run a sub-3 hour marathon is always a challenge.
My running life started on the track. I was inspired by the 4-minute mile and although I came very close, running 4:01 on the track, I did manage a 3:56 on the road as well as winning the Front Street Mile in Bermuda taking the scalp of former World record holder, Steve Cram in the process!
Runners at the finish line of the 5k at Al Mouj Muscat Marathon 2020 on the 22nd of February 2020. Credit Lloyd Images / Kelvin Bruce
Roadmap to My 1st Marathon
From the mile, I moved up to 5000m on the track and although I clocked a 13-minute 55-second personal best, my Achilles was beginning to become a little frustrated with my track endeavours, so a move to the roads beckoned.
Having always enjoyed running on the roads I found anything from the 5km distance up to the half-marathon great fun and I was able to compete across a range of distances on a more regular basis.
Photo Credit : @therunningshoeguru
Halfway
Becoming the British Half Marathon Champion opened up some wonderful opportunities and I travelled to many International events. My career path also progressed with jobs in the sports and running industry seeing me work with Puma, Fila and adidas.
At this point, the marathon had never been on my radar, but I always felt that I would be capable of running a sub-3 hour marathon.
It was while working with Fila in 2000 that the chance to take part in the New York City Marathon presented itself as what was to become my marathon debut.
Agreeing to act as a pacemaker to a colleague’s 2-hour 40-minute attempt seemed like a great first marathon and one which I figured didn’t really require any extra training.
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Pacing is key
We breezed through halfway in 1 hour 20 minutes exactly and while I was feeling rather fresh (I was still regularly racing half marathons in around 66-67 minutes), my colleague’s fitness became apparent.
The next 5 miles were a real struggle for him and at 18 miles he encouraged me to go it alone. Being a former track runner who used to calculate split times in my head lap after lap, I quickly worked out that a swift next two miles up to 20 would allow me to settle back into pace for the final 6.
Racing up First Avenue at around 5-minute mile pace I was quickly back on the planned 2:40 schedule and even allowing for the gun time, I crossed the line in 2:39:59.
18 minutes later, my colleague appeared, limping across the line.
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It’s Not Always Easy
The marathon still didn’t hold too much attraction for me and it was another two years before I’d tackle my next. This time it was in Chicago.
Here, I was running alone and like many was buoyed by the excitement of Paula Radcliffe’s World Record attempt. Do I go with the pace set by Paula and her team of pacemakers or settle down into my own PR pace or simply settle for a sub-3 hour marathon?
Going through halfway in 1:10 I felt reasonably fresh, but not, as I recall telling myself, fresh enough to do it again!
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The Wall
Paula went on to get the World Record that day, whereas I hit the wall around 18 miles and crawled home in 2:35. It was a personal best but also a world of pain!
Again, the marathon hadn’t endeared itself to me and it was 15 years until I’d run one again.
My next few marathons were completed more mainly as part of my role as a running journalist rather than a marathon enthusiast. They were all sub-three marathon efforts, but it wasn’t until the Berlin Marathon in 2022 that I decided I’d gear my training towards the event.
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Training for the Marathon
I sought the advice of Alan Storey in my preparation for Berlin 2022. Alan is a well-respected and very experienced coach, having worked with multiple global gold medallist, Mo Farah as well as many other world-class athletes.
What I’ll outline below is essentially the thoughts of Alan and my interpretation of them and how I put them into practice for Berlin 2022 and my other marathons since then.
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Base Building
The longer the build-up to your target race, the better. 16 weeks is a good starting point IF you are already a regular runner with a background of training at least 5 times per week.
A sub-3 hour marathon is a challenge to any runner, so building a strong base of consistent mileage is key.
Speedwork
At least once per week, an interval session at half marathon pace or quicker is required. You should aim to increase the overall volume of this session to around 10 miles (16km) – e.g. 10 x 1-mile intervals
Tempo Running
Tempo running is essentially running at a faster tempo, just below race pace. This will help you dial in a sustained fast-paced effort. These tempo running blocks of mileage can be incorporated into the weekly long run.
The Long Run
The weekly long run should progress throughout the build-up phase to around 20 to 22 miles. For a runner with sub-three-hour aspiration, it would be assumed that the regular weekly long run will already be at around 12 or 13 miles before the marathon-specific block. With this being the case, it’s a relatively straightforward progression to increase to 20 miles.
Alternate Long Run Pace
I like to run one weeks long run at close to the race pace followed by the next week’s effort at the race pace plus one minute.
This means that along with the mid-week speed session, you only have alternating weeks which include two hard, intensive efforts.
These long runs are key to running a sub-three hour marathon.
Strength and Conditioning
Core strength: By incorporating core exercises to improve stability you can help reduce injury risk. It also plays an important part in improving running form.
Flexibility
Stretching: Regularly stretch major muscle groups focusing on hamstrings, calves, and hips. Again this helps reduce potential injury and improve running form.
Recovery
Schedule regular rest days to allow for muscle recovery and adaptation. I recommend at least one day off each week but allow more if you feel you need it. Don’t be afraid to rest!
Nutrition
Focus on a balanced diet. Eat a diet rich in carbohydrates, proteins, and healthy fats.
Evaluate Continually
Keep a record of your training and monitor both progression and your overall feelings. Don’t be afraid to reduce mileage or speed if needed.
Be Flexible
Don’t feel the need to stick to the plan 100%. Things change in both your fitness and personal life. Manage everything and adjust accordingly.
Photo Credit : @therunningshoeguru
Training Plan for Completing a Sub-3 Hour Marathon
For a sub-3 hour marathon – let’s use 2:59:34 as an example, the average pace is 6 minutes 51 seconds per mile (4min 16seconds per KM)
Monday
Monday is usually an easy run day. Depending on the pace of the previous day’s long run, I suggest running to ‘feel’. Often, the day following a long run you can feel a little tired. Consider this and generally aim for an easy one-hour run. Don’t worry too much about pace, simply run in a gentle heart rate zone. If used to running to heart rate, this should be Zone 2, if not, simply run at an easy ‘conversational’ pace.
Tuesday
If you can be flexible with the days on which you schedule specific runs, I’d suggest placing the interval session on either Tuesday or Wednesday depending on how you feel after your Sunday long run.
If the weekend long run has been a ‘steady state’ long run, you should feel sufficiently recovered to complete the interval session on Tuesday.
If you feel you need another day of easy running to recover from the weekend, then shift the interval session to Wednesday and simply run easy today.
Interval Sessions
Throughout the marathon build-up up aim to increase the overall volume of this session to around 10 miles in total.
Example sessions :-
8 x half mile at half marathon pace – 2 minutes recovery.
Approx half marathon pace will be around 6:35 per mile.
This type of session would gradually increase week-on-week to up to 20 x half a mile. You might find this rather repetitive, so try mixing up the distance of the effort.
Another approach to intervals is those based on time.
One of my all-time favourite sessions is simply two minutes hard followed by two minutes easy. You could run this session for an hour and cover a good distance making for a great workout.
Other great sessions could be 6 x 10 minutes hard with two minutes of recovery.
With all these sessions the pace should be approximately half marathon effort.
Wednesday
If you’ve completed the session on Tuesday then today should be an easy run. Base the time and distance on how you feel.
Thursday
Today is another easy run day. It may seem at first that there are lots of easy days and you’d be correct!
The long weekend run will take a lot out of you, as should and will the mid-week session. Easy running is an important part of building base miles and recovering.
Make today like the other easy days, up to one hour based on how you feel.
Friday
Rest day – you’ve earned it!
Saturday
A great ‘mini’ session I like is ‘strides’. These are short repetitions of approx. 100m in length at fast (but NOT sprint speed) concentrate on your running form; pick up the feet behind you and lift your knees. Aim to look like an Olympic athlete!
Run a couple of miles easy followed by 6 or 8 strides and a couple of miles to cool down.
These strides will contribute to a better running form.
Sunday
The big one. The long run.
This should get progressively further throughout the build-up. You’ll most probably be at a starting point of around 12 miles, so I would suggest adding just one mile every two weeks up to 20 miles total distance.
One week, long and hard, one week, long and easy.
I like to alternate the speed of the long run.
The long, easy week should be at around marathon pace (6:51 per mile) PLUS one minute, so approx. 7:51 to 8 minutes per mile. This is to simply increase overall adaptation to the distance.
The following week I like to incorporate marathon pace into the long run.
I start with a 12-mile run split into 2 miles easy pace, 8 miles at marathon pace, 2 miles at easy pace.
Gradually increase the length of the mid-run marathon pace miles as the weeks build. I like to build to 16 miles at marathon pace.
Don’t underestimate this run. It’s hard, but with a sensible and gradual approach, it’s achievable.
In Summary
The most important factors when aiming for a sub three hour marathon are consistency and recovery.
There are no magic formulas and often those that have trained most consistently over a long period of time will find the best results. Build gradually. Take small steps, focus on your recovery and stay focused.
For individual coaching, the author is available via his Instagram @therunningshoeguru
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