4 Marathon-Specific Long-Run Workouts

Advanced Progressive Fast-Finish Long Run

The fast-finish long run is a great weapon to have in your marathon toolbox. However, if you've been training a long time and need that extra push, you need to increase the stimulus and take this long run to the next level.

That's where the progressive long run comes in. For this example, we'll use a distance of 22 miles.

• The 22-mile progressive, fast-finish long run starts with 3 miles at an easy pace. This gets your body warmed up and your blood pumping.
• From miles 4 through 12 (8 miles) you'll target a pace that is 5 percent slower than goal marathon pace. For those of you who struggle with math like I do, that's about 15 seconds slower than goal marathon pace. Not quite hard, but still challenging.
• Miles 12 to 18 should be run at marathon pace. Not only is this good practice to help you lock onto marathon pace as your legs are getting tired, but you're starting to teach your body to burn fat as your glycogen stores deplete and you have to continue to run at a moderate effort.
• Now comes the hard part. Miles 18 to 22 (4 miles) should be run at 3 to 5 percent faster than marathon pace. Three percent is about 10 seconds per mile faster than goal pace, which will be very difficult. Again, you'll be low on glycogen and training yourself to mentally and physically push when you're tired.
• Finish off the run with 10 minutes of easy jogging to let the blood flush out of your system and act as a light cool down.

More: What's the Best Pace for Long Runs

Teach Your Body To Use Fat as a Fuel Source

One of the most important determinants of marathon success is how efficiently your body can use fat as a fuel source as opposed to carbohydrates.

Since your body can only store about two hours worth of glycogen when running at marathon pace, the more readily you can burn fat at marathon pace, the longer your glycogen stores will last—providing crucial energy for the last 10K of the race.

When running slow and easy, your body can use fat as its primary fuel source. However, the faster you try to run, the more you rely on glycogen. Luckily, this can also be trained and improved with the right mix of workouts.

Here is a marathon-specific long run that will teach you to do just that.

Surge Long Run For Beginners

The surge long run injects a series of short, 60-second to 2-minute surges into your long run to help burn through your available glycogen. By surging repeatedly, your muscles scream for glycogen and begin to run low quickly. When this happens, your body has to learn to conserve the remaining glycogen and become more efficient at burning fat.

An example long run surge workout might be: 16-mile long run with 6 x 90 second surges at 5K pace and five minutes at a normal, easy pace between surges. Start the surges at mile 11.

Surges should begin about two-thirds of the way through the intended long run distance and end when you've completed 75 to 90 percent of the run.

The length of the surge itself, the pace, the rest in-between the interval, and the starting point of the surge during the run are all variables that you can adjust to make the workout harder or easier.

Typically, I start most runners out with 4 x 1 minute surges with five minutes normal pace (normal being your average long run pace) between each. For more seasoned runners you may progress to six 2-minute surges with 3 to 4 minutes at an easy pace.

More: 7 Running Experts on Effective Long-Run Training

Surges With a Twist

Sure the surge long runs are great, but to make this even more marathon specific, we can incorporate some of the principles we know about lactate clearance to not only train the body to clear and reconvert lactate quickly, but to also trigger high levels of glycogen depletion and further improve your ability to burn fat as a fuel source at marathon pace.

Like the regular surge long run, the workout is structured around a series of 60- to 90-second surges. However, instead of running easy between the surges, you will run marathon pace as your "rest". The surges should be between 10K and half marathon pace and the "rest" will be 4 to 5 minutes, depending on your ability level.

An example workout would be: 22-mile long run with 8 x 90 second surges at 10K pace with four minutes at marathon pace between, starting at mile 10. Finish the run at an easy pace.

Surging at 10K pace will burn through more glycogen than running at a moderate, marathon-paced effort. As you slow back down to marathon pace, your body realizes it must conserve glycogen for these 60 to 90 second bursts. At this point, your body will attempt to use fat as a primary fuel source.

More: 2 Workouts to Make Marathon Pace Feel Easier

How Often Should You Do These Long Runs?

I don't recommend doing these harder long runs every week. That would be too taxing on the body. I advocate including these hard long runs every other week, with a shorter run in between, starting about 12 weeks out from your race.

Implement these marathon-specific long runs into your training plan and I guarantee you'll bust through that plateau.

More: Marathon Pacing: How to Run Your Best Race