The Mental Toughness Speed Sandwich
Workout - The Mental Toughness Speed Sandwich
- 12min @ 6'00''/km
- 3 lots of:
- 3min @ 4'30''/km
- 1min rest
- 2min @ 5'30''/km
- 1min rest
- 1min @ 4'00''/km
- 1min rest
- 3min @ 6'00''/km
- 10min @ 6'00''/km
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Intro
“Marathon Mind Games | 3:53 To 3:30 Marathon Attempt Ep4” from The Running Channel covers mental and physical strategies for marathon training. Here’s what stands out and how to use it.
Key points
- Chunking: breaking a 42.2 km marathon into about 5 km blocks (parkrun-sized) makes the distance feel far less daunting.
- Smile mantra: positive self-talk like “smile a mile” lowers perceived effort and helps form.
- Speed work: short, punchy intervals (3 min, 2 min, 1 min efforts with rest between) sharpen fitness and add variety to long-run training.
- Strength and conditioning: bodyweight exercises (glute bridges, band clams, hand-free squats, arabesque high-knees, shoulder-touches) and barefoot drills build stability.
- Recovery mindset: when fatigue or illness hits, take a few days completely off, then return with easy-paced runs.
Workout example (from the video)
Speed-interval workout (km):
- 2 km easy warm-up.
- 3 sets of:
- 3 min at hard effort (about 10K pace).
- 2 min at moderate effort.
- 1 min at hard effort.
- 60 sec recovery between the two hard efforts.
- 3 min easy jog between sets.
- Cool-down jog for about 5 min.
Optional add-on: a 5-minute strength circuit. 2 rounds of glute bridges, band clams, hand-free squats, arabesque high-knees, and shoulder-touches (10 reps each, no pausing).
Closing note
Try these on your next run. Adjust paces to your training zones in the Pacing app.