Marathon Pace Introduction
Workout - Marathon Pace Introduction
- 12min @ 6'30''/km
- 2 lots of:
- 15min @ 5'00''/km
- 3min rest
- 12min @ 6'30''/km
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Intro
Running a Marathon on 3 Days a Week: Time-Efficient Training Tips! by Lee Grantham is worth a watch. We’ve pulled out the key takeaways so you can try these workouts right away. For the full context, watch the original video.
Key points
- Three-day weekly structure: Wednesday is your speed work (interval session), Friday is an easy/recovery day, and Sunday is your long run.
- Recovery: walk during your commute, mix in lighter-paced runs, and keep solid form so your legs stay fresh for the harder efforts.
- Interval training builds race-day speed. Start with shorter, quicker repeats and work up to longer ones that build speed endurance. Our guide on Mastering Interval Training: Science-Backed Workouts and How a Smart App Can Personalize Them covers the science.
- Long-run progression: start from your longest current distance, add roughly 2 km per week until 20 km, then increase by about 10% weekly.
- Marathon-pace segment: after your warm-up, run the middle section at marathon pace (or 10-20% slower) before an easy cool-down.
- Form cues: mid-foot landing, loose shoulders and arms, hips and ankles aligned, with a strong push through each stride.
Workout example (all distances in kilometres)
Wednesday, interval session:
- Warm-up: 5-10 min easy jog
- Main set (pick your starting level and progress weekly):
- Week 1: 10 x 1 min at 5K pace, 1 min jog/walk recovery. Short bursts like these sharpen top speed. For more sprint-focused workouts, see Mastering 5K Speed: Proven Interval Strategies to Cut Minutes off Your Time.
- Week 2-3: 8 x 2 min, 1 min recovery
- Week 4-5: 6 x 3-4 min, 1-2 min recovery
- Later: 5 x 5 min or 5 x 10 min, matching the recovery above. These longer intervals help you sustain goal pace over race distance. See Mastering the 10K: Proven Training Plans, Pace Strategies, and How a Smart App Can Elevate Your Performance for more on structuring these.
- Cool-down: 5-10 min easy jog
Friday, easy/recovery run:
- 30-50 min (~5-8 km) at conversational pace. Use this run to refine form and settle into a comfortable rhythm.
Sunday, long run:
- Start at your current longest distance (e.g. 8 km). Add 2 km each week until ~20 km, then increase by 10% weekly.
- Example at 25 km total:
- 5 km easy warm-up
- 15 km at marathon pace, or marathon pace + 10-20% (slower) depending on fitness
- Final 5 km easy cool-down, focused on breathing and recovery.
Closing note
A three-run weekly schedule is enough to prepare for the marathon, with thoughtful pacing, steady progression, and rest. Load these sessions into your Pacing app, match the paces to your fitness, and try them out.
Watch the full Lee Grantham video for the deeper explanations.