Last month, we kicked off our ‘Road to Marathon’ series together with Jermain Breidel. Today brings part 2, in which we’ll take a closer look at training methods and discuss setbacks.
Running is popular, and many people have running a marathon on their bucket list. But how do you ensure you’re fully prepared? What’s the ideal way to prepare for a marathon? Of course, there are various preparation methods, but we’ll be highlighting one in particular over the coming weeks.
ROAD TO MARATHON!
On 16 September, the 45th Berlin Marathon will take place. Jermain Breidel, running coach at Patta Running and Vondelgym, will be taking part, and we’ll be following him as he prepares. He’s set his sights on a time under 3 hours. But how is he ensuring he’s fully ready by 16 September, and how is he training for this marathon? We’ll be following him over the coming weeks and he’ll tell you all about it.
- Jermain Breidel
- 43 years old
- Patta Running Coach
- Vondelgym Running Coach
Setback
Since my last article, I’ve had to cope with a major setback, which meant I trained a bit less for a while because I wasn’t feeling well, both physically and, above all, mentally. I was confronted with the sudden death of a close friend and needed time to come to terms with this blow, which meant I did little to no running. I’ll never truly get over it, but I’m trying to come to terms with it and get on with my life again. The same goes for running. Setbacks are part of life; the happy memories will remain.
Interval training
In the previous article, I described what my training routine looks like. At the time, I was doing a combination of interval training, endurance runs, easy runs and strength training, six days a week. Today I’d like to go into a bit more detail about interval training because, in my view, it’s essential when preparing for a marathon.
Interval training helps you build up your pace so that you can maintain a slower pace for longer. Because you’re building up the strength to run fast and hard, you’ll find it easier to maintain a slower pace over a long distance. You’re essentially spreading out the strength you’ve built up.
What I do during an interval training session is run 1,000 metres at full speed, at a pace of 3:30 minutes per kilometre, or 17.1 km per hour. I then rest for 2 minutes, spending the first minute walking and the second minute jogging (running slightly faster than walking).
At the moment, I’m trying to repeat this cycle of running and resting about 10 times, which should ultimately enable me to run the marathon at 13.5 to 14 km per hour. Of course, I’ll also continue with my endurance runs and strength training alongside this.
Fartlek training
From this week onwards, I’ve also incorporated fartlek training into my schedule. Fartlek involves varying the pace during an endurance run. What I do in this case is a 10-minute warm-up followed by some stretches. Then I start running straight away at a speed of around 15.6 km per hour (3:50 per km) and maintain this for 2 minutes. After that, I run for 2 minutes at a pace of 13 km per hour (4:36 per km). I repeat this about 10 to 15 times, depending on my other training sessions that week. If you repeat this process 15 times, you’ll have run about 16 km in a time of roughly 70 minutes.
Try to maintain these pace changes throughout the entire run. It improves your ability to recover whilst running and also enhances your overall running fitness. A nice bonus is that it adds a playful element to your training, allowing you to set yourself specific goals whilst running. For example, maintaining a high pace until the next flyover, or staying ahead of that fast runner you’ve just overtaken :)
Training Plan
My current schedule looks like this:
- Monday: interval training
- Tuesday: easy endurance run, 20 km at a pace of 5:10 minutes per kilometre
- Wednesday: endurance run, 20 km at a pace of 4:40 minutes per km
- Thursday: interval training
- Friday: fartlek training, 20 km at varying speeds
- Saturday: strength training + 20 km endurance run at a pace of 5:10 minutes per km
- Sunday: rest day
Next time, I’ll go into a bit more detail about the endurance run and strength training. Also, as we’ll be quite close to the Berlin Marathon by then, I’ll give an update on my fitness and how I’m feeling ahead of the race. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to post them below!
Further reading:
- ROAD TO MARATHON! WITH JERMAIN BREIDEL
- THE 10 PER CENT RULE IN RUNNING
- THE IDEAL STRIDE FREQUENCY WHEN RUNNING!
- PROTEIN AND ENDURANCE SPORTS – DO THEY GO TOGETHER? ABSOLUTELY!
Check out our blog for more interesting training-related articles.
