Introduction
The sole idea of
marathon training is to improve performance at marathon cruising
speed. Your heart (your motor) does not care what is your running
velocity. A Cooper test is a fair test for every heart. The slower
runners' heart has to work the same time as faster runners' heart.
But a Marathon Race is not like a Cooper test. Marathon is about how
fast you can run 42 195 meters (or 26.22 miles). No more, no less.
For the fastest runners this means less than 2 hours and 10 minutes.
For the average runner maybe 4 to 5 hours. And the slowest run it in
about 6 to 7 hours. The intensity at which you are able to run the
marathon depends on how many hours you are going to spend running it.
The fastest runners can run it at much higher intensity because they
only have to keep it up for bit over 2 hours. The average runner
spends twice that the time on the course and simply for that reason
can not run at same intensity level.
The marathon cruising
speed is close to the lactate threshold (but under it). The less time you spend running the marathon the closer to the lactate threshold you can run
(still considered cruising). I am no medical doctor, but the lactate
threshold is basically the point where the effort level changes from
aerobic (oxygen is present) to anaerobic (oxygen is not present). The
body can't take in sufficient oxygen and starts to ”cheat”. The
result is the accumulation of lactic acid in the system. A marathon
runner's target in training is to be able to run as fast as possible
staying under the lactate threshold. This performance can be
estimated quite accurately without running an actual marathon. It is
not even necessary to run the predicted Marathon Pace to be able to
estimated a marathon finishing time. One way to do it is with the
help of a heart rate monitor and Tempo Run practice. You can quite
accurately estimate your marathon running potential (if the rest of
the training is balanced). But I am not going to those details at
this point.
”Listen to everyone,
follow no-one”
Neither do I want to
start making a comparison between elite runners and average Joe
runners. We are all a unique combination of qualities and flaws. Some of
it is suitable for running, some of it is not. To become a champion
runner the best thing you can do is to select your parents well. And
the champions are what the public usually is interested in. But that
is just so-called result oriented thinking that will kill the FUN and
in many cases is not even close to optimal if one is interested in
finding and fulfilling his own potential. My point is that one has to
look around what is going on, be aware, listen and learn from others,
educate one self, experiment, compete against one self, and most of
all learn to enjoy every day what you are doing. Learn to LOVE
RUNNING. It is not just about the results or records. They say a
healthy mind lives in a healthy body. I need the racing to bring out
the best in me. I am very competitive, I have always been. I have
punched a 30 cm taller player in the face in a basketball game in the
closing seconds because I was frustrated of losing. But since then, I have
learned not to ruin my days by thinking about what others are doing.
And when you train and practice as hard as you can, the results will
be gratifying and you will be proud of your work. This applies to
every day life.
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| Figure 1: Rocky |
Next post I will show
and discuss my experiences of how I managed (if I did) to execute the
24-week 3-hour marathon training program.
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