Marathon Pace Durability Test

Workout - Marathon Pace Durability Test

• 15min @ 6'00''/km
• 3 lots of:
  • 10min @ 5'00''/km
  • 1min rest
• 12min @ 6'00''/km

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A summary of Lee Grantham’s “Achieving Your Marathon Goal Pace: Setting Realistic Yet Ambitious Targets.” Here’s the key workout you can put into practice this week. Watch the full video for the rest.

Key points:

• Build a SMART marathon goal: specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, time-bound. The target is a pace you can hold through 10-minute blocks without crossing lactate threshold.
• Start from your 5K performance. Progression: 5K, 10K, half-marathon, marathon.
• If you’re stuck at 1 minute, use short intervals. Build up duration before going to longer continuous blocks.
• Aim for three 10-minute segments at goal pace (60 seconds recovery between) before tackling a full 15 km block in a long run.
• Keep heart rate below lactate threshold during all goal-pace work.

Workout:

1. Starting point: if you can only hold goal pace for 1 minute, run 12 x 1-minute repeats at marathon goal pace with 30 seconds easy recovery.
2. Building up: once 1-minute repeats feel easy, move to 3 x 10-minute reps at marathon goal pace with 60 seconds easy between.
3. Long-run version: when 3 x 10-minute feels solid, fit a 15 km continuous marathon-pace block into a 25 km long run (5 km easy, 15 km goal pace, 5 km easy).
4. Next level: 4-5 blocks of 10 minutes, or extend the continuous marathon-pace work to 20 km.

Practical tips:

• Watch heart rate. It should stay under lactate threshold during goal-pace sessions.
• Don’t chase pace at the cost of effort. If HR climbs at the target pace, drop back and rebuild.
• Treat each step as a durability test. Once 10 minutes is comfortable, add a set or extend.
• Show up consistently. Adaptation comes from repeating the work, and that’s what holds marathon pace on race day.

Closing note: try these intervals this week, adjust lengths to where you are, and log paces in the Pacing app.

References

• Achieving Your Marathon Goal Pace: Setting Realistic Yet Ambitious Targets - YouTube (YouTube Video)