Seeking how to to hold pace for 4 hour marathon domination? You are not alone. There are thousands of runners around the world seeking to break the 4 hour marathon.
My goal here is to help you use leverage to get better results, faster. That being said, there is no silver bullet. It will take a great deal of hard work and dedication to break the sub 4 hour marathon. How does anyone make 9:09 per mile feel easy?
I was able to lower my personal best for the marathon from 2:43:36 to 2:19:35 by changing up my strategy. One of the biggest mistakes I made was not running fast enough during my long runs.
So, in order to race 26.2 miles and hold 9:09 per mile pace you have to practice that pace and often. I made mistakes just like anyone else on my way to mastering the marathon. Furthermore, I am attaching a video I made on some of the marathon mistakes I made that I hope will be helpful to you.
Strategies To Hold Sub 4 Hour Marathon Pace
Increase the pace of your long runs
There is a massive difference between running and racing a marathon. Athletes second guess themselves when they don't get the result they want fast enough.
I know, I've been there. That being said, the name of the game when it comes to breaking a 4 hour marathon is patience. This is not the 5K or 10K. In addition, the marathon encompasses many different moving parts.
It is more than just the workouts. It is all the other things you are doing throughout your day that will dictate your marathon success.
I see far too many runners running too slow on their long runs. You want to practice running near, at and far below 9:09 mile pace in training.
I strongly recommend conducting your long runs at 160 beats per minute or about 85 percent of your maximum heart rate.
Alternate one weekend conducting your long run at a faster pace. Furthermore, spend the following week running relaxed so you can recover.
The physiological adaptation that occurs is improving your lactate tolerance. The best athletes make it look easy for a reason. They have trained faster than their goal race pace.
Slow Down
It takes just as much discipline to slow down as it does to train fast. If your goal is to become a 3:59:59 marathoner you have to slow down on your easy days.
Remember, the benefits of your hard work come within the rest. The problem is we as athletes have a tendency to run too fast on days we should be jogging. In addition, other times we run too slow on days we should be running much faster.
I have found this often times occurs during athletes' long runs. I made the mistake myself because I was seeking to run under 2:22:00 for the marathon. The problem? I was a 2:43:36 marathoner. How did I go from being able to hold 6:14 mile pace to 5:19 per mile for the marathon?
The same way you will follow to get under the 4 hour marathon. Proper planning. You need to change up your training strategy in order to sustain 9:09 per mile for 26.2 miles.
4 Hour Marathon Mastery
I created a course called the 4 hour marathon mastery. My goal for this course is to help walk athletes through the step by step process of running under 4 hours.
The idea is to work smarter rather than harder. Remember, more mileage does not always equate to better results. Furthermore, quality versus quantity is what is needed to run a 3:59:59 marathon.
You want to train below your goal marathon pace and often. Below are some examples of the types of workouts I would do if training to break a 4 hour marathon.
As mentioned above, I am a big believer on speeding up the pace per mile pace during your long runs. Why? Long slow running will produce long, slow marathoners. You are not in this category due to the fact you are focused on running such a fast time.
Workout Suggestions
Here are some examples of the types of exact long run workouts I did prior to breaking the sub-2:20:00 marathon.
20 miler – 2 mile warm-up, 14 miles@160 beats per minute, 2 miles easy@150BPM, 1 mile in 4:50, 1 mile cool-down.
18 miler – 3 mile warm-up, 9 miles (3 miles@155BPM,3miles@160,3miles@165BPM), 3 miles@130-150BPM, 1 mile in 4:50, 2 miles easy@130-50BPM
Obviously, these styles of long runs may not be what you are used to. That being said, the idea is to train at a higher heart rate over an extended period of time.
I recommend conducting harder and faster paced long runs at 85 percent of your maximum heart rate. This improves your lactate tolerance and clearance capability.
So, in closing to improve pace for 4 hour marathon mastery takes patience and persistence. I've only covered a few of the topics I discuss in the 4 Hour Marathon Mastery course. If you want to get started today click the link below to join.
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