Amateur Runner Trains Like Elite For A Week (with Anya Culling) - This Messy Happy
Intro
This is a quick summary of “Amateur Runner Trains Like Elite For A Week (with Anya Culling)” from the This Messy Happy channel. It’s a great watch — we’re breaking it down so you can try the workout today. Be sure to check out the full video for all the details.
Key Points
- Elite vs. Adapted Volume: Anya runs ~160 km/week on 6‑7 days. Mary (and most of us) scale it to ~70 km on 4‑5 days, keeping the same hard‑day, easy‑day philosophy.
- Split Easy Runs: Monday’s recovery is split into two shorter easy runs (10 km + 8.5 km) to speed up recovery after a long weekend mileage.
- Hard‑Day Focus: Keep hard sessions truly hard – strict recovery, high effort, and run at or near marathon pace.
- Tempo & Lactate Threshold: Tempo work at sub‑5:00 min/km (≈ marathon‑pace) improves lactate clearance and raises the threshold.
- Canova Intervals: Alternating 2 km slightly faster and 2 km slightly slower than marathon pace, repeated three times, builds strength without excessive fatigue.
- Practical Tips:
- Use a low heart‑rate, easy pace for recovery runs.
- Stick to exact recovery intervals (e.g., 2 min static between repeats).
- Double‑run days (morning + afternoon) can fit more mileage into a busy schedule.
- Customize paces in the Pacing app to match your own marathon goal.
Workout Example (Mary’s Adapted Week)
| Day | Session | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | Easy split | 10 km easy AM + 8.5 km easy PM (low HR). |
| Tuesday | Interval + Strength | 3 km warm‑up → 6×1 km repeats at 3:14 min/km (marathon pace) with 2 min static recovery. Follow with 45 min strength & conditioning. |
| Wednesday | Long easy | 23 km at ~4:30 min/km (easy effort). |
| Thursday | Tempo (800 m reps) | 10×800 m at sub‑5:00 min/km (≈ marathon pace) with ~300 m jog recovery. Effort 7‑8/10. Finish with a 10 km “shake‑out” easy run. |
| Friday | Rest / Light trail | Optional easy trail run for active recovery. |
| Saturday | Super‑easy | 24 km super easy (conversational pace). |
| Sunday | Long run with Canova | 30 km total: warm‑up 7 km, then 3×[2 km @ 4:45 min/km (‑10 s MP) + 2 km @ 5:05 min/km (+10 s MP)] with 2 km easy between sets, finish with 7 km cool‑down. |
Closing Note
Give this adapted elite‑style week a try and tweak the paces to fit your own marathon goal using the Pacing app. Training like Anya will keep you motivated, accountable, and stronger—so lace up, hit the road, and enjoy the progress! 🚀
References
Workout - Canova-Style Long Run
- 7.0km @ 6'00''/km
- 3 lots of:
- 2.0km @ 4'50''/km
- 2.0km @ 5'10''/km
- 2.0km @ 6'00''/km
- 7.0km @ 6'00''/km
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