Try this race-specific workout in your final phase of marathon training

The spring marathon season is just around the corner, which means many Canadians are in the final four to six weeks of training for their goal races. This last phase of training should focus on race-specific workouts, and this session perfectly fits that description. If you’ve got a marathon on the horizon, add this workout into your schedule to get yourself into PB shape.

What is race-specific training?

Throughout your marathon build, you go through different phases of training. You start with base training (when you’re building up your mileage), then begin adding in harder workouts to improve your fitness ahead of race day. The final four to six weeks, however, is when you need to start preparing your body for the specific demands of your race.

What does that mean, exactly? This usually means running at or close to your race pace with short rest so your body is ready to handle your goal race pace. Ideally, you want to mimic the conditions of your chosen race as closely as possible. Of course, you can’t (and shouldn’t) replicate the demands of a marathon in a single training session, but workouts like the one below will help you practice running at your threshold, which will teach your body to burn fat efficiently for fuel and to run your goal pace, even when you’re tired.

The workout

This workout is meant to be run slightly faster than your goal marathon pace (about 10 seconds per kilometre faster, to be precise). It’s important to pace this correctly because running too hard will actually prevent you from getting the desired training effect.

Warmup: 1-2 kilometres easy running

Workout: 2 x 9-10K, with 10 minutes rest between each 10K section

Cooldown: 1-2 kilometres easy running