The Best Speed Workouts For Your Marathon Training
In a podcast I did with Bart Yasso, Bart talked through his favorite marathon training workouts. Maybe you’ve heard of Yasso 800’s, but Bart has a couple of other workouts he swears by when marathon training. If you don’t have these implemented in your marathon training plan, you should really reconsider.
Here’s the rule of thumb: the longer the interval, the better the training for a longer race.
Here’s how he typically would approach these workouts (with my spin added!):
800m Repeats (aka Yasso’s)
The goal is to work your way up to 10 x 800m. It would be at 10 repeats 6-7 weeks out from your taper. Bart would also start with around 3 miles for a warmup. If you’re working your way up to 10 repeats, you may not need the entire 3 miles for a warmup. A good rule of thumb is at least 1, and around 1-3 miles to warm up the body. Add in 1/4 mile for recovery in between each repeat.
In the classic “Yasso 800” marathon predictor workout, you would run each 800m at your goal marathon time. For example, if you wanted to run a 4 hour marathon (4:00), you would run each 800m in 4 minutes (aka) at an 8 min/mile pace. You would also have equal recovery time before the next repeat, so in this case, 4 minutes of recovery at an easy-paced run (walk if you needed to) before the next set.
In the classic Yasso 800m scenario, occasionally I’ll have clients build up to 10-12 repeats in their training, completing this type of workout a total of 3-4 times - depending on training plan duration. At the beginning of training, I might have clients start with 6 repeats and then build to 8 3-weeks after completing 6 and then 10 3-weeks after 8. If they are able to continually complete the workout at a moderate or moderately challenging difficulty level, it shows me their training has been productive and their goal pace is realistic.
Mile Repeats
Bart swears by 5 x 1 mile. In this workout, it is equally important to ensure you are warm prior to going into the speed work.
I highly recommend a dynamic warmup (start with this and add in skips & strides) and a 2-3 mile warmup. In between each mile, (+/- depending on your experience level) take 5 minutes of jogging recovery.
I also recommend starting with 3 x 1 mile at the beginning of your training and building to 5 repeats. The workout can be very challenging.
In the past with my athletes, I typically will have them pace +/- goal 10k pace for each repeat. This can also be run at a long interval pace, which is typically faster than goal 10k.
Ladder Workouts
Bart is a big fan of ladder workouts. He mentioned starting at 1/2 mile and adding 1/4 mile until hitting 1 mile and then going back down the ladder. Here are a few ways you could approach this type of workout:
To keep the warmup trend alive, start with a 2-3 mile warmup (one-mile minimum) to ensure your body is warm enough to target goal paces.
Start with one repeat for each distance before heading back down the ladder:
0.5
0.75
1 mile (x2 optional)
0.75
0.5
*To change up the workout, and based on the workout’s goal, you can play with different recovery segments. Adding 5-minutes of recovery after each repeat could be a nice challenge to continuously hit matched paces on the downside of the ladder. For example, if you started with 0.5 at a short interval pace, try to match that same pace the second time around.
Another way to mix it up would be to add in equal recovery following each segment. You could use the amount of time it took you to complete each distance, or the distance itself. This could be a challenge of hitting negative splits on the down ladder (or match your splits like above).
An advanced marathoner may build up to the following workout:
0.5 x 2
0.75 x 2
1 mile x 2
0.75 x 2
0.5 x 2
Another option, targeting longer distances could be the following:
1-mile (optional x 2)
2-miles (optional x 2)
1-mile (optional x 2)
The possibilities for ladder workouts are endless!
What is your favorite marathon training workout? (This could be a love/hate!)
